Acquisition Update

6 Mar 2008 14:28

LonZim PLC06 March 2008 6th March 2008 LonZim Plc LonZim exercises option to acquire remaining 20% holding in Blueberry International Services Limited eight months ahead of schedule and announces Blueberry's change of name to LonZim Investments LonZim Plc ("LonZim" or the "Company"), which has been established for theprincipal purpose of making investments in Zimbabwe, announces that it has todayexercised its call option to acquire the final 20 per cent. of BlueberryInternational Services Limited ("Blueberry") for $1,362,500 from Coast2CoastCommunications Investments (Pty) Limited ("Coast2Coast"). This follows LonZim'searlier acquisition of an 80 per cent. shareholding in Blueberry in January2008. With the acquisition of 100 per cent. by LonZim Plc, Blueberry will also changeits name to LonZim Investments Limited. Blueberry is an offshore company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands thatcontrols 60 per cent. of Celsys Limited ( "Celsys" ), a Zimbabwean publiclylisted company operating in the telecommunications and security printing sector;Blueberry also owns 100 per cent. of Gardoserve (Private) Limited ("Gardoserve"), a Zimbabwean private industrial chemical manufacturer and distributertrading under the "Millpal" brand. Since LonZim's acquisition of its initial 80 per cent stake in Blueberry,Celsys's share price has risen 325 per cent. in US$ terms, on the Harare StockExchange. Celsys Print division is Zimbabwe's largest private security printing companyand following the acquisition by LonZim has taken delivery of an Atlantic ZeiserMCE 500 print finishing machine. This machine will increase Celsys Print'scapacity to print high quality, secure scratch cards that are in high demand bymobile networks. The new line is capable of printing and packing 20,000 cardsper hour in secure, transparent, tamper proof sleeves and provides a keyplatform from which to tap into the export market offering considerable growthopportunities. David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of Lonrho, commented: " Since the LonZim acquisition of 80 per cent. of Blueberry in January we havebeen impressed with the abilities and staff of both the Celsys and Millpaloperations. We concluded that it is commercially and strategically veryimportant to own 100 per cent. of Blueberry. Under the present agreements,LonZim had a call option to increase our stake to 100 per cent. and therefore wehave decided to implement this option 8 months ahead of schedule. Blueberry now provides LonZim with a stronger, 100% owned offshore/onshorecorporate structure into Zimbabwe." ENQUIRIES LonZim Plc +44 (0)20 7016 5105David Lenigas, Executive Chairman +44 (0)7881 825 378Geoffrey White, Executive Director +44 (0)7717 307 308Emma Priestley, Executive Director +44 (0)7867 785 177 Pelham PRCharles Vivian +44 (0) 20 7743 6672 / +44 (0) 7977 297903James MacFarlane +44 (0) 20 7743 6375 / +44 (0) 7841 672831 Collins Stewart Europe: Nomad to LonZimHelen Goldsmith +44 (0) 20 7523 8350 NOTES TO EDITORS Celsys Celsys was established in 1996 and listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange in2003. It comprises four core and interlinked divisions: Celsys Comms; CelsysPrint; Celsys IT; and Celsys Marketing. The company is an important employerwith over 140 staff and plays a significant role in maintaining and growing theZimbabwean communications industry. Its core business is information and communications technology (ICT). CelsysComms comprises: The Comm Shop which sells and repairs cell phones and is thesole authorised Nokia Repair Centre in Zimbabwe; Celsys C-phone, a vibrantcommunity payphone project established four years ago, and Zimbabwe's dominantbrand in the payphone market. With its superior airtime tracking software andfully automated operation, C-Phone has created viable livelihoods for rural,peri-urban and urban Zimbabweans, providing a critical communications serviceinto Zimbabwe's rural areas. Celsys Print is Zimbabwe's largest independent printer of cheque books and othersecurity documents for banks and financial institutions, and is a major producerof cell phone recharge cards, recognised for its excellent quality and productdelivery. Celsys IT sells, operates and maintains ATMs and distributes Sophos IT securityproducts across sub Saharan Africa. Sophos is the internationally recognisedanti-virus, anti-spam and information technology security vendor, offeringtechnology security for businesses in over 150 countries. Celsys IT last yearacquired the operations of Hillside Technologies Southern Africa, an IT businessproviding software security to large businesses and banks, and with it, SophosMaster Distributor status. Gardoserve Gardoserve, trading as Millpal, has over 20 years experience selling chemicalsto the textile and raw materials chemical industry. Millpal continues tomanufacture and distribute chemicals, flavourants, and colourants in Zimbabweand for export to the metal treatment, textile, electroplating, epoxy andsolvent markets. Since listing in December 2007, LonZim has invested in or acquired control of: Celsys Limited www.celsys.co.zwGardoserve (Private) Ltd t/a Millpal Chemicals Aldeamento Turistico de Macuti, SARL., a company owning land in central Beira onthe Mozambique coast --oo-- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange