7 April 2008
There is continued industry talk identifying Avnet as the distributor that recently approached enterprise player Horizon Technology Group to kickstart negotiations that could lead to the sale of the business.
Last month, Horizon confirmed to the Irish stock exchange it had been approached by a company that had expressed an interest in the business that could lead to an offer of 90 pence per share, valuing the business at £72m (MicroScope 17 March).
Industry sources close to the situation said serial acquirer Avnet was considering making Horizon its latest conquest, having already in recent years bought Access Distribution, Magirus and Acal.
"The early indications are that a deal will be done relatively quickly and all being well the aim is to complete by the end of this month," said one source.
The price tabled at the time of the approach has caused some comment, but some feel Avnet would need to "tune the cost base and flex the contracts".
Nearly half of Horizon’s UK distribution business is with Sun Microsystems but it also holds the IBM, EMC and Oracle franchises among others.
Avnet refused to comment and Horizon was unable to comment due to its public listing.
