New thread started as Epic changed from LAF to LONR - May 07.





Epic : LONR

Web Site : http://www.lonrho.com/


Its something different, and something exciting imo.



Nice recent Telegraph write up to (April 2007) :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/04/04/cnlonrho04.xml


.

Further news today and slight movement up on the bid 38.375p +0.125p .....

Lonrho increases equity stake in Norse Air to 51%

Lonrho (AIM : LONR), the conglomerate with a diverse portfolio of African
investments, is pleased to announce that it has acquired a further 8% of Norse
Air Limited. This brings Lonrho's holding in Norse Air to 51% of the company.

This move is in consideration of the Lonrho Board's agreed mandate that Lonrho
should, whenever possible, maintain equity and Board control of all subsidiary
companies.

Lonrho had a convertible loan in place secured with the 8% option and, following
a review of the business, opted to convert the outstanding loan and increase its
equity participation.

David Lenigas, Lonrho Chairman and CEO commented:

"Lonrho's increased equity in Norse Air is another example of the Company's
objective to hold a majority stake in each of its subsidiaries. Lonrho is
developing businesses across Africa within infrastructure, transport and related
sectors that have strong potential for growth. Norse Air, like other Lonrho
subsidiaries benefits from our experience of Africa, Lonrho's ability to
transact larger deals and our ability to provide access to funds for expansion." .......

38.75 - 39.25p +0.875p

now moving much faster that for the last couple days

RNS Number:7216D
Lonrho PLC
12 September 2007

12 September 2007

Lonrho Plc
("Lonrho" or "the Company")

COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION LAUNCHES LONRHO
INTO THE AFRICAN IT INDUSTRY

Further to the announcement on 7 June 2007, Lonrho (AIM : LONR), the
conglomerate with a diverse portfolio of African investments, is pleased to
announce that it has now completed the acquisition of 65% of one of Mozambique's
largest commercial Information Technology Solution Providers, Sociedade
Comercial Bytes & Pieces, Limitada ("Bytes & Pieces"). Bytes & Pieces provides
turnkey network solutions, maintenance and support to Mozambique business, NGO's
and Government organisations.

Lonrho acquired Bytes & Pieces for $2.34 million (in cash) and will take up two
of the four Board positions. The two founders of Bytes & Pieces, Vijay Thadani
and Veronica Miller, will together retain 35% and remain on the Board. Bytes &
Pieces is an authorised distributor of Dell equipment in Mozambique, providing
Enterprise Solutions on a Dell hardware platform. It is also a Microsoft
Certified Partner and an authorised distributor for CISCO Systems, MGE UPS
Systems and Legrand networking products.

Bytes & Pieces plans to expand outside Mozambique under the name of Complete
Enterprise Solutions ("CES") by setting up a distribution division for high
quality networking products and an Enterprise solutions implementation division
based upon the Dell hardware platform.

David Lenigas, Lonrho Chairman and CEO commented:

"We are delighted to have completed on the acquisition of Bytes & Pieces.
Lonrho intends to build on the success of Bytes & Pieces and replicate the
business model built up in Mozambique through other countries in Africa,
starting with the company's first office in Johannesburg. We believe the
business expansion of CES will assist the growth of the African economy to meet
the IT demands across the continent."

holding up well in these markets at 40p after some recent profit taking.

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Lonrho PLC said it won partial approval from the Kenyan government to begin service between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lonhro said its 49-pct owned Fly540 Aviation will begin flights between Juba in Sudan and Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Oct 13.

The company said it won the approval for the Sudan-DRC service after it became Kenya's second-largest airline with August passenger loads touching 16,000 and load factor touching 84 pct.

Fly540 has agreed for another ATR42-320 passenger aircraft to service the new routes, the release added.

sp 40.25p----- as an additional comment, I notice that Gordon Brown has suddenly decided that it would be a good time to join the get Megabe front. His days must be numbered since Brown probably thinks this is a safe bet and earn him some browny points. He does like to get his timing right and may help him divert interest away from things domestic.

