INTERVIEW: Lonrho Eyes Expansion, Readies Main Market Return

15th Jul 2010 06:30

This story was originally published Wednesday By Jason Douglas Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Africa-focused conglomerate Lonrho PLC (LONR.LN) Tuesday said it has big plans to expand its ports, airline and farming businesses in the years ahead, as it prepares for a return to the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Chief Executive Geoffrey White told Dow Jones Newswires Lonrho is aiming to move back to the main market later this year or early 2011 after about a decade on the junior Alternative Investment Market. The company is also exploring the possibility of a second listing, possibly in Hong Kong, in an effort to tap overseas investor interest in Africa and its economic expansion, White said in an interview Tuesday. Lonrho, once a globe-spanning conglomerate headed by controversial British businessman Tiny Rowland, sold off most of its businesses during a troubled period in the 1990s and moved to AIM in 2000. In 2005, shareholders urged it to renew its focus on its 100-year-old roots in Africa and since then has built up interests ranging from selling tractors in Mozambique to bottling water, shipping food abroad, hotels, ports and distributing software. White said Lonrho plans to expand all its businesses in future but in the near-term will open a new western hub for its pan-African airline Fly540 in Ghana this September. Lonrho is also poised to begin selling its agricultural produce from Africa in the U.S. through an deal with retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and intends a similar push into the Middle East, said White. European rivals like Carrefour S.A. (CA.FR) and Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) are already clients. White added Lonrho also intends to expand its infrastructure business. It operates Luba Freeport in Equatorial Guinea, which provides services for oil majors like Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and oilfield-services firms like Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB). Lonrho is considering adding oil rig repair services to its operations at Luba, said White, and is exploring the potential to open similar ports elsewhere on the west African coast, he said. -By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 15, 2010 01:30 ET (05:30 GMT)