Contract to Acquire
June 07 2007 - 3:01AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:9312X
Lonrho PLC
07 June 2007
LONRHO Plc
("Lonrho" or "the Company")
LONRHO BYTES INTO THE AFRICAN IT INDUSTRY
Lonrho is pleased to announce that it has exchanged contracts to acquire 65% of
one of Mozambique's largest commercial Information Technology Solution
Providers, Sociedade Comercial Bytes & Pieces, Limitada ("Bytes & Pieces"),
which provides turnkey network solutions and maintenance and support to
Mozambique businesses, NGO's and Government organisations. Bytes & Pieces
featured at 53 in the KPMG "Top 100 Companies in Mozambique" survey in 2004.
Bytes & Pieces is an authorized distributor of Dell equipment in Mozambique,
providing Enterprise Solutions on a Dell hardware platform.
The IT company is a Microsoft Certified Partner and was awarded the System
Builder Partner of the Year 2006 for East and Southern Africa. Bytes & Pieces is
also an authorized distributor or value added reseller for CISCO Systems, MGE
UPS Systems and Legrand networking products.
Lonrho is buying the stake in the Bytes & Pieces for $2.34m and will take up two
thirds of the board positions. The two founders of Bytes & Pieces, Vijay Thadani
and Veronica Miller, will together retain 35%. Bytes & Pieces recorded profits
before tax of US$854,000 in 2006, on revenue of US$8.6 m.
The company now plans to expand into the region using the Bytes & Pieces model
with a distribution division for high quality networking products and also with
an Enterprise Solutions implementation division based upon the Dell hardware
platform. The first countries in which the company will expand include South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lonrho Chairman and CEO David Lenigas commented:
"As the majority shareholder in Bytes & Pieces, Lonrho intends to further build
on the IT company's success and replicate the business model built up in
Mozambique to the rest of Africa."
"This acquisition is another example of Lonrho's strategy of investing in
African infrastructure. We are entering into this field as it services African
business with high quality IT solutions, an essential tool for helping them to
grow and prosper while keeping up with the rest of the world"
For further information, please contact:
Lonrho Plc +44 (0) 20 7016 5105
David Lenigas, Chief Executive +44 (0)7881 825 378
Emma Priestley, Executive Director +44 (0)7867 785 177
Pelham PR
Charles Vivian +44 (0) 20 7743 6672
+44 (0) 7977 297 903
Alisdair Haythornthwaite +44 (0) 20 7743 6676
+44 (0) 771 472 1379
Collins Stewart
Simon Atkinson +44 (0) 20 7523 8306
Notes to Editors:
About Lonrho
Lonrho Plc is an expanding conglomerate that is rapidly growing a successful
business throughout Africa. The Company is listed on the London AIM stock
exchange (LONR). Lonrho is strategically focused on the development of business
opportunities in infrastructure, transportation, support services and natural
resources. The Company has over 20,000 shareholders and substantial
institutional backing to support its mandate to build a profitable business that
plays a fundamental role in the development of the African economy.
Since 2006, the Company has invested in or acquired control of:
Hotel Cardoso - www.hotelcardoso.co.mz (retained)
Nare Diamonds - www.narediamonds.com
Brinkley Mining - www.brinkley-mining.com
Luba Freeport - www.lubafreeport.com
Fly540 - www.fly540.com
Norse Air - www.norseair.co.za
Swissta Holdings - www.swissta.com
Countermine plc - www.countermine.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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