Magirus sets sights on European expansion

Magirus will be pressing its vendors to sign pan-European contracts after taking the dramatic decision to sell its Hewlett-Packard (HP) and IBM unit to rival Avnet.

Although the disposal of its Entertprise Infrastructure Division will more than halve its turnover to £300m, Magirus is confident it can claw back the deficit by extending coverage with its remaining vendors such as Juniper, Check Point and EMC-owned VMware.

Christian Magirus, chief operating officer, said: “We expect to get back to a similar size in two to three years through organic growth. We have 40 vendors in our Solutions business, but they’re not covered in all our countries. We will focus on extending the franchises across Europe.

“Juniper is a key vendor for us in terms of security and we would love to get it across the continent, particularly in the UK.”

Magirus said the distributor had opted to put the IBM and HP arm up for sale eight months ago, citing the limited fit between its credit-driven model and the more consultative character of its Solutions unit.

Andy Binding, UK managing director at Magirus, added: “We were always aware that the two units had different business models, but the polarisation had become acute.”

Magirus said the proceeds would help fund acquisitions. “In western Europe, we’re only missing Ireland and Norway, which we may address over time,” he hinted.

Richard Bradley, UK channel distribution manager at EMC, said: “This [the sale] is positive for us. It means more salespeople and service delivery people focusing on my products.”

Avnet snaps up Magirus arm