No licensing sale at Ideal

Possibility of licensing division sale ruled out - at least in short term

The channel jungle drums were beating once again last week, with rumours of a sale of distributor Ideal's lucrative licensing division.

However, Alex Tatham, vice president of global software distribution at Ideal, ruled out the possibility in the short term.

"The truth is that we looked at whether the business could be sold, and we found it could be but it wasn't in our interest to do so," he said.

"We have decided that it fits better within the Bell Group and is a very valuable part of the business. We are outperforming everyone else in the market at the moment."

However, Tatham admitted that he couldn't rule out a sale in the future.

A source close to the company said: "The licensing business is one of Ideal's jewels in the crown, and it is very well-run. Therefore siphoning it off would be profitable.

"There is a distinct possibility that it could happen in the future, given that the margins in hardware sales continue to be under stress."