10/09/2008

Swedish Rugged PC Pioneer Expands with Acquisition of UK Distributor CMC..

JLT, the Swedish manufacturer of rugged portable PC's, has acquired its UK distributor CMC as part of a major investment in UK expansion.

With rugged computers first developed for the Swedish military and now widely used in harsh outdoor and industrial environments, JLT's technology is used by multi-nationals such as Fedex, Volvo and Rolls Royce.

CMC was formed in 2004 by Mark Dale-Lace to promote JLT in the UK and through Value Added Resellers has established a strong user base amongst the military, emergency services and manufacturing.

Having acquired CMC, JLT will now be providing major investment for expanding across the UK and Ireland under the JLT banner. It has appointed Mark Muslek, CMC's previous Managing Director to the spearhead the growth.

JLT has pioneered many key advances in rugged computing and the range of devices are the most rugged of their type in the world. JLT will be working with existing application development partners and is looking to appoint resellers in key markets such as heavy industry, logistics and manufacturing. JLT plans to increase turnover five-fold within three years with investment in product development, support and channel sales development.

"CMC has been our UK partner for four years and they have opened up some exciting new market opportunities for JLT products. Both parties realised the time was right for major investment and acquisition of CMC is the perfect scenario by providing JLT inside track to the UK market. It also provides the ideal platform for building a strong international brand and business" says Jan Olofsson, founder and Managing Director of JLT.

"We have ambitious plans for JLT in the UK and this is being backed with six figure investment that will underpin establishment of strong channel sales and marketing capability. With the market for industrial automation set to grow quickly, the four year track record of activity in the UK mean that we are ideally placed to establish JLT as the first choice in rugged industrial computers" says Mark Muslek, Managing Director of JLT in the UK.