Cullen Completes Takeout of Technology Assets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cullen Completes Takeout of Technology Assets from USOP

Auckland, 18 September 2000 -- Cullen Investment today announced that it will acquire the residual 40 percent interest in businesses in the Blue Star Business Solutions Group from North American company US Office Products (USOP) for an undisclosed sum.
The agreement will see Cullen holding 100 percent of the information technology and telecommunications companies including gen-i (formerly Wang), Cogent Communications, Ubix Document Solutions, Hart Candy, Auldhouse Computer Training, and Leasing Solutions. Cullen had previously acquired a 60 percent interest in the companies from USOP in December 1999.
“I’m delighted to have concluded this transaction,” said Cullen Executive Chairman Eric Watson. “This will enable the individual companies to grow their business with clear direction and focus under the control of a single shareholder. It will also make it easier to expand the businesses both operationally and geographically, something which would have been difficult under the previous ownership structure. This acquisition, when placed alongside Cullen’s other technology and telecommunications investments, gives us a very broad interest in the product and services that make up the engine room of the new economy. And we believe on that basis it will be good for both staff and customers of these companies.”
ENDS

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