PHOENIX FOUNDRY REJECTS INTERNATIONAL TAKEOVER BID

At a time when every day brings news of another Australian company being sold to foreign concerns and Australian jobs disappearing offshore, one Australian company, Phoenix Foundry, based in the small town of Uralla, NSW has decided to buck the trend.

Shareholders voted last week overwhelmingly to reject an offer from an American competitor to buy the company.  This was despite the offer being very generous and which would have meant a substantial windfall to shareholders.  The takeover would have resulted in the closure of the Uralla plant and subsequent loss of 35 jobs.  The shareholders decided that this did not reflect the values the company stands for.

The decision was made for the good of the employees, the Uralla community and Australian manufacturing.  As one shareholder put it: “It’s not about the money.  We have to make a stand. How many more companies must we sell out to foreign concerns?”

CEO, Ian Mitchell described the outcome as “... humbling and a fantastic result that shows the confidence our shareholders have in the future of our company and its place in the community.  It means that our employees can go to work with enthusiasm knowing their jobs are secure and that they are contributing in no small way to the company’s ongoing success”.  Chris Cull, currently Chairman of the Board, added that “... it was an extraordinary response with shareholders passionately supporting the employees ahead of their own interests”.

Phoenix Foundry was founded in Uralla about 27 years ago. From small beginnings, it is now the largest Australian owned manufacturer of bronze plaques producing more than 22,000 plaques a year, with export markets in Canada and the United Kingdom.

 Apart from thousands of memorial plaques in cemeteries around the world, Phoenix Foundry’s work can also be seen as commemorative plaques on bridges and buildings, the Coats of Arms in both houses of NSW State Parliament, or on service memorials such as at the Australian War Memorial in London. Others may be house signs or a memorial for a beloved pet.  Whatever its purpose, Phoenix Foundry makes the highest quality bronze plaques in the world.