One of Belgium’s three largest distributors looks set to announce a merger sometime next month. Tritech NV of Groot-Bijgaarden is holding talks with the Paris-based software distributor, ISE International SA, formerly ISE Cegos SA. One Tritech executive has said that a definitive agreement to merge has been reached, but Tritech’s managing director, Danny Mestdagh, says that this is jumping the gun since serious discussions are taking place but a number of points remain to be settled. One of these is the exact share structure and management of the enlarged company, and the privately-held Tritech is said to be fiercely independent. ISE has just dropped Cegos from its name, coinciding with a reduction of the Cegos SA interest in the company to a minority holding. ISE International is now backed by several venture capitalists and banks, and turnover for 1990 reached the equivalent of $132, from a staff of 350. It distributes office software and is strong in the Windows and Macintosh multi-media arena, as well as adapting US products for the European marketplace. Since 1987, the company has followed an acquisitive trail, with three acquisitions in France including Unix Softway, a distributor for Eastman Kodak Co’s Santa Monica-b ased Interactive Systems Corp. Other acquisitions include Online 2000 GmbH and ISP Deutschland GmbH in Germany, alongside the Spanish Chip Elektronica SA, Idealogic SA and Netcom SA, as well as CFM Computertechnik GmbH of Switzerland.