Lonrho PLC 25 September 2007

Lonrho Plc
('Lonrho' or 'the Company')

Nare Diamonds Completes New Final Recovery Plant and Recovers 32 carat Gem Diamond

Lonrho (AIM : LONR), the conglomerate with a structured portfolio of African investments, is pleased to announce that Nare Diamonds Limited ('Nare'), the Australian listed African diamond mining company in which it holds a 21.94% stake and which recently announced its intention to change its name to Lonrho Mining and pursue a dual listing on AIM, has completed and commissioned a new final recovery processing plant at its Schmidtsdrift mine in South Africa which should significantly increase the recovery of diamonds.

The new final recovery plant will treat all diamondiferous concentrates produced by the mining operations at the Schmidtsdrift mine. The plant contains six proprietary Flowsort X-ray diamond recovery machines, each calibrated to recover specific diamond size fractions. The recovery process is expected to attain recovery levels over 95%. The hands free process is undertaken in a closed circuit, with no human interaction.

Nare is pleased to announce that, after the commissioning of the plant, it has recovered a gem quality 32 carat diamond from the Schmidtsdrift mine. The diamond has been valued with an average value per carat of US$2,000.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4073e_-2007-9-24.pdf

David Lenigas, Chairman and CEO of Lonrho Plc and Chairman of Nare Diamonds commented:

'I am confident that the new technology that has been commissioned at the Schmidtdrift mine will add significant value to the operations in terms of the quality and volume of diamonds recovered. The X-ray based recovery is regarded by the industry as the optimal recovery process and the most secure.

'Additionally the recovery of the 32 carat diamond last week emphasises the strong potential of the Schmidtsdrift resource and operations'

Good performance last few days, and now nearing a breakout.

LETS HOPE.

A little bit more on the Microfinance Bank that LONR have taken a controlling 51% stake in, ref this RNS http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200709210701512384E :



"Socremo Banco de Microfinans, Mozambique

Socremo Banco de Microfinans (Socremo MFB) is one of the largest MFIs in Mozambique. Its history goes back as far as 1992, when Deutsche Gesellschaft f Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) initiated an integrated training and credit program for start-up businesses owned mainly by Mozambican contract workers returning from the former German Democratic Republic. Due to disastrous initial lending results, an alternative concept involving transformation into a microfinance institution was developed.

In 1998, Socremo was authorized to become a non-bank financial intermediary, and in May 2004, Socremo obtained a license to operate as a Microfinance Bank (MFB). Socremo MFB is advised by LFS Financial Systems (LFS) through a technical assistance agreement funded by DFID, GTZ among other donors.

During the past few years, Socremo MFB has achieved a remarkable turnaround, with a rapid portfolio expansion and profits every year since 2000."

********************

Some more info from a World Bank presentation, link below :

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/FSLP/Resources/CDiehl_Socremo.ppt#256,1,Slide 1

Market likes the news on the funding.........means more expansion of course :)

you get the feeling that Lonr is going up a gear. I am sure the Company will be highlighted in the media again. Probably some more African Funds trying to get on board.

Lonrho PLC 01 October 2007

Lonrho Plc
('Lonrho' or 'the Company')

Lonrho signs Heads of Agreement to lease and manage a 5 star,
256 room hotel in Democratic Republic of Congo

Lonrho (AIM : LONR), the conglomerate with a structured portfolio of African
investments, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Heads of Agreement with Luano Grand to lease and manage a 256 room, 5 star hotel at the proposed Luano Grand development in Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Luano Grand ( http://www.luanogrand.com ) is a proposed mix-use retail, residential, office and hotel complex that was officially launched at the South African Consulate in Lubumbashi on Friday 28th September 2007. The launch was presided over by His Excellency Moise Katumbi, the Governor of Katanga Province and a number of Ministers of State and Government officials from South Africa and Belgium. Construction of the complex is scheduled to begin in 2008.

Amongst the 300 guests attending the launch of the project were representatives
of the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) and DBSA (Development Bank of
South Africa).

The hotel will have 256 rooms and 50 long stay apartments and is designed to be
connected to a retail mall, which in turn will have access to offices and
residential units. Lonrho Hotels, a division of Lonrho Plc, will lease and
manage the hotel and long stay apartments in the project.

