 He went overseas for 12 months; while overseas, the board of Spencers voted to merge with Wests Ltd and Amalgamated Pictures resulting in the "combine" of Australasian Films and Union Theatres.After the box office failure of "The Shepherd of the Southern Cross" (1914) Spencer was unable to persuade the combine to invest in drama production, and stepped back his involvement in the local industry.Several of his films were released in the US by Sawyers Pictures; they were given new titles such as "The Convict Hero", "The Bushranger's Bride", "Nell Gwynne", "The Bandit Terrors of Australia" and "The Queen of the Smugglers".