CTE Consortium acquires Union Carriage & Wagon from Murray & Roberts

29 January 2013

Johannesburg, 29 January 2013 - Murray & Roberts has announced the disposal of the business of Union Carriage & Wagon Company ("UCW") to the CTE Consortium, a consortium including CTE Investments (Pty) Ltd ("Commuter Transport Engineering") or ("CTE") and the Industrial Development Corporation ("IDC"), for an undisclosed amount.
 
Henry Laas, Group Chief Executive, Murray & Roberts comments: "We are pleased with the transaction and believe that it reaffirms our core focus on construction and engineering, part of our overarching Recovery & Growth strategy."

Commuter Transport Engineering was established in 1999 with the primary aim of refurbishing commuter rail coaches and is the first black woman-owned refurbishment company to enter the South African rail industry. The company's operating divisions include CTE Touws River, CTE Durban, CTE Engineering Services and CTE Projects with operations in Durban, Cape Town and Touws River.

Patricia Norris, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of CTE, comments:  "We are excited about the future prospects of rail infrastructure, manufacturing and engineering in South Africa, as CTE and UCW are ideally positioned to take full advantage of these prospects, as it is our core focus. Our unified strengths will enhance critical production capacity required to execute on Government's rail infrastructure objectives."

This is the second time that the IDC has partnered with Commuter Transport Engineering - the corporation provided start-up capital to CTE more than 10 years ago.

IDC Executive for Mining and Manufacturing Industries, Abel Malinga said: "The IDC's participation in the deal is in line with the corporation's strategy of localisation. The infrastructure capex programme provides a window of opportunity for rejuvenating the country's industrial base through rebuilding industries that have declined over the years - thus assisting to prevent de-industrialisation of our economy."

The Industrial Development Corporation is a national development public finance institution set up to promote economic growth and industrial development in South Africa.

The combined company will create many benefits including the delivery of a national footprint, introduction of new technology to improve efficiencies and delivery of quality services to existing and future clients, re-alignment of the business with additional business units to drive turnover and profitability and present professional development and career progression opportunities to an enlarged workforce.

"We have an experienced management team in place and we believe that consolidation of the industry is necessary to create a more conducive supply environment", concludes Norris.

For further information contact:
Mr Ed Jardim
Group Communications Executive
Mobile +27 (0) 83 357 6282
E-mail: eduard.jardim@murrob.com

About Murray & Roberts

Murray & Roberts is South Africa's leading engineering, contracting and construction services company. It offers civil, mechanical, electrical, mining and process engineering; general building, construction and infrastructure development; materials supply and services to the global underground mining market and selected emerging market natural resources and infrastructure sectors.

The company operates in Southern Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australasia and North and South America. The company is based in Johannesburg South Africa, where it has a public listing on the JSE Limited.

Murray & Roberts is a group of world-class companies and brands aligned to the same purpose and vision, and guided by the same set of values.

More information is available at www.murrob.com

About Commuter Transport Engineering (CTE)

Commuter Transport Engineering (CTE) was established in 1999 by Patricia Norris with the primary aim of refurbishing commuter rail coaches. Since then, the company has enjoyed considerable success in the rail refurbishment industry in South Africa.

As the first 'black' company, owned by a woman, to enter the commuter train refurbishment industry, the continued success of CTE has been built on knowledge, integrity, superior customer service and a reputation for value-added solutions that contribute to sustainable client success.

The company's operating divisions include CTE Touws River, CTE Durban, CTE Engineering Services and CTE Projects and have operations in Durban and Cape Town and Touws River.

More information is available at www.cte.co.za

About the IDC

The IDC is a national development finance institution set up to promote economic growth and industrial development. The institution is owned by the South African government under the supervision of the Economic Development Department.
The IDC's primary objectives are to contribute to the creation of balanced, sustainable economic growth in South Africa and on the rest of the continent. The institution promotes entrepreneurship through the building of competitive industries and enterprises based on sound business principles.

For more information, please visit us on www.idc.co.za

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