LONDON & JOHANNESBURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Imprima has responded to substantial growth in the South African M&A market by opening a new office in the financial district of Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, Johannesburg. The South African team will provide iRooms virtual data room (VDR) and iDrafts document collaboration services to corporates, their sponsors, financial and legal advisory clients across Southern Africa as well as financial document and printing services for debt , equity and M&A issues.
Southern Africa’s M&A activity doubled in 2010 to a record $44 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. Driven by domestic and international M&A deals and dual listings, South Africa is increasingly taking the lead on high profile transactions, through its influence in the region, which require technology platforms such as iRooms to ensure that documentation can be stored, accessed and shared accurately and securely.
One example is the sale by a Johannesburg-based institution of a large portion of its South American business to a buyer in Asia, which was based on iRooms involving parties on five continents.
Imprima’s new office will include a dedicated local VDR server that will provide faster access to documents and increased data integrity. Imprima will provide 24x7 customer service and support and dedicated project managers, as well as full scanning, indexing and pre-VDR consultancy services. The South African service operations and hosting are fully BEE and ISO 27001 security compliant.
David Aucott, Business Development Director at Imprima, explains: “In the past, M&A teams working in South Africa had no choice but to base activities on VDRs housed in US or elsewhere. We have responded to customer demand for a local service that will be right on their doorstep and supported around the clock.
“The new office in Johannesburg is the latest stage in Imprima’s strategy to build local offices across the world to serve our customers. Johannesburg hosts a significant financial community that includes some important global players, such as Investec and Old Mutual, and industry sectors such as mining, retail, leisure and telecoms that are seeing substantial growth. It was a logical step for Imprima to consolidate our presence in South Africa with this new office.”
The economic downturn in developed economies is encouraging more investment in Africa, while China continues to consolidate its interest in the African continent, Aucott concludes. “The population of Africa as a whole is set to double from its current level of around one billion by 2050. That will drive growth in industry sectors based on consumer spending and we’re already seeing highly sustainable growth in those sectors. All of the indicators show strong growth in the capital markets and M&A sectors in Southern Africa – we are delighted to be providing a local VDR service to new and existing customers based in the region.”
About Imprima
Imprima has been a leading provider of financial communications services for over 40 years and is owned by HAL Investments B.V., an international investment company turning over €3.5bn. Imprima helps companies, law firms, investment banks and private equity firms to collaborate and communicate time critical information efficiently and securely. With highly skilled and experienced people located in offices across the globe, Imprima's services include: iRooms - virtual data rooms for efficient due diligence and secure document management; iDrafts - collaborative online workspaces for controlled document drafting and sharing; Financial Documents - typesetting, printing, distribution and filing with regulatory bodies; Corporate Reporting - design, print and interactive iReports online. www.imprima.com