Systemax - the company behind CompUSA and the owner of Circuit City's ecommerce business - is buying WStore Europe.

WStore specialises in supplying small and medium businesses and the public sector, and operates in France as Inmac, WStore SAS and I-Com Software.

Richard Leeds, Chairman and CEO of Systemax, said: “The European IT market is a large, fragmented marketplace that presents tremendous opportunity for growth." Leeds said the acquisition would bolster the firm's substantial presence in France and the UK.

The UK arm of WStore is based in Farnham. The firm employs 370 staff in the UK and France.

Systemax bought 16 of CompUSA's best stores when the retail chain went titsup last year.

For the quarter ended 31 March 2009 Systemax turned over $752m and made an operating profit of $15m. ®

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