3 March 2008
A number of suitors have made advances to the owner of Evesham Technology a week after it was put up for sale but some channel sources believe the brand has been tarnished since its administration.
Having bought Evesham out of administration in a pre-pack deal last year and since restructured the failed system builder, Tahir Mohsan of Time Group Middle East and PCC Technology said the time was right to try to sell the business (MicroScope 25 February).
Acting general manager Richard Singleton told MicroScope last week, "we have had offers for the Evesham brand… we are going to carry on selling product but in the meantime we are waiting for a buyer."
Mohsan’s first port of call was Evesham founder and one-time chairman Richard Austin, who left the company this year, but that offer was rebuffed.
Austin said he did not have the energy to make the business work and after 25 years in the business he planned to take a break.
Others believe Evesham had lost its brand equity after shutting up shop leaving a list of creditors worth £12m.
Nick Smith, marketing director at Elonex, which put in a bid for Evesham when it got into trouble last year, said he would not be vying for the firm this time around: "The brand is completely tarnished."
But there remained some good will toward the brand and the Government Accreditation Catalist was also attractive, said James Bird, managing director at the Stone Group.
