Servco may sell office unit

Advertiser Staff

Servco Pacific Inc. is evaluating offers to buy its office equipment sales and service division, Servco Integrated Office Technology, the company told customers Thursday.

Servco, an estimated $400 million automotive, real estate development, office products, consumer products and insurance company based in Honolulu, said in a statement yesterday that the division represents less than 3 percent of company revenues, or less than an estimated $12 million a year.

The division, representing Canon, Hewlett Packard, Xerox, Lexmark and Ricoh products, employs about 70 people.

Mark Fukunaga, Servco Pacific chairman and chief executive officer, did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

In a letter to customers, Fukunaga said the company is considering a sale because of changes in the copier industry and a decline in spending by businesses in recent years that have "made it increasingly difficult for the division to operate profitably."

The company anticipates making a decision on the considered sale in mid-September, the letter said.

Five years ago, Servco sold its loan, thrift and equipment-leasing subsidiary that had more than $84 million in assets and 77 employees. Servco was founded in Hawai'i in 1919.