Magirus set for European expansion

German distributor Magirus is in talks with Hewlett Packard and Oracle about filling in the gaps in its European portfolio.

German distributor Magirus is in talks with Hewlett Packard (HP) and Oracle about filling in the gaps in its European portfolio.

Tony Stirrup, joint managing director at Magirus, confirmed that the company was in discussions with the two vendors but declined to go into details about specific countries.

"Magirus has deals involving both companies in a number of countries, so obviously it has an interest in extending the partnerships," he said.

An industry representative said that the company is very established in Germany, but not in the UK. He added that he would not be surprised if a deal occurs within the UK market.

The company is strong in Europe, where it already works with Oracle and HP, and Brian Pierce, senior analyst at IDC, said: "It seems like it is trying to match its UK activity with its successful activity in Europe."

HP has an exclusive partnership with PSL in the UK and it would be a major coup if Magirus was to break into the market. The company already counts IBM and Compaq among its vendor partners.

HP declined to comment. However, Magirus France signed a deal with the company only last month, which has added to speculation about a UK deal.

Stirrup revealed that Magirus will set up a dedicated storage division which may be divided into Compaq- and IBM-specific teams. Stirrup said he will look outside the company for someone to head the division but had yet to draw up a list of names.

Meanwhile, Magirus is rumoured to have signed a European-wide $12m deal to install the networking infrastructure for multinational internet service provider AOL.

Stirrup refused to comment on the deal, but said: "I can confirm that we have agreed a large international contract but I am not at leisure to disclose the company involved."