Svein R. Goli to chair listed Ibas
This flotation has become a reality after the general meeting of Norman
ASA resolved on 18 June to demerge the Ibas business as an independent
listed company. All shareholders in Norman on the listing date of 20 August
will receive one Ibas share for each Norman share they hold, and the Ibas
share will be freely tradable from the moment the exchange opens.
"We operate in a segment of the data security market which is expanding
fast without dominant players," comments Mr Goli. "A listing will allow us
to achieve far stronger growth than before." The new chair has a broad
operational background from US companies and boardroom experience in
Norwegian IT companies. His current appointments include chairing Norman ASA
and Visma ASA. His fellow directors on the Ibas board include Norman founder
John Arthur Olafsen and Germany's Karl Heinz Achinger. Mr Achinger has long
and broad experience of IT companies in his homeland, including
directorships with DaimlerChrysler Services and Cap Gemini. The employees
will also be represented by one worker director. Bjørn Arne Skogstad (43)
continues as president of Ibas. He took over as chief executive on 1
September last year, after many years in international management posts with
Xerox and Tektronix.
"We're looking forward to the job of presenting Ibas as an exciting Norwegian growth company in a fast-expanding international segment," says Mr Goli. "The fact that no less than 75 per cent of our revenues derive from sales outside Norway shows that we are already well positioned for continued international growth."
Founded in 1978, Ibas ranks today as a world leader for data
reconstruction and destruction. It is also focusing on services in computer
forensics. The company's expertise and technology were recently employed to
recover data in the Iraq war, a Norwegian shipwreck investigation, a Swedish
murder inquiry and a number of other crimes and accidents.
Ibas has revenues of NOK 77.4 million in 2003 and a pre-tax profit of NOK
7.6 million. Revenues grew by 18 per cent in the first half of this year
compared with the same period of 2003.
"We have managed to combine growth and good profitability for a number of years," says Mr Skogstad. "Our average annual growth since 1999 has been 16 per cent. "As an independent listed company, our primary focus will be on growth through taking new routes to the market and strengthening our level of innovation."
Ibas has 82 employees at the head office at Kongsvinger north of Oslo and at subsidiaries in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the UK, Germany, Poland, France and Singapore. The company also has distributors and agents in a number of other European, Asian and American countries.
Pictures from the event can be downloaded
here
- Svein R Goli, chair of Ibas, can be contacted on +47 33 46 77 90/ +47 90 75 67 57
- Bjørn Arne Skogstad, president and CEO of Ibas, can be contacted on +47 62 81 01 37/ +47 48 14 90 70
