Minolta South Africa has acquired the successful Datatec Minolta dealership in George, which will be converted to a Minolta branch, effective 1 October 2004, to service an increasingly buoyant market in George and surrounds.
Minolta MD Alan Griffith says the dealership has been successfully headed by John Hughes for some 20 years, and the acquisition of the business will benefit both Minolta South Africa and Datatec Minolta`s existing clients.
"Converting the dealership to a branch will allow Minolta to offer local clients an enhanced after sales service and improved technical and software support.
"Existing clients will benefit from the additional resources of Minolta South Africa`s extensive infrastructure and resource base and Minolta South Africa will be better positioned to target large corporate organisations that have head offices in George, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay, Knysna, Wilderness, Oudtshoorn and Sedgefield," he says.
The acquisition of Datatec George will grow Minolta South Africa`s distribution network to 15 branches and 41 dealerships operating nationally and into southern Africa as far a field as Namibia, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique and Angola.
Griffith says the acquisition of Datatec Minolta is hot on the heels of the recent announcement that Minolta South Africa was awarded the distribution rights for the Konica Minolta branded products following the worldwide merger.
"The merger means we are able to offer an enhanced product range that has benefited from the merging of technologies, increased research and development budgets and the other benefits one would expect from the merger of two leading manufacturers," he says.
Datatec Minolta in George was established in 1981 and has evolved into one of the largest suppliers and maintenance providers of business technology products in the Southern Cape and Karoo.
"Minolta South Africa has retained the existing staff at Datatec Minolta and many these people have several years of invaluable experience and expertise in office automation maintenance and servicing," says Griffith.
The new Minolta George branch manager, Pierre Kruse, says he intends to build on the success of the dealership and take the business to a new level. "Some of my short-term goals include the implementation of SAP and CRM at the branch, to maintain and grow the existing client base, to establish new corporate accounts, to focus on growing the colour copier market and to give unmatched after-sales service in the area," he says.
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