Johannesburg - Unihold, the technology company, should achieve turnover of
more than R880 million for the year to June 2000 after more than two years
of refocusing the group through acquisitions and disposals, it said
yesterday.
This would place the company in the upper echelon of local electronic
business solutions providers, assuming industry growth continues at the same
levels during the next year.
Gary Harlow, the chief executive, said the transformation of the company
into a convergence technology group was complete. The business had
successfully integrated its numerous acquisitions into a coherent entity.
"We purchased 24 businesses over a relatively short period and faced a huge
challenge in merging the skills, expertise and diversity of cultures."
Mike Struthers, the managing director of Unihold Business Solutions, said
the transition consisted of three phases. This included building capacity,
aligning strategy and creating value for Unihold`s customers and
stakeholders.
Earlier this year Unihold went through a protracted seven-month due
diligence with Atio before the deal eventual fell through. Harlow said the
focus on the Atio deal had delayed Unihold`s other plans.
But by acquiring Hix, the Internet company, for R14,4 million in the past
month, Unihold gained a virtual private network more cheaply than the
infrastructure would have cost to set up.
Harlow said this established business fitted in perfectly with Unihold`s
move to outsourcing and Hix`s Internet Service Provider capabilities would
be a good add-on for corporate clients renting virtual private network
space.
Unihold had also experienced strong growth in the e-commerce, customer
relationship management and networking divisions. In same period the
companybegan the internationalisation of its operations, opening offices in
London, New York, Montreal and Sydney.
Further offshore acquisitions in niche markets are planned to build critical
mass. Struthers believed Unihold was positioned to take on the technology
challenge.
Unihold`s shares have been less affected by the information technology
market turmoil than others. The company`s share price has been on an upward
turn this week and closed 2c stronger on the JSE yesterday at
R2,79.