HOME Al Masa ITD sees Saudi potential
Al Masa IT Distribution hopes to tap into the fast-growing Saudi Arabian IT market, which it predicts will be worth almost US$4bn per annum within three years. Al Masa, a Middle East distribution heavyweight, has gained support from many of its major vendor partners as it attempts to crack the Kingdom’s channel and boost sales within the Saudi Arabian market.
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Sepaton launches catalyst partner programme
Enterprise-class data protection solutions provider Sepaton has unveiled its catalyst partner programme, which provides financial and technical advantages to qualified channel partners. The new programme has launched with 65 initial members, bringing together a community of skilled, full-service storage resellers capable of deploying Sepaton’s data protection solutions.
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Lores named as new HP SPO boss
HP has turned to the EMEA theatre for its new global channel and PC sales boss. Enrique Lores has been named as senior VP of worldwide sales for the personal systems group (PSG) and head of HP’s solution partner organisation (SPO). Lores, 42, will report to PSG executive VP Todd Bradley.
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Navigation solutions provider TomTom has appointed Regenersis as its preferred pan-European refurbishment partner. Under the terms of the agreement, the refurbishment process will take part at Regenersis’ new facility in Bucharest, Romania, which is expected to employ more than 200 staff by December 2008.
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Dexterra hands Helms EMEA role
Business mobility solutions specialist Dexterra has named Rikke Helms as managing director of its EMEA operations. Based out of Dexterra’s UK headquarters, Helms will assume responsibility for driving profitability in EMEA and supporting and developing new channel opportunities in the mobile enterprise applications market.
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Avnet confirmed as Horizon suitor
Distribution giant Avnet plans to snap up Horizon Technology Group for €101.3m (US$159m) cash. The offer, which works out at €1.18 per share, represents a massive 153.8% premium on Horizon shares closing price of €0.465 the day before the offer was acknowledged. Horizon’s directors are unanimously recommending that shareholders accept the Avnet offer, which values Horizon at a price-earnings ratio of 17.2 based on full year 2007 after tax profits.
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UK-based Gamma Global – an independent IT hardware distributor – has secured US$25m additional funding from Bank of Scotland Corporate. Gamma plans to double its sales to US$200m by 2010 and is also planning to expand through acquisitions. Gamma, which is located in Manchester, now employs more than 50 people, works with more than 1,000 resellers and trades in more than 50 countries.
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Ingram Micro grabs VMware Nordic rights
Distribution behemoth Ingram Micro has signed a distribution deal with VMware for the Nordic region. Ingram will offer the full breadth of VMware’s virtualisation solutions to its IT reseller base in the region. The deal builds on Ingram Micro’s existing distribution agreements with VMware covering Germany, North America and Australia.
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Internet security and messaging software vendor Kerio has opened an office in Moscow to support its rapid sales growth in Russia. The new office will service Kerio’s reseller and distribution community, which provide the channel to market for the vendor’s messaging and firewall solutions aimed at the SME market.
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Jumbo adds four more stores in UAE
Jumbo Electronics has boosted its UAE retail network, opening four new mall-based stores across the Emirates. Jumbo reckons that the new outlets - located in Khalidiya and Al Wahda malls in Abu Dhabi, Sahara Centre in Sharjah and Festival City in Dubai – will enhance the company’s position as a leading retailer in the consumer electronics and technology sectors.
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