Computacenter eyes Compel again

Computacenter may be making its second bid in six months for consultancy and project management firm Compel.

Computacenter may be making its second bid in six months for consultancy and project management firm Compel.

The IT services group originally launched an £85m takeover bid for Compel in October last year, but talks broke down after both parties failed to agree on a price.

Mike Norris, chief executive of Computacenter, said that at the time the company was "not interested" in a hostile bid, despite attempting the takeover after Compel issued a profit warning.

Compel has 14 operating centres in the UK and supplies services such as consultancy, solutions implementation, web design and rental services to corporate clients. It comprises three core businesses: Compelsource, Compelsolve and Hamilton Rentals. A representative said the company was "unable to comment".

Nitin Joshi, director at accountancy firm and insolvency specialist Pannel Kerr Forster, said: "Compel is an established company with an interesting client base. An established business like Computacenter, with its own infrastructure, would find it easy to exploit future business through Compel's existing client base."

Computacenter was unavailable for comment.

First published in Computer Reseller News