German IT company Bechtle announces its biggest acquisition-- French reseller Inmac Wstore. Financial details of the deal, which is still subject to approval from French authorities and the Inmac Wstore workers council, are not available.
Inmac Wstore employs over 400 people across 3 locations in Roissy-en-France, Plessis and Angoulême. It sells PCs, software, storage, networking, components and peripherals, and records 2017 sales worth around €420 million. It has been owned by the American Systemax Group since 2009, and was formed through the merger of Inmac, founded in 1984, and Misco, founded in 1991.
"As a European company, we are gaining further market share with Inmac Wstore and taking a leading position in another important market," Bechtle says. "The acquisition would be a milestone on the road to realising our Vision 2020, which not only provides for €5 billion in revenue and 10000 employees, but positions Bechtle as number one in European IT e-commerce."
Bechtle currently trades in France, but only through 3 small entities-- software specialist Comsoft Direct, Bechtle Direct and provider ARP France. As such, the Inmac Wstore should bolster its position in the country, currently accounting for just 10% of overall revenues of €3.75bn.
The sale also marks the European departure of Systemax. The US reseller sold off most of its European operations back in March 2017 to "distressed investment and restructuring" specialist Hilco, but until now it held on to the profitable French business.