20th Apr 2007 07:01
Lonrho Africa PLC20 April 2007 20th APRIL 2007 LONRHO AFRICA PLC ("Lonrho" or "the Company") ACQUIRES INTEREST IN MOZAMBIQUE'S LARGEST MINERAL WATER COMPANY Lonrho is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 34%interest in the shares of Sociedade de Aguas de Mocambique, Lda ("Aguas deMocambique") for US$1.211m. It is intended to increase this holding to over 50%by buying out minority shareholders in the future. Aguas de Mocambique is an extractor, bottler and distributor of mineral water,whose principal brand, Agua de Namaacha, currently has an overall share ofapproximately 30% in the Mozambique water market. Water sales for Aguas de Mocambique for 2006 represented approximately 2,000,000litres, with a sales value of US$1.045m. Aguas de Mocambique has achieved yearon year growth of approximately 100% per annum between 2003 and 2005 and in 2007water sales are expected to be in the region of 3,000,000 litres. Aguas de Mocambique has recently invested US$1.2m in a new bottling plant andfactory, which includes storage space for up to 200,000 litres of water and hasthe capacity to extract 100,000 litres of water per day. The factory is based on 560 Ha of land, which has 4 known springs, and there iscapacity for further exploitation of the land for leisure developments. It islocated close to the main market, with Maputo located less than 100km from thefactory. This further expands Lonrho's position in the African bottled water market,following the acquisition of Swissta Water and launch of Lonrho Springs. Theacquisition offers clear synergies with the Company's existing water interests,including utilising Swissta Water's management and technical expertise andtaking advantage of Aguas de Mocambique's established distribution network. Lonrho believes that further growth of the Agua de Namaacha brand can beachieved through increased marketing efforts and expansion into CentralMozambique and export opportunities to surrounding countries. This acquisition represents another step in Lonrho's broader strategy to becomea pan African company, focused on investing in growth businesses that will makea difference to Africa by enhancing basic infrastructure to facilitate thesustainable growth of the continent as a resources and business hub. David Lenigas, Lonrho's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, commented: "Lonrho has acquired an interest in a rapidly growing and well known brand ofwater with existing cash flows and infrastructure, an established distributionnetwork, and further organic growth prospects both in Mozambique and the exportmarket. This acquisition represents an important development for Lonrho's waterbusinesses, offering clear synergies with Swissta Water and Lonrho Springs." END For further information, please contact: Lonrho Africa Plc +44 (0) 20 7016 5105David Lenigas, Chief Executive +44 (0)7881 825 378Emma Priestley, Executive Director +44 (0)7867 785 177 Pelham PRCharles Vivian +44 (0) 20 7743 6672 +44 (0) 7977 297 903Alisdair Haythornthwaite +44 (0) 20 7743 6676 +44 (0) 771 472 1379Collins StewartSimon Atkinson +44 (0) 207 523 8000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Lonrho