News on 03 January 2001
ISS is to concentrate on Asia for its expansion in the immediate
future according to the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
Jan Vistisen, director of ISS' overseas operations, covering Asia and
the Middle East and soon also South America, said: "Nobody has as
strong a platform in Asia as ISS and we are now ready for faster growth,
partly organically, partly through acquisitions. We hope to make a handful
of acquisitions in Asia during the first quarter, initially in Hong Kong."
There are 45 hospitals in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong government is currently
looking at the possibility of widespread tendering. Vistisen however says
that while the company is considering entering the market it is looking
at other areas than cleaning at hospitals. As part of its growth strategy
ISS aims to offer new operational areas and additional services to existing.
ISS is considering acquisitions in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India
and Taiwan. This follows the recent announcement of ISS’ acquisitions
in Norway, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Germany with a combined
turnover of DKK 177m (£15m).
The company has bought 50% of Norwegian Hero Mottak og Kompetanse (HMK),
which has 135 employees and turned over DKK 85m (£7.2m) in 1999.
HMK operates 15 camps housing asylum applicants in Norway.
In Spain, ISS has acquired the activities of Airport Cleaning Services
(ACS) – a provider of cabin cleaning and exterior cleaning of aircraft
at several airports in Spain. The company has 150 employees and a 1999
turnover of DKK 13m (£1.1m).
ISS has also bought Atlas Cleaning–Interclair, a privately owned
Belgian company with 200 employees and a turnover of DKK 46m (£3.9m)
(1999).
Atlas primarily provides cleaning services, including window cleaning.
Another Belgian acquisition by ISS is of Marintec and Marintec Service,
also privately owned companies. The two companies have 15 employees and
a 1999 turnover of DKK 10m (£845,000). Marintec mainly provides
cleaning services in the industrial and maritime sectors.
Moreover, the activities of Swedish company Sand & Vattenbläst
- an industrial service provider - has been acquired. The company employs
10 people and is expected to generate a turnover of DKK 15m (£1.3m)
in 2000.
In Finland, ISS has acquired cleaning company Super-Siivous with its 26
employees and expected turnover of DKK 5m (£422,000) in 2000. Finish
cleaning company Siivous ja konsultointi Eila Isoaho was also acquired.
The company has 28 employees and is expected to generate a turnover of
DKK 3m in 2000.
ISS has also purchased the minority share holding of 33.3% and now owns
100% of the shares in the German subsidiary NWG Klinikdienste-Reinigung-Service
GmbH & Co.
