Zamano may resurface as oil firm

The owners of recently wound-down smartphone content supplier Zamano are considering numerous investment options, including reinventing the business through potential acquisitions as an oil and gas exploration company.

A management buyout of the company was agreed upon last month, with the long-held plan to wind down the plc and return its €5.3m in cash to shareholders backed at an EGM.

Management still intends to return the company’s cash to investors, the process of which is likely to take up to six months. However, the company’s board yesterday said that it also considers it to be in shareholders’ interests to continue to examine possible investment opportunities for which those cash reserves could be used.

To that end, Zamano said it will be looking at opportunities in Ireland and the UK mainly. Its policy will be to acquire or invest in companies with strong existing profitability or significant growth potential in the areas of manufacturing, services activities or extractive industries/exploration.

However, any investment would need current shareholder approval before commencing.

Zamano provided messaging, advertising and payment support tools to mobile communications providers, but announced earlier this year its intention to seek a managed exit from the market after regulatory changes heavily hampered its growth potential in the UK and other markets.

Final accounts for Zamano’s discontinued operations, published yesterday, showed an operating loss of €356,000 for the first half of 2017.