Pennsylvania-based Black Box Corporation is buying into privately held British outfit Orchard Network Solutions. The amount of the deal between the two network services companies was not disclosed. Orchard is based in Colchester, with annual sales of $1 million. Black Box, which will merge Orchard into its UK division, saw $450 million revenue in 2000.

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Meanwhile, US software reseller Programmer's Paradise is to pull out of the UK. The New Jersey company is selling its European subsidiaries to German outfit PC-Ware Information Technologies for 14.5 million Euros ($12.6 million). The deal is expected to be completed following a Programmer's shareholder meeting in New York on December 21.

Bill Willett, Programmer's Paradise chairman, said the company would use the sale to increase its market share in North America. Its Euro operations also include offices in Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

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In other channel-related tit-bits, Compaq and online B2Ber Acequote have teamed up to flog Big Q's kit through UK resellers. Punters can now log onto Compaq's site and get multiple quotations from its accredited resellers via the Acequote reverse auction process. ®