TRM Corp., which has put more focus on its struggling automated teller machine operations, is selling its U.S. photocopy business.
The Portland, Ore., company said Skyview Capital LLC, a privately held investment firm, has agreed to pay $9.2 million for the unit and has created a company called TRM Copy Centers LLC.
The deal, announced Wednesday, "is a significant part of our effort to simplify our business operations and to meet our immediate debt obligations," TRM president and chief executive Jeffrey F. Brotman said in a press release. "We continue to evaluate other potential strategic opportunities on a global basis."
Mr. Brotman was unavailable for comment, and the company did not return calls. TRM also has photocopy business in Canada. In June it sold its U.K. photocopy business to Digital 4 Convenience PLC.
TRM also announced that Danial Tierney, the executive vice president who runs the photocopy unit, will leave at the end of the year to pursue other opportunities.
The company reported a $101.2 million third-quarter loss blamed largely on a $96.8 million charge for a drop in the value of a fleet of ATMs acquired from eFunds Corp. in 2004 for $150 million.
TRM has struggled since that acquisition, and in recent months has been in violation of its debt covenants.
Its photocopy business has reported weak results for several quarters. Analysts have said the business is mature; in April, Ivan Feinseth, the research director for Matrix USA LLC, called it "obsolete," because there are many other ways to copy documents today.
Jeff Sonnek, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc., wrote in a research note issued Thursday that, though the $9.2 million sale price "is less than we had hoped, it does get this business off of TRM's books and provide an easy separation that otherwise may have taken several quarters."
TRM's restructuring plan "seems to be coming along," Mr. Sonnek said. "However, this business remains in a state of flux, as liquidity concerns continue to be a source of angst for investors."
The deal with Skyview is expected to close in January. More than 100 workers are to be transferred with the sale of the business.
