Vobis left in limbo as buyout collapses

CHS Electronics and Metro AG were consulting their lawyers last week over possible legal action after the sale of Vobis and subsidiaries finally collapsed.

As revealed in PC Dealer (14 October), CHS' plan to snap up Vobis and its sister operations, Maxdata and Peacock, from its German parent Metro, was floundering due to the distributor's plummeting share price and concerns that it was struggling to finance the deal.

But the collapse has left CHS to deal with a delay to the expansion of its assembly programme. Claudio Osario, chairman and chief executive of CHS, said: 'Considering current market conditions, our shareholders and subsidiaries are better served by redeploying the significant amounts of outside financing and CHS cash that we arranged to complete the acquisition into the business.'

He claimed Metro had not met conditions for the conclusion of the deal: 'CHS will pursue all necessary measures to safeguard its legal position against Metro AG.'

However, Metro responded: 'All conditions for the conclusion of the sales contract had been met by Metro AG. Due to unfavourable conditions in the international financial markets, CHS was not able to pay the purchase price despite extensions to the original terms. Metro AG will now pursue necessary measures to safeguard its legal position against CHS.'

Peter Rigby, director of marketing and communications at CHS, said: 'Since the announcement, our share price has gone up to about $10 from about $6. It's being seen as positive by our shareholders.'