Posted on: Thursday, October 4, 2001

Servco sells office-machine unit

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Servco Pacific is selling its office equipment division, affecting more than 70 employees on O'ahu, Maui and the Big Island.

Servco Integrated Office Technology sells and maintains office equipment such as fax machines and copiers. Parent company Servco Pacific in August announced plans to sell the division because of changes in the copier industry and a decline in spending by businesses. The division accounts for less than 3 percent of the diversified company's revenues.

The name of the buyer was not released yesterday. But the company has informed the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations that it will shut down the business and lay off the employees no sooner than Nov. 28.

Servco officials said they hope the new buyer will hire the division's 74 employees. In the meantime, Servco said it is giving those employees a chance to apply for jobs within the parent company.

"The decision to sell SIOT was part of an ongoing effort to reorganize, refocus and streamline our various businesses," Servco Pacific president and chief executive officer Mark Fukunaga said in a statement yesterday. "Given the current economic situation of our state, it becomes even more important that we maintain the financial integrity and strength of Servco so we may better contribute, in the long run, to the economic well-being of Hawai'i."

In 1996, Servco sold its thrift and equipment-leasing subsidiary, Servco Financial Corp., to a Baltimore firm.

Servco Pacific was founded in Hawai'i in 1919 and provides products and services that include automobiles, electronics and appliances, insurance, and educational materials in Hawai'i, Guam, Saipan and the Marshall Islands.