Computacenter jettisons IT disposal arm

IT services giant sells 'non-core' recycling arm RDC to Arrow

Computacenter has offloaded recycling and IT asset disposal arm RDC to distributor Arrow for £56m after judging it to be non-core.

Witham-based RDC is one of Europe's largest IT asset disposal firms but generated just 1.4 per cent of the London-listed IT services and resell giant Computacenter's total turnover.

Computacenter said disposing of the unit will enable it to focus its investment on growing its core IT services business.

Meanwhile, Arrow chief executive Michael Long said the acquisition would broaden the global distributor's value recovery business in Europe.

Although Computacenter had integrated RDC into its proposition, it claimed the fact it was not operationally integrated within the Computacenter Group will minimise any disruption to its business.

As part of the deal, Arrow has entered into a five-year agreement with Computacenter for IT disposal services, which it said remains a part of Computacenter's customer proposition.

Flush with cash from the sale, Computacenter also announced it is returning £100m to its shareholders.

"The cash proceeds of the disposal of RDC, together with the cash-generative nature of Computacenter's business, has resulted in a net cash balance in excess of our current needs," Computacenter chief executive Mike Norris said.

"This has placed us in a position where we are now able to make a second, significant, one-off return of value to our shareholders in two years, while maintaining an appropriate balance sheet structure to continue growing the business and serving our clients."