Arms & Security

Securitas doubles sales in South Africa through acquistion in Western Cape

africasc_admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:11:39 -0500

Securitas has acquired another South African security
services company, Orbis Security Solutions (Pty) Ltd, for SEK 35 million (ZAR 42 million) the company has announced.

The acquisition follows the company's acquisition strategy in South Africa, which started 2 years ago with low key purchases of relatively small private players, first, MKB Tactical in Johannesburg, then Claw Protection Services (Johannesburg) and, last December, Piranha Security (Johannesburg/Pretoria).

Securitas, the largest industrial guard company in the world by employees, states the new South African subsidiary has SEK 76 million (ZAR
90 million) in sales and about 1,500 employees.

This would suggest that Securitas consolidated sales in South Africa, as per A-Scan's calculations
based on information given at the time of the purchase of previous
companies and without calculating further organic growth, stands at about SEK 160 million.

Orbis operates in the Western Cape Province and therefore complements last years purchase in Johannesburg geographically.

"With this
acquisition, Securitas in South Africa has approximately 3,000 employees,
with operations in guarding, mobile, alarm monitoring, technology,
forensics and risk management services", the company states in a press statement.

Securitas still has a long way to go in catching up with global and domestic competitors in South Africa. It states however that the acquistion means that it now is one of
the top 3 security services companies in the Western Cape region. However in the country's main economic center, Johannesburg/Pretoria (the Gauteng province), A-scan's assessment is that Securitas has a long way to go.

The purchase price for Orbis is 25 % lower, based on price per employee, than the most recent acquisition, which suggests that the company may have got it right on that score.

To continue to catch up with leading competitors - Tyco International (ADT), Chubbs and G4S are all quite a bit larger than Securitas in South Africa - Securitas would have to continue its acquisition strategy in South Africa. It is not the company's philosophy to be a small player anywhere.

There are a few incentives for Securitas to proceed in South Africa, the main perhaps being to be able to have a global foot print and therefore aim to become the private guard company of choice not only for North American and European multinationals but also for emerging market multinationals, international organisations, national key point installations and embassies.

The private guard and security market in South Africa has its own attraction too. It is a fast growing one, not the least as South Africa due inefficient policing and vast income disparities invites to organised as well as petty crime.

The country partially unfairly suffers from a common global perception that murder, robbery and rape is commonplace - a perception that briefly improved after last years vastly successful hosting of the Fifa World Cup.

New evidence links SAs former chief of staff to jet fighter commissions

africasc_admin — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:05:43 -0600

News paper Mail & Guardian disclosed on Friday that South Africa's former military chief-of-staff Siphiwe Nyanda bought his new home in the Johannesburg suburb of Bryanston in 1995 for money he borrowed from Ngwane Aerospace, an arms consultancy company that by then had received more than ZAR 50 million in commissions from BAe System/Saab's arms offset company Sanip.

The news paper writes that the link "may represent the first evidence of a senior decision-maker in the controversial arms deal benefiting from the R1-billion-plus in 'commissions' which British multinational BAE Systems spread around to grease its sale of military jets to South Africa."

Ngwane Aerospace is owned by Fana Hlongwane, the main known Government related beneficiary of arms deal commissions.

Hlongwane's payments however started ticking over a five year period after the arms deal was consumed. In total Ngwane Aerospace and another Hlongwane company, Hlongwane Consulting has received at least ZAR 200 million in commissions according to documents optioned by the British Serious Frauds Office.

Hlongwane was adviser to deceased Defense Minister Joe Modise at the time of the jet fighter negotiations - negotiations the then Chief-of-Staff Sipiwe Nyanda had direct influence over.

During his time as the minister's right hand man Mr Hlongwane was the main intermediary between the arms companies and the minister. He was well known by Saab's staff on the ground as early as 1997 as he offered offset deals with the minister involved, one was close to be consumed before it was turned down last minute by ABB, and asked for favours such as discounted Saab cars.

