01 November 2006
Ian Cook Appointed Logicalis Group Chief Executive
Logicalis Group, an international provider of integrated information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, has appointed Ian Cook as CEO. Currently head of Logicalis European operations, he succeeds Jens Montanana who moves to the role of Chairman of the organisation.
The appointment will be effective 1st March 2007 to coincide with the Group's new financial year. It will see Cook, who is based at Logicalis' international headquarters in Slough, England, assume all day to day responsibility for the operations and management of the Group in North and South America as well as in Europe.
Cook joined Logicalis as head of European Operations in 2003, after more than 25 years in the technology industry. Previously, he was executive vice president sales and marketing at Damovo S.A., the global communications services company, responsible for the company's solution development and market proposition.
Prior to Damovo, in 1990 he headed up Siemens Networks Systems Ltd (SNSL), the company that subsequently became Omnetica, (now Affiniti) one of the UK's leading providers of network solutions and services.
Towards a $1 billion revenue organisation
According to Montanana, Cook's appointment was part of a succession planning process which took into account his international experience, as well as the significant business improvement and market share gains made in the UK, and this has contributed to the tremendous overall growth in revenues, and large improvements in the profitability of the Logicalis Group, that has been achieved over the last few years.
The majority of the group's revenues and profits are in the US; and in addition to the UK, the group also has a major presence in South America, and an operation in Germany.
For the year ended 28 February 2006, Logicalis delivered another twelve months of record-breaking revenue growth. Revenue was $545.6 million, which includes $105.3 million arising from the acquisitions made during the year. This compares to revenue of $340.9 million from continuing operations in 2005.
"The company is now heading towards becoming a $1 billion revenue organisation and already employs over 1000 people," he says.
Logicalis is part of the Johannesburg-based Datatec group which achieved a secondary listing on London's AIM in October 2006.
Consolidating role in core markets
During the last 18 months, Logicalis has made seven acquisitions across Europe and the US.
Ian Cook adds, "With this track record, Logicalis is well positioned to continue to play a consolidating role in its core markets of the US and UK, and in selected other strategic markets. Going forward, we are likely to continue with our acquisitive strategy, where it is strategically relevant, and aim to grow the Logicalis percentage representation of our parent company Datatec's group revenues, which for the year ended 28 February 2006 amounted to 18 per cent."
About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international provider of high-performance IT integration solutions. The Logicalis Group employs 1,000 people worldwide, including highly-trained service specialists who specify, design, deploy and manage IT infrastructure to meet the needs of over 5,000 corporate and public sector customers. Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as IBM, HP and Cisco.
The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited (DTCJ.J), a $3 billion business listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. With its international headquarters in the UK, Logicalis has operations in the U.S., UK, Germany, and South America.
For more information, visit www.uk.logicalis.com
For further information please contact Rachel Bibby or Amy Mills at Fleishman Hillard. Tel: +44 (0)20 7306 9000 or email logicalis.team@fleishman.com