Receivers move in at Datrontech

Datrontech has gone into receivership following months of poor financial results, management reshuffles and speculation that the distributor was struggling to keep afloat.

Datrontech has gone into receivership following months of poor financial results, management reshuffles and speculation that the distributor was struggling to keep afloat.

Shares were suspended on Monday after Deloitte & Touche was appointed official receiver. The services firm will work with Datrontech's management to allow the company to continue trading while a buyer is found, according to a release issued by Deloitte & Touche. Datrontech management was unavailable for comment.

Questions regarding the longevity of the company were raised more than a year ago. Since then the distributor has suffered a number of setbacks.

It was reported last month that the company's principal credit insurer, Euro Trade Indemnity, had reconsidered its exposures after Datrontech posted disappointing half-year results on 25 October. Earlier in the month, Alan Mack, Datrontech's chief operating officer, joined a growing list of high-profile staff who had left the distributor since the beginning of the year.

Graham Smee, director of equIP technology and former managing director at Data Connectivity, Datrontech's networking arm, said: "It is always very sad when something like this happens. I left in May this year after we had successfully consolidated data connectivity."

Jon Atherton, general manager at rival distributor Enta, said: "It's very sad. We have a lot of good friends at Datrontech."

Despite the recent industry consolidation, which has caused the demise of several high-profile distributors, including CHS Electronics, Atherton claimed that the IT industry is still over-distributed. "It will be a very difficult eight months [for the industry]," he admitted.

Atherton revealed that Enta was considering buying some of Datrontech's inventory, especially from its drive business. It is also looking at its vendor list.

"Datrontech's plight will have a massive knock-on effect for smaller vendors that supply its products, its other businesses and issues such as warranties," he said. "Who's going to support Datrontech's own-brand products?"

Atherton believes that the outcome of Datrontech's troubles will involve a large player such as Ingram Micro stepping in to buy parts or all of the distributor's assets.

But Meinie Oldersma, managing director at Ingram Micro UK, said: "We are not currently in discussions either with or about Datrontech."

Julian Klein, managing director at Computer 2000 (C2000), said: "It is not in our interest to buy Datrontech because we already have most of its product lines. It does not really appeal to us, and would not add anything to our business. We will do everything we can to support Datrontech's customers. We share many customers anyway."

C2000 will see if it can extend credit and help Datrontech deal with the customers that they share, as well as those that they don't, he added.

First published in Computer Reseller News