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Computacenter invades Belgium

What does this mean for ICG partner Systemat?

Computacenter has snapped up the reseller division of ECS Belgium for the bargain basement price of 1.64 million euros. Europe'’s biggest reseller says it will fund the purchase of the 20 million Euro business from cash. It has installed channel veteran and one-time head of Info Products UK Mohammed Siddiqui to run the new subsidiary. ECS is an IT subsidiary of French bank Societe Generale. The company specialises in technolgy financing and asset management, from purchase through to disposal. ECS’s reseller subsidiary, now renamed Computacenter NV/SA, ranks number five in the league table of Belgian computer dealerships, according to industry newsletter PC Europa. The purchase calls into question Computacenter's relationship with leading Belgian reseller, Systemat, both of which are members of the ICG international consortium of dealers. Phil Williams, head of corporate marketing at Computacenter, acknowledged that "potentially there could be some long-term threat( to the relationship, but Systemat is much bigger than we are in this market, and we are not looking to compete with them". And what about any other Computacenter acquisition targets? Word on the street is that the company is interested in buying IT recycling firm RD Computers from components distie Datrontech. RD boss Rod Best has been sighted several times at Computacenter headquarters in Blackfriars recently. But as his wife is a Computacenter employee, this may not be so surprising. Computacenter’s Williams declined to comment on our industry tittle-tattle. ® See alsoComputacenter battles to retain BT contract

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