IBM Global Financing has stepped in to fund the management buy-out of one of its resellers for the first time in Europe. Although IBM GF, the world’s biggest IT business financier which last year struck deals worth around $22bn worldwide, has been backing significant investments by resellers in the US for some 15 years, this latest deal is the first of its kind in Europe, and there are a number of similar deals in the pipeline said IBM UK’s commercial financing marketing manager, Andrew Stubbs.
The MBO of Croydon, UK-based Technology Business Computers Ltd, includes a comprehensive financing deal that the company’s managing director, Jeremy Wilson, says will fund a significant transformation of the company at terms far more favorable than those normally available from a bank. The 14 year-old company, which has been acquired by three directors from founder, and now non-executive chairman John Wright, last year saw revenues of 21.6m pounds ($34.6m) and posted net profit of 1.3m pounds ($2.1m).
Wilson said the company’s core business of supplying customer relationship management systems based on IBM RS/6000 and Netfinity platforms will be expanded to encompass a much larger service element, and the company plans a significant announcement of web-based services next month.
IBM GF’s decision to deal more intimately with its resellers could spark a wave of interest in similar deals across Europe, where the traditional conservatism of local bankers means that many European resellers are often seriously undercapitalized Wilson said.
