Hot on the heels of JBA Holdings Plc’s year-end results (CI No 3,145), the Birmingham-based software developer and IBM Corp AS/400 reseller has announced its first strategic acquisition of 1997. JBA will pay the equivalent of 10.8m British pounds in cash and shares for French AS/400 distributor Presys SA, in a deal to be confirmed later this week. Chairman Alan Vickery was hinting at a mystery purchase last week when the financial results were announced but he was clearly under instructions to keep the deal under his hat until later. The acquisition ties in with JBA’s long term commitment to the AS/400, Vickery confirmed. AS/400 is once again a credible platform since IBM came out of the slammer and became a go-go company again, he said.
