ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702240083
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
European investment could help the Salem electronics recycler meet expectations
R. Frazier Inc., a Salem recycler of electronic equipment, said Friday it is poised to grow rapidly after teaming with a European firm that has invested $5 million in the business and become part owner.
R. Frazier, in return for the cash infusion last month, gave 3is Plc. a one-fifth interest in its European subsidiary, R. Frazier Ltd., said Randy Frazier, president and founder of the company.
He said 3is, an investment banking firm, claims to be the largest provider of private capital to business in Europe.
R. Frazier, founded in 1988, repairs and recycles obsolete computers, monitors, printers, telephones, fax machines and related equipment. It purchases the equipment from major computer manufacturers, leasing companies, retail chains, governments, banks and large corporations. Usable equipment is resold in developing nations; most of the remainder is sold as scrap.
This year, R. Frazier predicts a nearly 60 percent jump in sales, to $35 million. It needed cash to keep commitments to customers and continue its expansion without taking on new debt, Frazier said.
Frazier's European unit must upgrade a plant in Dumfries, Scotland, hub of its European operations, to handle 10,000 phones received daily from British Telecommunications, the dominant provider of phone service in the United Kingdom. In addition, the company is using the money to expand its capacity to process cellular phones in the United Kingdom and computer equipment in California, Frazier said.
The company has 320 employees, about 65 of them in the United States.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB