IBM Sweden AB has acquired a 10% holding in IBS AB, characterised as the largest reseller of the AS/400 in Europe. The price has not been disclosed but the 10% stake in the $50m-a-year company is thought to have cost IBM about $5m. IBS in turn holds 80% of UKP4m-a-year Lychgate Ltd of Newbury, Berkshire, here in the UK: Lychgate does about UKP4m a year, selling primarily into the local government market. IBM char acterises the controversial move as being part of a plan to strengthen its business partnership with its agents, and similar moves elsewhere are likely. The company is thought to have wrapped up comparable investments in one each of its AS/400 agents in France and Italy already.
