Management leads ATIO buy-out deal
19 January 2006

ATIO Corporation, a leading IT solutions and services company, is proud to announce that Ethos Technology will be making a multi-million rand investment in the business. The investment will enable a consortium led by Ethos Technology, to buy-out Zephyr Management Africa Investment Fund, a US-based private equity shareholder in ATIO Corporation and currently its largest shareholder.

The buyout involves a consortium of Ethos Technology, Thuthukani Information Technology Services and the management of ATIO Corporation. This consortium will be making an offer for all ATIO Corporation shares not already owned.

"We are pleased to be able to attract an investment by a fund with the stature of Ethos Technology and again from our empowerment partner Thuthukani to our company. As a result of this transaction, ATIO Corporation will now become a 100% South African owned company, and is poised for further strong growth in all its business units," said Chris V an der Sande, CEO of ATIO Corporation.

According to Claudia Koch, CEO of Ethos Technology, "ATIO Corporation will be an excellent addition to our portfolio of South African growth-orientated technology companies. We see in ATIO Corporation a strong differentiation around its services and solutions offering in the call centre space, a high growth industry in South Africa and globally, as well as its telecommunications monitoring and revenue assurance solutions."

Stuart Mackenzie, senior partner at Ethos Technology, added "In partnering with ATIO Corporation we were able to find a win-win solution to unlock value within a complex shareholding structure. With the new equity arrangement in place we are confident that ATIO Corporation's strong management team and BEE partner are a winning formula to grow our investment,"

As a result of the deal, Thuthukani and ATIO Corporation's management will increase their respective stakes in the company. In the case of ATIO Corporation's BEE partner Thuthukani, their equity stake in the business would increase from 25.1% to 35%.

"The transaction demonstrates ATIO Corporation's commitment to furthering all aspects of broad-based black economic empowerment within the ICT industry. The company was recently awarded a BBB rating by Empowerdex for broad-based black economic empowerment and w e are confident that this deal will further strengthen those credentials," said Van der Sande .

According to Fannie Mahlangu, CEO of Thuthukani , "The increase of our shareholding further consolidates our strategic partnership with ATIO Corporation and should benefit both companies' offerings and growth."

The deal was prompted when Zephyr wanted to realise its eight-year investment and find an exit. The consortium will also make an offer to buy-out all ATIO Corporation's remaining shareholders.

Van der Sande asserts that all efforts are being made to ensure that ATIO Corporation's shareholders and the necessary authorities' approvals are obtained for the buy-out. The investment is still subject to the approval of the Competition Board and the Securities Regulation Panel. To date, acceptances from a significant majority of ATIO Corporation's shareholders have already been secured.