Neopost Will Buy Acco's GBC - Fordigraph Business

Acco Brands Corp., which makes Swingline staplers and other office equipment, said Tuesday it will sell one of its Australian businesses, GBC - Fordigraph, to The Neopost Group of France for $56.6 million.

GBC - Fordigraph does business as GBC Australia, and it has been the exclusive Australian distributor of Neopost products since the early 1990s. It is based in Sydney and has about 175 employees, Acco said.

Neopost plans to retain the unit's management and employees, the seller said. GBC - Fordigraph had about $46 million in revenue in 2010, and added 7 cents per share to Acco's profit.

Acco said the sale will reduce its second-quarter profit by 2 cents per share and revenue by about $11 million. However it will add about $50 million to Acco's annual free cash flow. The company will classify GBC - Fordigraph as a discontinued operation and restate its first-quarter results.

The sale won't affect Acco's larger businesses in Australia, which are Acco Australia and its Pelikan Artline joint venture.

Acco said it now expects $100 million to $110 million in free cash flow in 2011, up from $50 million to $60 million. The company maintained its profit and revenue forecasts, saying its per-share profit will grow 20 to 30 percent and revenue will rise 2 percent to 4 percent before the impact of foreign currency