David Lenigas, the Chairman and CEO of Lonrho Plc, commented :

'The development of Katanga Province in the DRC is being fuelled by the
significant foreign direct investment into the mining of the copper and cobalt
natural resources in the region. Companies such as Phelps Dodge and Nikanor are
investing an estimated US$ 4 billion in mining projects in Katanga over the next five years and, with this, the demand for quality accommodation and support services will be significant. Lonrho is delighted to be involved with this major, forward-looking project that will generate jobs and prosperity.'

Lonrho PLC said it has signed an agreement with Luano Grand to lease and manage a 256 room, 5-star hotel at the proposed Luano Grand development in Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Luano Grand is a proposed mix-use retail, residential, office and hotel complex and its construction is scheduled to begin in 2008.

The hotel will be leased and managed by Lonrho Hotels, a division of Lonrho PLC.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/article2557110.ece

From The Sunday Times

September 30, 2007

Merryn on Money: Time to adopt Africa by Merryn Somerset Webb

Im looking for a safe haven for my money. It isnt easy. Things seem to be getting worse and worse in America.

The International Council of Shopping Centres reported that retail sales fell 1% overall last week. Target, the second-biggest US discount chain, cut its forecasts for September sales to 1.5%-2.5% from 4%-6%.

There was worse news for property. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city index reported that prices fell by an average of 3.9% year-on-year. The index fell on an annual basis in January for the first time, and has fallen every month since. Fifteen of the 20 cities saw declines, with the largest in Detroit, down 9.7%.

Anyone who thinks global property or US shares are always a good long-term bet should hotfoot it over the Atlantic now. I wont be joining them.

Then there is Europe. Ireland and Spain have been responsible for about a quarter of Europes growth in the past four to five years, but now the main drivers - building and buying houses are in mid-collapse.

At the same time there is little real evidence to back up the optimistic view that the European economies and markets have somehow decoupled from Americas. They havent: 15% of EU exports still end up there.

Decoupling is a buzzword in Asia too. Here there is evidence that domestic economies can thrive independently, and it is certainly true that given the choice between an American fund and an Asian fund, Id take the latter in a heartbeat. But I still dont think there is any way Asia can escape a US recession unscathed. America may no longer be the only engine of global growth but it is still the main one.

So where can you find a market that is genuinely uncorrelated with the rest of the world? The answer, counter-intuitively, is Africa. Since I last wrote about investing there in February, the headline news on the continent has been as unremittingly miserable as usual. But behind the scenes the economic fundamentals have just kept getting better.

GDP growth across the region has been rising fast (well above 5% in 2005 and 2006 and a forecast 6.8% this year) and is expected to keep doing so. This is partly down to the commodities boom and to the continents new best friend, commodity hungry China. Sino-African trade hit $55.5 billion (27.4 billion) last year, up 40% from the year before, and China has now directly invested more than 3 billion into Africa. This is not just upping average incomes but rebuilding roads, railways, ports and schools across the continent.

But the boom in Africa isnt just about China; its about increasing political and financial stability (which makes the region investable). Note that two African countries Libya and Algeria actually make it onto the World Economic Forums list of stable economies.

Its also about soft commodities. There has been much hand wringing about how urban Africans will suffer from rising food prices and they probably will. But lets not forget that the majority of poor Africans are still farmers.

So rising prices will surely bring them rising incomes, perhaps even some surplus income.

And as a welcome side-effect this might encourage them to stick with trying to make money from the land rather than migrating to cities that arent yet ready for them. Its just a horrible shame that Zimbabwe, once one of the biggest exporters of grain on the continent, is missing out.

Africas renaissance is also about other noncommodity industries. The tourism, telecoms and financial sectors are expanding fast, as are the many companies providing things such as soap, chocolate and beer to people with a tiny bit more spare cash than a decade ago. Its also worth noting that the fastest-growing economies are very often those that have little or no commodity exposure Kenya, for example.

