News

NEO purchase strengthens UK business

March 19, 2004

NEO Products Ltd. has just purchased Godalming, UK kiosk maker LGC Associates Ltd.

Michael Smith, managing director of Melbourne, Australia and Birmingham, UK-based

NEO Products managing director Michael Smith.

NEO, told KIOSKmarketplace.com that the purchase will strengthen NEO's position in the UK.

"We needed a bigger sales base and a bigger customer base; it (the purchase) gives us that," Smith said.

NEO will now have two facilities. Godalming, LGC's former headquarters, to the south of London, will handle sales, and Birmingham, to the north of London, will handle manufacturing.

"It gives us a very good spread on the UK from a facilities viewpoint and from an access to the market viewpoint," Smith said.

Smith didn't disclose the amount of the purchase.

Smith called LGC, founded in 1985, "the grandfather of kiosks in the UK." The company has manufactured more than 6,000 kiosks during the past ten years, Smith said.

As part of the deal, NEO has retained LGC's staff as well as taken over its facilities. Peter Lowe, LGC's managing director, will stay on at NEO as a consultant.

NEO, a significant presence in the Australian kiosk market, expanded operations to the UK this year.

LGC has created kiosk systems for Waterstone's booksellers, Town Pages, London Transport, and Cityspace, for its outdoor i-Plus kiosks. LGC had previously been in a partnership with NEO.

NEO, founded in 1987, provides industrial design, prototyping, production engineering, compliance certification, manufacture, staging, delivery, installation, and field service for kiosks. NEO has provided kiosks for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the Singapore Job Board, Waterstones book stores in the U.K., Australian driver testing centers, and many others. The company has sold more than 20,000 terminals.