David Lenz (Hills Limited)
Distributor Hills Limited has announced its intentions to sell its Australian and New Zealand Audio Visual (AV) business to AV-focused distributor Ambertech subsidiary Amber Technology.
Under the agreement, the majority of the Hills AV staff will transfer to the AV-focused Amber Technology, as well as Hills AV’s brands that are distributed by Hills in Australia and New Zealand.
Hills is expected to collect payments for customer sales before the completion date, while Amber Technology is expected to fulfill outstanding AV orders at the date of completion.
If the agreement is approved by Ambertech shareholders, the sale is expected to go through in early December.
David Lenz, Hills managing director and chief executive officer, said the selling of its AV business represents how Hills’ “future lies in the health, technical services and security technology sectors.”
Lenz also said the sale would be a positive outcome for Hills’ AV business due to Amber Technology’s 30 years of experience in the AV industry.
“Hills has a long history of participation in the AV markets in Australia and New Zealand,” Lenz said.
“We are very pleased to have found a new opportunity for our AV colleagues, customers and suppliers at Amber Technology.
“We have appreciated the support of our customers and suppliers over many years.”
Peter Amos, managing director at Ambertech added he was “extremely excited” to merge the Hills AV business into its integrated solutions division.
“We look forward to welcoming the Hills staff into our company, the brands represented by Hills into our portfolio, and many new customers into a relationship with Amber Technology,” Amos said.
“We are 100 per cent focussed on serving the AV markets in Australia and New Zealand, and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to bring together two passionate and professional teams to create a stronger organisation that will better serve our customers and manufacturer-partners.”
This is not the first time Hills has sold off one of its divisions, as it sold its antenna business to Bitek in September and announced its intention to exit the communications business in August.
This news also follows the announcement that Hills spent nearly $14.7 million on a restructure of its distribution business.
