Altech Card Solutions (ACS), the wholly-owned smart card subsidiary of the JSE Securities Exchange-listed Allied Technologies Limited (Altech), has acquired the businesses of Cardtronic for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition, which took effect on 1 March 2002, is expected to increase the annual volume of ACS to more than 24 million personalised cards.
Altech Card Solutions specialises in the delivery of card-based secure electronic solutions. Its operations include Africard, a leading Visa and MasterCard approved manufacturing and personalisation bureau facility, and Altech Smart Card Technologies, a major supplier of electronic funds transfer point-of-sale terminal equipment and solutions, plus card personalisation equipment.
The businesses of Cardtronic Manufacturing and Cardtronic Embossing, established in 1989, produce and personalise non-banking magnetic stripe cards for a number of leading customers who enjoy strong positions in the ever-increasing loyalty card market.
Chief Executive Officer of Altech, Craig Venter, says the Cardtronic acquisition is very much in line with Altech`s strategy of telecommunications, multimedia and information technology (TMT) convergence. "Our cards not only offer solutions in all three of those sectors, but also provide vital convergence links between those entities," said Venter.
"Smart cards are playing an increasingly important role in everyday life and are very much the solutions-drivers for the future. Altech Card Solutions, with this acquisition, is well positioned to play an integral role in that development."
Managing Director of Altech Card Solutions, Derek Chaplin, says Africard`s economies of scale will be much improved with the acquisition of Cardtronic into the Altech stable of companies. "There are obvious synergies which will be exploited to achieve the peak operational efficiencies for our card group," said Chaplin. "It`s also significant that Africard`s non-banking business will be expanded through the acquisition and that real growth can be expected within this sector due to increased business focus."
Chaplin added that standardisation and other operational efficiencies, once Cardtronic had been fully integrated into ACS, should increase Africard`s overall profitability.
Managing Director of Cardtronic, Rodger Metelerkamp, says that over the years Cardtronic has built a solid reputation as a successful and formidable player in the plastic card industry, servicing a broad range of blue chip clients in the loyalty markets. "However, we felt it necessary to seek a partner with solid financial muscle and technological know-how to take us forward, especially with the pending smart card revolution," he said. "Even as a competitor we had a healthy respect for Africard and now, as part of the giant Altech family, we look forward to servicing our existing client base even more effectively than before."
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