Updated: Dead tablet maker KMS' assets sold to mystery buyer
Administrator confirms it has completed deal to sell KMS Components' mountain of unsold tablets
The administrator of KMS Components has completed a sale of the fallen distributor and tablet maker's assets, but wouldn't say who to.
KMS went under in January after a licensing spat with Google and largest customer Argos left it with a mountain of unsold and incorrectly licensed tablet stock.
Administrator Deloitte initially received expressions of interest from 44 parties after putting KMS' assets, which included stock with a book value of £2.62m, up for sale.
However, the licensing issues made it hard to attract serious suitors and by the middle of February only one party remained in the frame.
Deloitte confirmed a deal to sell the assets has now been completed, although refused to name the buyer or say what they fetched.
In a statement to creditors in mid-February, Deloitte said it remained in negotiations with a sole interested party "with regards to a potential sale of the stock and potentially an agreement to sub-contract the provision of ongoing warranty support in respect of tablet products sold prior to the administrator's appointment".
Sources say the stock will include tens of thousands of CNM-branded tablets that Argos refused to take due to issues over whether or not they held the correct Google licence. Argos withheld a settlement of an outstanding debt of £3.2m from KMS in the run-up to Christmas, triggering its demise.
Deloitte has already told trade creditors owed a collective £4m by KMS that they will receive little money back. One source said any asset sale may not have fetched a significant sum in the likely event the buyer was forced to assume responsibility for returns.
The identity of the buyer remains a mystery, although one source understood that components distributor ASBIS had been interested at one stage. ASBIS had not got back to us as the story was published."
Update:
Since this story was published, the adminstrator has issued us with the following statement.
"On 6 March 2014, a sale of the stock and chattel assets of KMS Components Limited - In Administration (the "Company") was agreed with a third party. This process followed the marketing of the Company as both a going concern and a trade and assets sale, however, as no interested party was willing to commit to the associated warranty liabilities of the Company, neither of these options were viable.
The Administrators have retained three members of staff to assist with the sale of the assets and collection of outstanding debtor balances."