The sale of the Enterprise Infrastructure Division (EID) represents the latest step in Magirus’s strategy to focus on the distribution of complex IT solutions and follows the acquisition of the security distributor Allasso by Magirus a year ago.
The sale to Avnet comprises the whole of Magirus’s EID business, including HP and IBM server and storage systems, software and services in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and the Middle East. The transfer of the business is planned for early October 2007, subject to the approval of the competition authorities.
In total, about 140 Magirus EID staff in Sales, Purchasing and Marketing will transfer to Avnet under the agreement. The value-added distributor intends to benefit, among other things, from the market access, know-how and skills of the Magirus team.
There are many reasons behind the strategic decision to reposition Magirus. Fabian von Kuenheim, Chairman of the Magirus AG Executive Board, commented: “We have always reacted speedily to changing technology trends and new business models. The sale of our successful Enterprise Infrastructure Division, from a position of strength, makes available resources and management capacity to grow our business in new areas, allowing us to focus on our rapidly expanding and successful IT solution business. Also, our strategy will include further acquisitions to support the growth we are striving for.
“In future, Magirus will concentrate on the areas of security, virtualisation, open source, storage management/ILM, IT management and intelligent networks. This represents a decisive step in the implementation of our corporate strategy to position ourselves in the market as a leading technology and services provider. Our range of solutions provides our customers above average growth opportunities and the chance to expand into new market segments.”
Historically, Magirus has always taken a leading role in the development of new technologies and markets. The value added-distributor was the first to distribute Unix systems in 1990 and, in 1998, was the worldwide pilot for IBM software distribution. Virtualisation is another area where Magirus was an early entrant and today it is the European market leader.
The new focus will enable Magirus to position itself effectively as one of the leading IT solution providers in Europe and the Middle East. The company will concentrate on its core competence: the ability to rapidly address new market areas and deliver strong sales growth. This also reflects the advantage of Magirus being a private company in that it can act quickly, innovatively and effectively.
Avnet is particularly well qualified to meet the present challenges posed in developing and managing the IBM and HP business. The acquisition of Magirus’s EID will make it one of Europe’s leading value-added distributors of enterprise systems. The company possesses the strengths and market know-how to integrate Magirus’s EID seamlessly and exploit new growth opportunities.
“The beauty of the sale of our Enterprise Infrastructure Division to Avnet is that it opens up new opportunities. In the future, and where appropriate, we will explore the possibility to market jointly the Avnet portfolio. For our customers this means continued and focused support from the two market leaders: Avnet in the EID environment and Magirus in the IT solution field,” Fabian von Kuenheim emphasised. “The transaction provides a positive future outlook for all the parties concerned,” he said in conclusion.