AMI/Manica deal in the offing?

The market is abuzz with
rumours that the Dubaibased
logistics company,
AMI, is taking over the
local Bidvest-owned
Manica Group.
But, despite attempts
to extract comments
from senior Manica
management, nothing
official could be obtained.
But there would
certainly be logic in such
a deal for AMI. Since
its birth in 1997 it has
expanded globally, with
own offices spread over
the whole of East Africa,
India, Pakistan, China and
Canada, and a network of
strategic partners to cover
the rest of the world.
Also, MD Vincent
Hachez said in the
company’s website: “AMI
today has an important
African customer base,
served through our
dedicated warehouse
in Dubai’s Al Qusais
industrial area. With our
unique network of own
offices in East Africa, we
can deliver cargoes in even
the most remote locations
of the East African
continent.”
And Manica, the
country’s major supplier of
logistics services to sub-
Equatorial Africa, would
be an equally
logical target in AMI’s
African expansion.