Nyanda's laywyer Christo Stockenström states to Mail & Guardian that the loan from Ngwenya Aerospace was cancelled 11 May 2009, coinciding with Sipiwe Nyanda being sworn in as Jacob Zuma's new Communications minister.

Fana Hlongwane was not the official agent for the jetfighter deal, his commissions are instead linked to services rendered after the deal was done. The official agent was Richard Carter, a British South Africa based business man who died in a canoe accident in 2004. His wife has since relocated back to the UK citing security fears.

Securitas plays catch-up through new acquistion in South Africa

africasc_admin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:50:59 -0500

Securitas, the worlds largest security company for business clients, has entered South Africa through the acquisition of a small security firm, MKB Tactical, for SEK 6.4 million.

The investment in South Africa comes at a time when the country prepares itself for the Fifa World Cup, an event the Government is doing its outmost to make safe for visitors and that way help wash away South Africa’s reputation of being one of the world’s most insecure, crime-ridden countries.

Securitas’s CEO Alf Göransson stated the modest investment was part of the company’s “strategy to increase its global presence”.

MKB Tactical, which is known for guarding some of Johannesburg’s wealthiest suburbs, is a minion in the South African security industry, which is dominated by ADT and Chubb, while arch rival G4S also has presence.

MKB Tactical, states Securitas, has annual sales of approximately MSEK 11.4 (MZAR 12) and the company has 250 employees.

Unlike Securitas, which normally focuses on industrial security, MKB Tactical operates in a couple of residential areas in Johannesburg. The main thrust is on patrolling cars and guards linked to a control room.

The investment in MKB Tactical is likely to be followed by other acquisitions. As the market is very fragmented there is scope for more acquisitions. The timing for good deals is right, as South Africa’s small businesses are struggling during the present economic downturn.

South Africa has about 5,000 registered private security companies and there are more than 300,000 registered guards.

Norway ups Zimbabwe aid

africasc_admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:30:59 -0500

JOHANNESBURG. Norway will increase its aid to Zimbabwe with NOK 42 million to a total of NOK 200 million this year, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who was visiting Norway. The funds will mainly go to areas that Tsvangirai’s party, the MDC, is responsible for: basic education, health services and promoting democracy.

The funds will not be channelled through the Zimbabwean government financial system, but through the UN, the World Bank and NGOs, according to the Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Norway ups aid to Zimbabwe

africasc_admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:00:00 -0500

Norway is increasing its aid to Zimbabwe by NOK 58 million. The money will be used to help the people of Zimbabwe and support the new Government of National Unity.

Due to the years of misrule, embezzlement and hyperinflation, the Norwegian money will not be channelled through the Zimbabwean Government’s financial system, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The funds will instead be channelled through NGOs, the UN and the World Bank.

Norway sends team to Madagascar

africasc_admin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:24:42 -0500

JOHANNESBURG. Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim is sending a delegation to Madagascar to report on the situation in the country in the light of the current conflict.

The Norwegian delegation will meet local politicians, NGOs, other donor countries and UN organisations in Madagascar with a view to gaining a better overview of the situation in the country.

Sweden speaks out against Sudan

africasc_admin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:18:06 -0600

JOHANNESBURG. Gunilla Carlsson, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, spoke out against the Government of Sudan's desicion to expel several humanitarian organisations from Sudan.

The Government of Sudan has decided that several international and Sudanese humanitarian organisations must immediately cease their activities in parts of Sudan, including Darfur, she explained.

Norway Defence Minister in Chad

africasc_admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:06:42 -0600

JOHANNESBURG. The Norwegian Minister of Defense, Ms. Anne-Grete StrØm-Erichsen, is visiting Chad from 14 to 17 January 2009 to assess possibilities for her country’s participation in the follow-on UN Peacekeeping Force (MINURCAT II) under consideration by the Security Council for eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic effective from 15 March 2009.

