Johannesburg - Isuzu Trucks South Africa has moved to complement its growth strategy by acquiring Port Elizabeth-based Kanu Commercial Body Construction and Automotive Chassis Technologies (ACT) for an undisclosed amount.
Craig Uren, the chief operating officer of Isuzu Trucks SA, said yesterday that the transaction was effective from next month and would result in Isuzu Trucks SA changing from being a typical commercial original equipment manufacturer to an enterprise-type of business that had the capacity to initiate and build products according to client specifications.
“We believe the acquisition of Kanu and ACT will definitely enhance our current business structure. The move to acquire these entities will centralise the process of buying our trucks where everything will be processed from one central point of contact,” he said.
Uren said the acquisition would lead to new jobs being created and Isuzu Trucks SA would be investing further capital into these businesses.
He said the business currently had a workforce of 75, of which 40 were temporary contract workers, but the intention was to make these temporary contract workers permanent employees by the end of this year.
Sipho Sandla, the current plant manager of Isuzu Trucks SA’s plant in Port Elizabeth, has been appointed general manager of the Kanu/ACT operation in the city.
Uren said only 7 percent of the fitments of the 4 050 trucks Isuzu Trucks SA sold last year were from Kanu/ACT and the intention was to increase this to about 30 percent. He said this meant there was “a fair amount of upside” to the employment in the businesses.
Second phase
Uren added that it was too early to comment on the capital investment that would be made in the businesses because Isuzu engineers from Japan would be in South Africa in September to go through the process flows and layout of the plant and determine how much was required.
He said a lot of the machinery in the factory was old, as were the premises, and it might be more efficient to move the factory to new premises in Port Elizabeth.
Uren said the second phase of the Kanu/ACT transaction was for Isuzu Trucks SA to dilute its 100 percent shareholding in these businesses by bringing in industry leading product and service providers as shareholder partners.
Uren confirmed Isuzu Trucks SA was involved in talks about entering into some joint ventures and stressed the intention was to find a way of collaborating rather than owning businesses.
He said further details about these joint ventures would be announced in September or October.
He said Isuzu Trucks SA needed to be part of a process where it could provide product solutions and opportunities for customers to run their trucks more efficiently and cost effectively, and get a good return on their investment.
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