And the best thing of all? History shows that African markets move with very little reference to global markets. They are, says Mark Foster-Brown of Altima Partners, utterly uncorrelated to other financial markets, a characteristic not to be sniffed at in the current environment of total correlation of everything else.

So how can you get in? It isnt easy. In February, I suggested buying shares in AIM-listed Lonrho, which has investments across the continent in everything from water plants to airlines and which seems to make a new deal every week. The shares are up 40% since then and I still like them (they are in my pension) but, given the speed of the companys expansion, they dont necessarily make a safe haven.

The good news is that in the past few months a few funds that give the retail investor access to Africa have appeared on the market. Most interesting of the lot is Charlemagne Capitals Magna Africa fund. This has raised well over 40m since its launch only three months ago, and probably for good reason it is one of the few Africa funds that doesnt come with an absurdly high minimum investment, while Charlemagne has an excellent record in local emerging markets.

Otherwise, coming soon is the New Star Heart of Africa fund to be run by Jamie Allsopp. Those who cant wait for that launch might look at Allsopps UK Hidden Value fund, which already has large Africa-related holdings, including shares in Lonrho.

Merryn Somerset Webb is a former stockbroker and now editor of Money Week. Her views are personal and investors should always seek professional advice.

Write up on the LonZim Offering.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2578198.ece


October 3, 2007

Lonrho aims high with plan for LonZim offering

David Robertson

In what must be one of the...........................................

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7038394.stm


Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 17:38 GMT 18:38 UK

......................................................"Sub-Saharan Africa is a particularly strong growth market," he told the BBC.

"You're talking about a region that has 15% of the world's population, 20% of the world's land mass, but only produces 2% of global output at this stage. Against that backdrop sub-Saharan Africa is actually increasing its exports to China, whereas the rest of the world is doing quite the opposite.

"So what we have is a huge, untapped, but not very well understood, investment opportunity in all shapes and sizes," he said.

Unlike several other parts of the world, sub-Saharan Africa is showing high growth rates - with the banking sector, for example, growing by 90% over the past few years.

Analysts say, however, that the risks of investing in Africa are still high, because of factors like poor infrastructure and corruption - but they say that also means the rewards are potentially much higher..............................................

THANKS PP.

Lonrho PLC
15 October 2007
LONRHO PLC
(Lonrho or the 'Company')

Lonrho increases equity stake in Container Shipping Company SAILS to 51%

Lonrho (AIM: LONR), the conglomerate with a structured portfolio of African
investments, is pleased to announce that it has acquired a further 6% of SA
Liners Limited ( 'SAILS' ) for US$500,000, taking Lonrho's holding in SA Liners
to 51% of the company.

This increase reflects the Board of Lonrho's strategy that Lonrho should,
whenever possible, maintain a majority shareholding and Board control of all
group companies.

Lonrho acquired 45% of SAILS and Board control in July 2007 for an investment of US$ 6 million. Since Lonrho's investment, SAIL's operations have expanded and the fleet has grown from two to five vessels in service, which will be increased to seven vessels by early December.

Lonrho increased its shareholding in SAILS under the terms of a convertible
working capital facility that had been put in place.

David Lenigas, Lonrho's Executive Chairman commented:

'SAILS is a core Lonrho business with significant potential. Strong demand from customers has led to the recent increase in vessels in service and we also
expect there to be further expansion of the SAILS fleet next year.

'Lonrho's increased equity in SAILS is another example of the Company's
objective to hold a majority stake in each of its subsidiaries.'

