Shoreline Acquires Majority Stake In Nigerian Ropes Plc

March 13, 2008 - PRLog -- Shoreline today announced the closing of its acquisition of a Majority stake in Nigerian Ropes PLC a company Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Nigerian Ropes PLC manufactures a wide range of fibre, manila and steel wire ropes conforming to international standards. It’s products are certified by the, Bureau Veritas, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping and the Nigerian Standard Organization

The acquisition heralds Shoreline entry into the wire ropes market in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Speaking in Lagos, Kola Karim CEO of Shoreline Energy international said “This is a very exciting acquisition; it represents the end of a long search for a suitable platform acquisition to enter the wire rope industry. The market for Wire ropes and value added products in Sub-Saharan Africa is exploding; wire ropes have a wide range of market applications that are critical to infrastructure development on the continent including power, telecommunications, marine, oil and gas exploration and services; surface and deep mining; construction; and specialty lifting and suspension applications.”

Responding to questions, Mr Karim added “Our teams have already begun work on expansion plans for the business to expand into the cable manufacturing business to service the power, telecommunication and electrical sectors including manufacturing plants and distribution facilities across the continent. We expect to begin to execute on a growth strategy of building an integrated wire and cable business that anticipates strong organic growth coupled with an acquisition program in the next 2 quarters.”

“We are pleased to join the world class management team at Shoreline through this acquisition” said Mr Carlo Bertani, Managing Director of Nigerian Ropes PLC. “Shoreline has a long history of success in Sub-Saharan Africa and we look forward to working with the Company’s dedicated and talented team to implement a long-term strategy to strengthen our position as the  leading producer and marketer of specialty wire ropes. “Today’s announcement marks the next logical step in the evolution of the new Nigerian Ropes,” said Mr. Bertani. “With Shoreline we will continue our aggressive plans to expand through widening our range of products and services as well as executing targeted, strategic acquisitions.”

About Shoreline:  
Shoreline is a leading Energy and Infrastructure Group operating in Africa. Shoreline has grown rapidly through acquisition. Recent acquisitions: ABB Electrical Systems (Nigeria), Costain (West Africa) PLC, Schlumberger testing and production (Nig). The Group continues to focus on Integrated Infrastructure and Energy leadership in sub-Saharan Africa.

About Nigerian Ropes Plc:
Nigerian Ropes PLC was incorporated in Nigeria in March 1960, as an associated member Company of   BRIDON PLC, the world leader in all aspect of ropes and cordage technology. Nigerian Ropes PLC manufactures a wide range of fibre, manila and steel wire ropes conforming to international standards. It’s products are certified by the, Bureau Veritas, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping and the Nigerian Standard Organization and are use in the oil and gas services, marine , construction sectors amongst others.