Takeover creates dominant Africa logistics player

A takeover in the logistics
industry involving two major
operations in their own right,
Manica and AMI International,
looks set to create a combined
forwarding network that will
dominate East and Southern
Africa.
In the deal – dated from
February 16 – SA’s Bidvest
Group sold its shareholding in
Manica Holdings to Dubaibased
AMI International.
The new entity – with
both contributors’
complementary networks
– spreads an intricate web
of offices across the East
and Southern region of the
continent.
As an e-mail from Wikus
Rudolph, director of Manica
SA and Manica Botswana,
put it to FTW: “The
acquisition of the Manica
network will allow AMI
International to significantly
increase its footprint in
East and Southern Africa,
allowing AMI International
to be fully operational in all
the countries in the region
and, at the same time, offer
its customers the guarantees
of an international network.”
Manica Holdings, he
added, presently operated
subsidiaries, under the name
of Manica, in SA, Botswana
and Zimbabwe. “And, under
the terms of the agreement,
AMI International, through
Manica Holdings, has an
exclusive option to acquire
the Bidvest shareholding in
Manica Malawi and Zambia
within the next six months.”
In its stable of workhorses
in East Africa, AMI
International has offices in
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia,
Malawi and Mozambique.
And, expanding on his
mention of “guarantees of
an international network”,
Rudolph pointed out that,
while AMI International
had its head office in
Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), it also had
subsidiaries in China, India,
Pakistan and the US.