MTN`s big investment

The international world of ICT was comparatively quiet last week apart from some small acquisitions by Microsoft, while the local scene was dominated by MTN`s proposed bid for Investcom.

* MTN`s proposed $5.5 billion acquisition of Lebanon-based Investcom. Investcom has mobile operations in Benin, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as well as licences for Afghanistan and Guinea Republic and creates an entity with a potential licence population of nearly 150 million. Investcom was the favourite to win the battle for control of Nasdaq-listed Millicom, which also has major operations in Africa, but this bid has been dropped and the way now looks clear for China Mobile to be the successful bidder.

The MTN/Investcom deal raises the prospect of new moves by Vodacom/Vodafone and/or Telkom SA.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Good interim figures from Trematon, with profit up about 50%.
* Satisfactory year-end numbers from Infowave, with revenue up about 10% and profit marginally up.
* Positive trading updates from Cape Empowerment Trust and UCS.
* Emerge Africa Process Solutions bought Integrear`s BPM business, Integrear Systemflo. The JSE was requested to suspend Integrear`s shares, since this deal handles the last remaining operational unit of the company.
* The merger of Shocked Technology Solutions and Mokoodi Technologies to provide a fully-fledged SAP services provider called SMC Enterprises.
* Datatec acquired the distribution operations of Ronco Communications and Electronics.
* Synergy acquired SDT financial Solutions in a deal that will see a name change to Silverbridge Holdings, a move to the AltX from the development capital sector of the JSE, the re-issuing of shares, a consolidation of its share capital, a reconstitution of the board of directors and the involvement of a BEE partner.
* Pinnacle acquired 40% of RentNet Rentals.
* Rectron obtained the South African distributorship for ZyXEL networking products.

* Corel acquired WinZip Computing.
* Quantum bought ADIC, a provider of intelligent storage solutions.
* Microsoft acquired Massive, an in-game advertising company, and Vexcel, a company that specialises in photogrammetry.
* Positive results announcements from Capgemini, Open Solutions, Qualcomm and Telenor.
* Negative result warnings from McData, Plato Learning, Sapient and Tele2.
* Job loss announcements from Borland, Orange and Siemens AG.
* A good IPO from Corel.

* JSE All share index: Up 3.2% (new all-time high)
* Nasdaq: Up 0.9%
* Top SA share movements: DataPro (+9.6%), Infowave (-16.7%), Labat Africa (-8.3%), MTN (+13.3%), Mustek (+8.5%), Synergy (+100%) and UCS (+12.5%)
* Top international share movements: Adept Technology (+37.6%), ADIC (+39.7%), AirNet Communications (-34%), Com21 (+100%), DA Consulting Group (+100%), Epicus Communications (-35.7%), Pegasus Wireless (+34%), Plantronics (-33.7%), ProQuest (-27.1%) and Silverline Technologies (+63.6%)

The MTN/Investcom deal raises the prospect of new moves by Vodacom/Vodafone and/or Telkom SA that could include local companies such as Altech, Bytes Technology Group, Business Connexion and Dimension Data, as well as overseas entities such as Celtel, Orascom Telecom, Tata, or even another of the Middle East-based telecommunications companies. The next few weeks could be interesting!