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Datatec reduces debt with UUNET SA sale

Channel Flannel

Datatec, the South African-owned networking equipment reseller and distributor, is flogging its 76 per cent stake in UUNET SA to Worldcom for $138.5 million.

Datatec announced in November its intention to sell the business to Worldcom. It will use the proceeds to reduce debt and to buy back shares.

According to Reuters, the company said in September it had net borrowings (not counting unspecified money owed to suppliers) of $108m.

Datatec is prepping the flotations of its two main businesses, distributor Westcon (on Nasdaq) and networking reseller Logical (on the LSE).

Total Telecom: WorldCom to pay Datatec US$138.5 million for UUNet SA



ECSoft, the British systems integrator, is selling its managed support services business in the UK to Pink Elephant, a subsidiary of Dutch firm PinkRoccade NV.


The 'strategic divestment' is worth up to £9m in cash and shares, and will see 120 ECSoft staff transfer to Pink Elephant.

ECsoft will receive an initial cash payment of £4 million, with a further £4.75 million available during the course of 2001, (of which £4 million will be held in escrow).

The company says the managed support business had grown to such a size that it needed either significant investment, or partnership with a company for which this was a primary business activity.



Computer 2000 has launched a service that enables retailer to sell kit over the Web 'within minutes'.


The service is called Clic2IT and features up to 20,000 stock lines. It costs a set-up fee of £500 per month, and then it costs £50 per month.

The service is a joint venture between C2000 and Clic2 Ltd. Retailers get their own personalised Web site, albeit under the Clic2IT URL. They get to choose what product areas they carry and what mark-ups they wish to add. C2000 updates the product information daily.



Intel has come in for some reseller flak over the way it's handling the closure of its Shiva division.



Shiva's remote access products were discontinued from 4 January, but will be supported for a further two years. However Computer Reseller News has found resellers unhappy with how much warning they got about the shut down.

Phil Kennerdal, senior sales consultant at Abtec Network Systems, said he'd been unable to supply a customer with a module to attach to a Shiva server. "They could have given me a couple of months notice so that I could have stocked up," he told CRN.

Intel says it can supply Shiva products from 5 February if VARs can't get them from their distributors.

Shiva rival, Perle Systems, is taking advantage of Shiva's closure and is pushing its Perle 833 Access Server line as alternatives to Shiva's LanRover range. Perle is offering resellers free technical support and free 30 day trials on its products.

VNUNet: Resellers angry at closure of Shiva



Hewlett-Packard is preparing to pump in more cash into resellers, as part of a overhaul of its Office Centre Partner scheme, VNUNet

reports

. As ever, details of

how

much cash look pretty thin on the ground.




Online licensing now accounts for 30 per cent of Ingram Micro's licensing business after just three months of running the scheme. Vendors covered in the LicenseLink service, which launched in October, include Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, Lotus and Powerquest.



Peter Nevison, Ingram category manager, told Computer Reseller News UK that there had been a lot of new customers buying online because it was "considerably cheaper than buying boxed product."

LicenseLink launched later than rival C2000's InTouch scheme, which has been going for more than a year.



Computer 2000 is to distribute the Energis portfolio of e-services through its reseller base. The idea is for dealers to sell on Energis services to small and medium businesses. Computer 2000 will also act as a virtual ISP, through a connectivity deal with Energis Squared.




Microsoft Partner

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