Evesham has admitted it is in discussions about a potential sale of the business, but remained tight lipped over details as CRN went to press.
The news follows months of speculation about the PC builder, which had its credit insurance pulled by Euler Hermes earlier this year and was also months late in filing accounts for the financial year ended May 2006.
In a statement issued to CRN an Evesham representative said: “Evesham has been considering an on going business arrangement with another company, but no details are available at this moment.”
Richard Austin, managing director of Evesham, remained vague.
“It’s early days in the discussions,” he told CRN.
He added the business had been open to offers “from day one” and admitted that he had been in discussions with many businesses about a possible sale over the years.
A management buy out involving Evesham managing director Brad Walker and finance director David Hards has also been mooted as a possible outcome by sources close to the firm.
To quell mounting rumours about the PC builders’ future, Austin called a staff meeting last Friday.
“I wanted to speak to my staff to reassure them and quell any rumours,” Austin told CRN. “We are still staging a recovery from the Chancellor’s decision to axe the Home Computing Initiative (HCI) last year, but we’re still kicking and fighting and things are looking rosier. We have a fantastic order book going forward.”
CRN also understands that Austin also told staff the firm was now officially up for sale.
Tony Riccardi, general manager at rival Mesh, said: “HCI hit Evesham very hard and it’s difficult to come back from something like that. However, certain elements of the business have been very successful for it such as its GPS and TV divisions.”
Alastair Edwards, senior analyst at Canalys, said: “PC builders such as Evesham tend to have more flexibility than larger vendors. In terms of who would be interested in buying Evesham, Centerprise would appear to be the most obvious candidate.”
Centerprise declined to comment on any potential acquisitions.
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