NU-WORLD ACQUIRES AKAI AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

FIRST ACQUISITION FOR NU-WORLD SINCE LISTING IN NOVEMBER 1987. THE ACQUISITION
IS OFF-SHORE, FOCUSSED IN OUR CORE BUSINESS - BRANDED CONSUMER DURABLES AND
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS AND HAS HUGE UPSIDE POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH.

NU-WORLD, THE BRANDED CONSUMER DURABLES SUPPLIER HAS ACQUIRED A CONTROLLING
INTEREST IN THE CONSUMER ELECTRONIC BRAND "AKAI" IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
JEFFREY GOLDBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NU-WORLD CONFIRMS THAT THE ACQUISITION
IS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR NU-WORLD'S OFF-SHORE AMBITIONS.

THIS ACQUISITION WILL CERTAINLY BRING NU-WORLD CLOSER TO THE ONE BILLION RAND
TURNOVER MARK FOR THE GROUP'S YEAREND TO AUGUST THIS YEAR AND WELL THROUGH A
BILLION RAND FOR 2001.

THE "AKAI" BRAND IS A PARTICULARLY STRONG AND WELL RECOGNISED LABEL IN CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS IN AUSTRALIA, ACROSS A BROAD RANGE OF QUALITY PRODUCTS INCLUDING,
TELEVISIONS, HIFIS, VIDEO RECORDERS, DVD PLAYERS AND COMPONENT SYSTEMS.
IN THE LATE 1990'S AKAI AUSTRALIA WAS GENERATING SALES OF MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED
MILLION AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS.  THE BRAND HAS LOST SOME GROUND OVER THE PASSED 2
YEARS, BUT GOLDBERG IS CONFIDENT THAT MARKET SHARE CAN BE RECOUPED.

THE ACQUISITION OF "AKAI" WILL BE CONTROLLED THROUGH PRIMA AUSTRALASIA, AN
IMPORTER AND DISTRIBUTOR OF BRANDED ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES. PRIMA HAS THE RIGHTS
TO INTERNATIONAL BRANDS SUCH AS 'PRIMA','MAGIC LINE', 'FENICI' AND 'IDEAL' IN
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

GOLDBERG CONFIRMS THAT THE ACQUISITION WILL FALL 'SPOT ON' INTO NU-WORLD'S
STABLE OF INTERNATIONAL BRANDS SUCH AS 'JVC', 'SUNBEAM' 'GOLDAIR' AND 'RUSSELL
HOBBS' AND WILL STRENGTHEN THE GROUP'S POSITION AS AN INTERNATIONAL PLAYER IN
BRANDED CONSUMER ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES.

"PRIMA AND AKAI TOGETHER MEET ALL OF OUR STRATEGIC REQUIREMENTS IN TERMS OF AN
OFF-SHORE ACQUISITION.  NU-WORLD HAS BEEN ACTIVELY LOOKING TO ACQUIRE AN IMPORT
AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANY IN ONE OF OUR KEY EXPORT MARKETS.

WE HAVE BEEN EXPORTING OUR IN-HOUSE MANUFACTURED SMALL APPLIANCES TO PRIMA
AUSTRALIA FOR THE PASSED FIVE YEARS AND WE KNOW THE MANAGEMENT TEAM AND THE
POTENTIAL OF THE COMPANY."

"AKAI" BRANDED PRODUCTS ARE LISTED WITH ALL MAJOR AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS. IT IS
ANTICIPATED THAT WITH THE AKAI BRAND, PRIMA'S EXISTING RANGE OF BRANDED
APPLIANCES WILL RECEIVE A HUGE BOOST, SELLING TO A SUBSTANTIALLY BROADER RETAIL
BASE.

FROM NU-WORLD'S PERSPECTIVE THE ACQUISITION WILL FURTHER SECURE AND BOOST OUR
MANUFACTURED EXPORTS TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

GOLDBERG EXPECTS POSITIVE SPIN-OFFS FROM THE ENLARGED GROUP'S PURCHASING POWER
FROM SUPPLIERS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA AND CHINA.

"WE EXPECT TO CONSOLIDATE OUR BUYING FOR THREE COUNTRIES, SOUTH AFRICA,
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, WHICH WILL TRANSLATE THROUGH TO BETTER PRICING AND
BETTER MARGINS."

NU-WORLD IS FUNDING THE ACQUISITION WITH CASH ON HAND AND A RIGHTS ISSUE AT
THIS STAGE IS NOT BEING CONSIDERED. THE COST OF THE ACQUISITION IS S.A.RANDS 12
MILLION.

THE RAND HEDGE ASPECT OF THE DEAL IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION FOR
NU-WORLD, WITH MANAGEMENT ANTICIPATING A MINIMUM OF 10% OF EARNINGS BEING
GENERATED OFF-SHORE WITHIN 18 MONTHS.

"WE ARE VERY EXCITED WITH THIS HUGE STEP FORWARD IN OUR STRATEGY TO BECOME A
KEY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER IN BRANDED CONSUMER DURABLES."
ENDS