eSP - IT Solution Providers in Europe

In an all-cash merger for an equity value of about $252 million and a transaction value of nearly $594 million, Avnet takes over Don Bell's Bell Micro.

Don (shown in photo from our interview several years ago) founded his company in 1988. Bell now has sales of  $3+ billion and 1900 employees.

The company, which operates both a distribution and single tier reseller business, offers a portfolio of storage, computing, software and networking products for broadcast, AV and IT industries. In 2009, the single tier business represented 15% of total sales while revenues from EMEA were 41%.

Avnet now expects revenue for the March fiscal quarter for its Electronics Marketing (EM) Group to be in the range of $2.75 billion to $2.85 billion as compared with the prior range of $2.55 billion to $2.85 billion, and the revenue at its Technology Solutions Group to be in the range of $1.70 billion to $1.85 billion as compared with the prior range of $1.55 billion to $1.85 billion.

In distribution, the big get bigger. And in this case, Avnet is also buying Bell's experience in AV and broadcast, with the thought to move in additional product ranges from its IT base.

Go Avnet

In an all-cash merger for an equity value of about $252 million and a transaction value of nearly $594 million, Avnet takes over Don Bell's Bell Micro.

Don (shown in photo from our interview several years ago) founded his company in 1988. Bell now has sales of  $3+ billion and 1900 employees.

The company, which operates both a distribution and single tier reseller business, offers a portfolio of storage, computing, software and networking products for broadcast, AV and IT industries. In 2009, the single tier business represented 15% of total sales while revenues from EMEA were 41%.

Avnet now expects revenue for the March fiscal quarter for its Electronics Marketing (EM) Group to be in the range of $2.75 billion to $2.85 billion as compared with the prior range of $2.55 billion to $2.85 billion, and the revenue at its Technology Solutions Group to be in the range of $1.70 billion to $1.85 billion as compared with the prior range of $1.55 billion to $1.85 billion.

In distribution, the big get bigger. And in this case, Avnet is also buying Bell's experience in AV and broadcast, with the thought to move in additional product ranges from its IT base.

Go Avnet

HM Electronics Inc. (HME) will acquire Clear-Com Communication Systems, a business unit of the Vitec Group.

Clear-Com will continue operation as a wholly-owned subsidiary of HME, with no changes planned for its product portfolio or its current mission in high-end intercom solutions.

HME, a privately-held company, based in Poway, California, is a pioneer of digital wireless intercom solutions for restaurant, hospitality, sports and pro audio markets. Combining HME's expertise in wireless with Clear-Com's TDM Matrix and integrated IP and wireless solutions will offer a better range of products and technology for intercom customers with different applications and system requirements.

The acquisition will expand HME's reach into new markets, and the combined companies will leverage synergies in product development and operations.

Go Clear-Com and HME

Can Vidyo Take the Low Road to Personal Telepresence?

The president of Vidyo, Ofer Shapiro, took the stage at NetEvents for a keynote outlining his new video conferencing architecture that aims to make video communication universally available.

Vidyo has devised a way to offer videoconferencing that links several locations simultaneously. The screen is split in two, so anyone participating in a conference with two other locations can see one on each side. OK, so you've seen the split screen before ...what's different here?

Shapiro says: "The difference in what we do is that instead of a delay of a second, we are as instant as voice."

Vidyo's software is very resilient against the effects of packet loss. It also adapts incoming video to the resolution of the receiving device.

Shapiro came up with an architecture for solving videoconferencing transmission problems over the internet. Then he raised capital and hired a team of engineers to put it all together. The company has applied for 22 patents and the first is already approved. Last October, Vidyo was awarded a patent on its VidyoRouter architecture, which leverages H.264 SVC, the latest standard in video compression technology.