Meridian International’s Spanish subsidiary, Meridian Iberica SA is expanding to Madrid after five years in Barcelona. Madrid is one of the main centres of computer leasing activity but Meridian’s managing director Xavier Mateu also hopes to open offices in Valencia, Seville and Bilbao, following growth in the Spanish information technology sector. In particular, the leasing of new and second user equipment has taken off in Spain. Even the government is beginning to change its tune in favour of used systems, and Meridian plans to concentrate on strengthening its presence in this market by acquiring and refurbishing old systems. The Spanish subsidiary, with backing from its multinational parent and the entire Adia SA group, has recently won two contracts, one worth $187,000 to extend the Spanish National Institute of Statistics systems in 32 provinces and another with the Ministry of Finance worth $420,000. Mateu also said that Meridian Iberica plans to handle equipment from other manufacturers as well as IBM: demand for other systems is pushing it towards handling kit from DEC and others. Although it seems such agreements would be impacting IBM’s market share, in fact such a move would free the top end of the market, offering IBM’s own distribution company more profit. Last year, Meridian Iberica wrote $12.1m of business on the back of $14.9m worth of leased systems. This year it looks for $23.4m.