Norway is considering participating in MINURCAT II by operating a field hospital staffed with 150 medical personnel in Abeche.

StrØm-Erichsen and her delegation will hold several meetings in N’Djamena, including with the Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Chad to MINURCAT and EUFOR, the Ministers of External Relations and Defense, the Force Commander of EUFOR, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Central African Republic and Chad.

The delegation will also visit MINURCAT and EUFOR facilities, as well as a refugee camp in Farchana, near the border with Sudan.

Sweden speaks out on Midkessa arrest

africasc_admin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:13:17 -0600

JOHANNESBURG. Birtukan Midkessa, the chair of the largest opposition coalition in Ethiopia, was arrested and imprisoned by Ethiopian police, on 29 December 2008.

“The imprisonment of Birtukan Midkessa is a source of great concern, both for her personally and for democratic development in Ethiopia,” says Gunilla Carlsson.

“Scope for democracy and pluralism is shrinking in Ethiopia. The imprisonment of Ms Midkessa and the recently adopted law regulating the activities and funding of NGOs are examples of this negative development,” emphasises Ms Carlsson.

Birtukan Midkessa was one of the many opposition politicians imprisoned after the parliamentary elections in 2005. She was pardoned and released from prison in the summer of 2007 along with several others. The Ethiopian authorities have announced that Ms Midkessa’s pardon has been withdrawn and that the previously announced ruling on life imprisonment applies. The reason for the withdrawn pardon is said to be statements made by Birtukan Midkessa, including those during her visit to Sweden last autumn.

On 6 January 2009, the Ethiopian parliament adopted a new law regulating the activities of NGOs in Ethiopia. Under this law, NGOs receiving more than 10 per cent of their funding from abroad are not permitted to work in such fields as human rights, gender, the rights of children and people with disabilities, conflict resolution and efforts to make the legal system more effective.

Sweden buys SA armored vehicles

africasc_admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:50:51 -0600

JOHANNESBURG. The Swedish army has ordered 60 more RG32M light-armoured vehicles from South Africa’s BAE Systems Land Systems, confirms company spokesperson Mike Sweeney. That’s in addition to the 200 vehicles Sweden bought ealier.

Skeptics have argued that Sweden’s choice of South African combat vehicles has less to do with their suitability and more to do with South Africa’s order of Sweden Gripen fighter planes, during the controversial arms deal.

But the Swedes who also considered the US Humvee opted for the South African vehicle because of its cross-country performance, among other qualities, the company says. “The RG32M provides a very good combination of mine protection and cross-country mobility - attributes which can be mutually exclusive,” says Sweeney.

The RG32M is a 4x4 light armoured vehicle with a crew of 5 to 7 and a basic combat weight of about 7 300 kg.

The all-steel, welded armour, monocoque hull protects the crew against small arms fire, grenades, anti-personnel mines and land mine detonations under any wheel. The engine and other key components are also protected against small arms fire and shrapnel.

The RG32M is constructed from automotive sub-assemblies that are commercial off-the-shelf items. This provides significant benefits in cost-effectiveness, reliability and worldwide supportability.
The RG32M has various military and non-military applications to fulfill a wide spectrum of command, liaison, scouting, patrol and peacekeeping roles.

For more than three decades, Land Systems South Africa has been the globally recognized leader in the design, development and manufacture of combat and operationally-proven mine protected armoured vehicles, according to the company.

Land Systems South Africa is a South African company, jointly owned by BAE Systems (75%) and the South African Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Group, DGD Technologies (2001) Pty Ltd (25%).

Since BAE Systems entered the South African market in 1994, its business in the territory rapidly developed and the country has emerged as a home market for BAE Systems.

The business in South Africa comprises of two components: Land Systems South Africa (with two divisions, Land Systems OMC and Land Systems Gear Ratio) and BAE Systems Gripen Overseas (Ltd) (which comprises the Hawk & Gripen programmes, an associated Industrial Participation (offset) unit and various investments).