The relative strength – or weakness – of Compagnie des Machines Bull SA and one-time bankrupt Wang Laboratories Inc is underlined by the fact that as a result of its deal International Data Corp points out that for a mere $160m, much of it in paper or as our friends in the City would say, funny money, Wang, Lowell, Massachusetts, is able to boast that with one stroke of a pen it has become a growth company in the software and services industry, increased annual turnover by more than 40%, created a Top Ten service organisation in the US, claiming it to be the largest independent multi-vendor organisation, now has a Top Ten Federal Government systems integration business, and has built the largest worldwide and European installed base of imaging and workflow users; having converted all its debt to equity in the Chapter 11 discharge, Wang not only has no debt but had $189m in cash at the end of July, so it should still have net cash after the Bull deal.
