Bell Microproducts makes acquisition

Distributor ends speculation by admitting it is buying German storage distributor

Bell Microproducts has admitted it is in the process of buying German storage distributor, MCE after weeks of speculation.

Chief executive, Don Bell, revealed that the company is in the process of acquiring former “arch-competitor” MCE, a $300m distributor of disk drives and IBM enterprise storage, server and software products. He expects to complete the deal by the end of the year.

Hamish MacArthur, chief executive of analyst MacArthur Stroud, said: “Bell, through Ideal and its other acquisitions, is looking to strengthen it’s position in the storage market. MCE is quite a significant player in Germany so this acquisition makes sense for Bell.”

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