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Mumbai, September 5, 2005 -- Four Soft Limited (4S) (NSE: "FOURSOFT" BSE: 532521), a leading provider of transportation, logistics and supply-chain process management software solutions to large enterprises, has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), through its wholly owned subsidiary Four Soft BV, Netherlands to acquire 100% shares of DCS Transportation and Logistics Solutions division, a UK headquartered Transport & Logistics Software solutions major, with operations in UK, The Netherlands, US, France & Germany.
Under the terms of the agreement, which was approved by the companies' boards of directors, the cumulative purchase consideration will be approximately US$ 19 million. ICICI Bank UK has part funded the transaction through debt funding.
The acquisition of DCS gives 4S the size and reach of a global player and for all existing and potential customers a local partner to cater to their needs with strong local teams. This acquisition establishes 4S as the market leader with large international client base including majority of the top twenty Transportation & Logistics companies of the world.
Speaking on the acquisition, Mr. Srikanth Palem, CEO & MD, Four Soft Ltd. said, "4S offers the next generation technologies and products with a strong development centre in India. DCS has excellent domain knowledge and established customer base for existing products. This acquisition presents the combined customer base a reliable migration path forward and global support for a comprehensive range of products and services in Transportation and Logistics."
"The combined customer base will expand from 120+ to 250+ and the range of products will encompass the complete Transportation & Logistics domain catering to 30,000+ users spread across 75 countries," he added.
On the occasion, Mr. Stephen Yapp CEO of DCS Transport and Logistics Solutions Ltd. said, "all industry indicators point to the inevitable movement towards comprehensive solutions on advanced technologies for this industry which has been recognized by DCS as well in its product roadmap. This acquisition will aide to speed up this process with 4S benefiting from the large visibility and customer base that DCS enjoys in this industry today and we believe there is strong win-win for our shareholders, customers, partners and employees."
Mr.Kalpesh Kikani, Head Corporate Banking / ICICI Bank representative stated, "ICICI is happy to be a part of the transaction and getting associated with Four Soft. ICICI Bank UK has been involved in similar transactions and helped Indian corporates to acquire companies globally." The entire debt funding of the transaction has been provided by ICICI Bank UK.
Ernst and Young was transaction advisers for the above transaction.
About Four Soft Ltd
4S is an enterprise solutions company, providing innovative software products, exclusively for transportation, logistics and supply-chain management market place and also offers IT consultancy services. It has its software development centre in HITEC city of Hyderabad, India with products developed on three-tier web architecture. The Company has large customers including EGL Global Logistics, Panasonic Logistics, Frans Maas Europe, S-Net Freight, W.T. Limited, Frank-Lin Distilleries and Century Logistics Berhad. Additional information about Four Soft is available at http://www.four-soft.com
DCS Transport and Logistics Ltd
DCS Transport and Logistics solutions is a leading provider of software and services to the logistics industry - an industry which continues to experience unprecedented change. DCSi.Logistics provides a total solution for all aspects of logistics and freight forwarding by combining its core modules with add-ons such as mobile communications, digital document imaging, voice enhanced applications and on-board computing. DCS Transport & Logistics Solutions is part of the DCS Group (LSE: DCS), an International IT Solutions Company. Additional information on DCS can be obtained from http://www.dcstrans.com.
For further information contact:
Krishna RSR - +91 98495 61250
krishna.rsr@four-soft.com
Four Soft Limited
Chavneet Arora - +91 9820165470
chavneet@adfactorspr.com
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