During his recent visit to Madrid, ICL’s European president, Ninian Eadie, said that the Spanish market was probably the European market with the greatest potential for the company. He also saw more opportunities generally, in the South of Europe than in the North, reasoning that the less mature market is also less saturated and therefore growng faster. ICL’s parent STC’s business in Spain includes various diverse lines. A couple of examples are the recent creation of a 50-50 joint venture with Radiotronica SA to supply telecommunications systems and the $40.3m contract from Telefonica de Espana and British Telecommunications to supply an underwater telecommunications link between Spain and the UK. Eadie took the opportunity to say that ICL’s relations with Fujitsu encompassed technological aspects only and that there were no aquisition or merger prospects – or a stake? Eadie reaffirmed ICL’s strategy to advance with Unix and open system-based products in Europe.