http://secure.financialmail.co.za/07/1012/moneyinvest/kmoney.htm

12 October 2007

LONRHO

Return of the great investor
By Sasha Planting

Once it was the only company that dared invest in Africa. But excessive ambition and rampant egotism led the once-mighty Lonrho into crippling debt, forcing executives to dump assets in a fire-sale that lasted a decade.
Today, a refocused Lonrho is again gobbling up assets across Africa, unashamedly aiming to become the pan-African conglomerate it was, according to executive chairman David Lenigas.
Last week Lonrho (previously Lonrho Africa) announced the acquisition of Zimbabwean companies Celsys, an ICT player, and chemical supplier Millpal - investments that were not well received by the British press.
These companies will be offered to LonZim, the 32m fund that Lonrho has established and plans to list later this month. It will be used to invest in hard assets such as property and hotels in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries.
These deals follow September's announcement that Lonrho had acquired 51% of Mozambican microfinance bank Socremo and, before that, 100% of Swissta, a bottled-water manufacturer, and 65% of Bits & Bytes, Mozambique's biggest commercial IT distributor. Unremarkable deals perhaps, but to Lenigas they are just the beginning.
" Africa is being screwed by the financial institutions," he says. "Interest rates are exorbitant and the process to get a commercial loan is ludicrous. It is inhibiting Africa's growth. I'm excited about microbanking in Mozambique."

Lenigas plans to expand these businesses across Africa. "I'd like to see the microbanking operation in six countries within a year. And within the next few months we will establish water-bottling facilities in three or four countries, and will be in 30 countries within five years. We will focus on a premium brand for tourists and low-cost water for people who can't afford that."

Lenigas, an Australian miner, knows Africa intimately. He has run diamond fields in Angola (for the Kebbles) and gold mines in Ghana. " Africa is open for business - the development on infrastructure build is similar to that in Asia 20 years ago. I want to create an environment where international business can travel, stay and move product around. That's where we are investing - hotels, ports, low-cost airlines."

Lonrho's decision to stop disposing of assets and expand back into Africa came about at an extraordinary AGM in February 2006 when shareholders agreed to a new vision and focus for the company.

This followed a decade of disposals, including mines, hotels, motor dealerships, logistics and media operations, cotton, sugar, timber, textile and meat-processing operations. The buyers were Arab princes, Chinese opportunists and local management.

Lonrho was forced to start selling the family silver in 1992 by a crushing level of net borrowings - more than 1bn - and the process was accelerated in 1994 when German businessman Dieter Boch wrested power away from controversial tycoon Tiny Rowland, who had been CEO for 32 years.

In 1998 the mining operations were split off into what is now called Lonmin (today worth about 4,1bn). Lonrho Africa became little more than a shell, says Lenigas, with nothing but a majority shareholding in Mozambique hotel Cardoso, cash reserves of 18m and the "barmy army", a group of ageing but loyal shareholders with a passion for Africa.

They were game for another crack at Africa and recruited Lenigas to restructure the company and turn it around, which he has done with gusto. Board members are younger and more energetic. The only people remaining from Rowland's era are company secretary Jim Hughes, with Lonrho since 1974, and a handful of financial people, "because of Lonrho's complicated structure".

This week Lonrho announced that Geoffrey White, who joined the company in June as COO, has been made CEO. Lenigas remains executive chairman and will control the board and set strategy.

Though the new investment strategy seems much like the old, there are distinct differences, says Lenigas. "No-one could understand the old Lonrho because its focus was so broad - from hair gel to game reserves. We are clearly focused on infrastructure, transportation, natural resources and support services."

Another fundamental difference is that Lonrho will carry no debt at parent level, nor will it guarantee its subsidiaries' debts. Profitable operations will not support unprofitable ones.

A more subtle transformation is of Lonrho's business-at-all-costs culture, which earned Rowland the disdain of the British establishment and reverence throughout Africa. Twenty years later, Lenigas is committed to transparency and "acceptable capitalism".

"The way I see it," he says, "Lonrho did business the way that Africans did business. But I'm totally transparent - I'm not going to jail for anybody."

Lonrho's new investment spree kicked off with the acquisition of an 8,2% stake in Brinkley Mining, which has uranium operations in SA and interests in the DRC; and a 17% interest in Nare Diamonds, a production and exploration company based in SA.

In May last year Lonrho acquired 63% of the only deep-water port in Equatorial Guinea, which is set to become one of the wealthiest countries in Africa as its huge offshore oil reserves come on stream. The tax-free port is servicing the rapidly growing offshore oil industry, and Lonrho has recently completed a logistics facility for ExxonMobil's local operation.

