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SoftLine aims to make a big impac... US firms point fingers at Highveld and I... Local tyres are back in the rac... Syndicates target container... New-look Dorbyl in gear to drive into p... |
SoftLine aims to make a big impact
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SOFTLINE Holdings, one of the hottest new prospects on the information technology scene, will announce its JSE listing this week. It will be a reverse listing using the Benoni cash shell, owned by Gerald Rubenstein, who will become chairman of the new company. SoftLine's co-founder, Ivan Epstein, will be chief executive. The listing signals the return to the JSE of controversial former Punch Line boss Barry Schechter. He will hold a minority interest and remain based in the US. The board will also include financial director Steven Cohen, Metro's Carlos dos Santos, Charles Turner of Nedcor Investment Bank and Milton Levine of Chester Industries. Founded in 1989, SoftLine today employs more than 200 people. The company was sold to Persetel in 1993 and bought back in December last year. Turnover to February 1997 is expected to be R170-million. By the time the company comes to the market - sometime in January - earnings for the year to end-February 1997 of 4c are expected. Epstein is predicting 6c in 1997/98. SoftLine has broadened its business base in the past 18 months. The acquisition of Ultra Technologies has strengthened the group's networking and systems integration business, while the Masterskill Training acquisition gave it a foothold in computer education.
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