General Cable Corp. (www.generalcable.com) says its General Cable New Zealand subsidiary has acquired the shares of Brand-Rex Pty. Limited, a supplier of data communications cables in Australia.
The cable manufacturer made the purchase from the United Kingdom-based Novar Plc. The purchase substantially expands General Cable's reach into the communications market in Oceania, complementing its existing business in the region.
"We expect the acquisition to add $10-15 million in new revenues, solidify our position in Australia, and nicely leverage data communications cable manufacturing equipment acquired from Southwire," says Gregory Kenny, president and CEO of General Cable Corp. "This equipment was received as partial consideration for the sale of our building wire assets."
"The company will continue to look for bolt-on acquisitions that create value immediately by leveraging General Cable's investment in operating systems and its one- company approach to the market," Kenny continues.
Kenny says in light of the economic slowdown and as the industry consolidates globally, he expects to continue to see opportunities to acquire under-performing assets at compelling valuations.
Kenny is optimistic that the benefits of the company's restructuring will produce a sequential improvement in EPS despite a continuation of fourth quarter demand patterns.
In a separate announcement, General Cable says that based upon improving energy cable demand and cost reductions enabled by the strategic restructuring completed in the fourth quarter of 2001, it was comfortable that it would meet the consensus earnings estimate for the fourth quarter of $0.10 per fully diluted share. Metals adjusted revenues for the quarter were approximately 10% below the prior year for ongoing businesses.
General Cable, headquartered in Highland Heights, Ky., manufactures and distributes copper, aluminum and optical fiber wire and cable products for the communications, energy and industrial markets.