The government owns the remaining 37% of the port. "I love governments as partners: we are less likely to be nationalised if there is a shake-up in government and policy," says Lenigas.

Lonrho also has a stake in Fly540, a low-cost airline based in Nairobi; and Norse Air, a charter business based in Johannesburg, which holds the contract to provide a cargo and passenger service for AngloGold Ashanti. "That's a gangbuster business [Fly540]. It has operated for less than a year, flies to more destinations than Kenya Airlines and now has partial international rights, so we can fly to the DRC and Sudan, and the business is profitable." Lonrho has an agreement with the Angolan government to launch Fly540 in Angola. "There is huge demand for internal flights in Africa, this is where huge growth will come from in the next decade."

In a similar vein, Lonrho acquired 45% and control of cargo-ship operator SA Independent Liner Services (Sails) for US$6m, with an option to increase its stake to 51% within the next five years. "Nobody is servicing the smaller ports up the east and west coasts and there is demand. Africa needs to get its products to market and I want new, modern, fast ships to ensure that I give the countries we service a competitive edge."

Funding these investments is not a problem at this stage, says Lenigas. "We have raised 53m for acquisitions in the past six months and will raise further capital when it is needed.

"Everyone talks the talk in Africa but no-one writes out the cheques. We get the good deals because we have the ability to pay and thus can act quickly."

At this point, though, it seems investors are acting on faith. The half-year results to March reflected impressive turnover of 10,4m (up from 600 000 in March 2006 and from 3,4m at the September year-end) - but the operating loss was 3m.

Says Lenigas: "We need capital to get the business up and running. But within the group certain businesses are already profitable, like Fly540 and Sails. But if we start Fly540 in Angola, it will require an investment of $6m- $9m and won't make money till the second year. And we are investing $71m in Luba Freeport.

"My gut feel is that if we stopped now, the business would be profitable within a year. But that's not what we are about - we are acquiring businesses as fast as possible that we think will make a difference to Africa."

Unfortunately, though, local shareholders are unable to benefit from Lenigas's optimism. Though the company is listed in London and Johannesburg, the local share is highly illiquid. "At some point we will have to address that; the only way is to do some large financing with those local institutions able to invest outside the country."

RNS Number:7716F Lonrho PLC
16 October 2007

Lonrho Plc
("Lonrho" or "the Company")

Lonrho Acquires 51% of KwikBuild

Lonrho (AIM: LONR) is pleased to announce that it has acquired 51% of KwikBuild Corporation Limited ("KwikBuild"), providers of innovative cost-efficient building solutions, for #2.1m of which #1m has been injected as working capital into the business. This acquisition is in line with Lonrho's strategy for investment in infrastructure in Africa.

KwikBuild uses lightweight building products for rapid and in-expensive construction and has completed projects in South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique. The existing production is located in Johannesburg, South Africa with a further plant being established in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

All KwikBuild structures can be erected on any terrain by semi-skilled labour using a dry building process without the need for costly steel or wooden frames. The building materials are weatherproof, fire resistant and provide good insulation.

Lonrho's acquisition of KwikBuild allows for the immediate expansion of KwikBuild's successful South African business model, and KwikBuild will be able to capitalise on Lonrho's African network to access to new markets.

To date, KwikBuild has focussed on large-scale public sector projects. In South Africa, these include providing social housing to the Ministry of Housing; schools to the Ministry of Education, accommodating over 5,000 children; and medical clinics and laboratories for the Department of Health. Similar projects have been completed in Angola, Zambia and Mozambique.

KwikBuild structures are also being used by a leading telecom provider in South Africa, which required buildings to operate and manage their GSM cellular network. Leading mining companies have also used the Kwikbuild structures for their offices and accommodation.

In South Africa, there is immediate demand for 4 million low-cost homes. Presently, KwikBuild is negotiating with local authorities for the re-development of shanty towns.

David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of Lonrho Plc, commented:

"We expect significant uptake of KwikBuild systems across Africa in public works projects for housing, schools, hospitals and government offices. The
acquisition of KwikBuild by Lonrho is an essential part of our longer-term strategy to invest in responsible African infrastructure growth."