News Kazakhstan

Avnet strengthens down under
2010-09-02
Australia : American multispecialist Avnet has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of VAD itX Group Limited (itX), in an all cash merger valued at €52.5m. The acquisition is subject to the approval of itX's shareholders, Australian court approval and other customary conditions for a transaction of this type. itX distributes software, hardware and services from the world's leading suppliers including Oracle, IBM, HP, VMware, Apple, Citrix, Red Hat, and Trend Micro. In addition, itX includes Briell Marketing, a distributor of specialized printers and media for personal identification and security cards, medical and photographic imaging; Sydmed, a distributor of medical devices; and ICO, which provides IT hosting solutions. With approximately 150 employees, itX has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide. For fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, itX generated revenue of approximately €100m.

Microworld goes East
2010-08-27
CIS : antivirus editor Microworld, known for its eScan line of products, has inked a distribution partnership with Russian security specialist Antivirus Center, to cover the whole CIS region.

Rebranded SDG plans acquisitions
2010-08-27
United Kingdom : value-added broadliner SCH has united its distribution brands (ETC, Interchange, Interface Solutions and IQ Sys) under the SDG banner, in a move it claims will allow it to retain its specialist edge following its acquisition spree. SDG head Paul Eccleston also said the distributor, in order to keep a chance to survive on the long term, given the grip the major American distributors (Ingram, Tech Data, Avnet and Arrow) exert in Europe (source : Computer Reseller News United Kingdom).

Intermec expands European distribution with RRC
2010-08-25
Automatic identification vendor Intermec has entered into a distribution agreement with multispecialist RRC in CIS. Intermec products are from now on available through RRC offices in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.

Bell Micro brand to be history by October
2010-08-23
Multispecialist Avnet Technology Solutions has put a timetable in place to axe the Bell brand and have all front office staff in place by the end of september. The current phase, which is about 85% determined, is to put in place the structure for the vendor/reseller facing teams to ensure there is minimal or no disruption to business. Although Avnet employs around 1900 staff in Europe, it has refused to discuss headcount cuts. The grand plan is to wring out $50m to $60m in "synergy savings" from the expanded Avnet by reducing staff duplication, consolidating systems and premises. For example, the distributor has in the region of four ERP systems, which should be standardized to SAP in the mid-term, after a migration from Bell to Avnet's infrastructure by Q1. The brand Bell should have disappeared by October, 1st (source : Microscope United Kingdom).