by 
PHOENIX — Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) announced today that it has sold New ProSys Corp. (“ProSys”), a value-added reseller and a leading provider of IT infrastructure solutions to a broad range of markets, to ACS Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Applied Computer Solutions. Avnet acquired ProSys as part of the Bell Microproducts acquisition on July 6, 2010, and announced its intention to sell this VAR business at that time. Total consideration for the sale includes both a cash payment at closing and a three-year earn-out based upon ProSys’ anticipated results.
“This transaction divests a non-core asset and will allow ProSys to join one of the largest and fastest growing resellers in North America focused exclusively on end-user customers where they can leverage their capabilities to address an expanded set of opportunities,” stated Rick Hamada, Avnet President and Chief Operating Officer. “Avnet Technology Solutions has enjoyed a long and successful partnership with Applied Computer Solutions and we look forward to expanding that relationship with the addition of ProSys to their business.”
ProSys, which employs 360 people and had revenues of $417.9 million in the twelve months ended June 30, 2010, deploys customized, leading-edge solutions from premier technology vendors that help enterprise, public sector and educational customers address their most complex IT infrastructure needs.
Needham & Company, LLC acted as a financial advisor and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP acted as legal counsel to Avnet in connection with this transaction.
{complink 577|Avnet Inc.}
Barbara, you are right, the trend shows that Singapore may be the next hub for outsourced works. Singapore is a good country with lots of man power pool and hifi living style. In my opinion it’s a country with beautiful greenish valley and pampered by god’s grace. When we compare the economic growth of Singapore with any other Asian or European countries, it’s far better and always showing a steady graph of growth from 90’s onwards. This economic growth and stability is from revenue earnings through tourism and industrial growth, especially from electronic industries.
One of the major advantages of Singapore is its stable administration with liberal values and foreign investment policy. Geographically Singapore is placed in a strategic location, which is well connected by air and sea. So it can be easily accessible by both the west and European countries easily. Some of the major intercontinental networking cables have landing points in Singapore and hence the internet connectivity is also very high. These are some of the key factors which can influence the foreign investment agencies.
Dear Barara,
Just my view, correct me if I am wrong. We are in compoents distribution business, and we set up Singapore office in 2002. Cost is the major concern now. There is not much factory in Singapore, some of the companies you stated there do not really have factory in Singapore, it is only the IPO office, their factories are in Malaysia,Thailand and in most case China. Singapore do have talent people, but the cost of doing business in Singapore is not lower than in US / EU. In comparsion, Hongkng may be a better place for components and EMS outsourcing. Almost all distributors in the region have office in Hongkong, and like Singapore we are tax free ( for Singapore, you have GST 7%- refund back if you ship the good out of Singapore ).
I have customer in Hongkong, bring in PCBA / box built project from Austrilia, Italy and make them in China. I tryly agreed IP protection in China, however, it all depend on who you working with. Please take note 60%+ of IT products and 85%+ of consumer product is made in China, and Hongkong in the Hub for all these activities.
The cost of borrowing and time to get that done is much longer in Singapore than in Hongkong. To set up a compnay in Singapore , you need a director either a Singaporean/Malaysian or having a work permit. But in Hongkong, foreigner can set up company and bank account within one day.
Hi Franky Li,
I appreciate your feedback, especially since you have first hand experience in Singapore. As journalists, we don't always get to see things first hand, and if your experience is contrary to published reports, it's important to represent your point of view. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Cost and ease of doing business are huge issues for compnaies, particularly when making decisions where to locate their offices or businesses. In the course of due diligence, examples such as yours should be considered. I'll ask about it when I get the opportunity and report in future blogs. Thanks again for your contribution to EBNonline.
Exactly. The cost is #1 reason why companie are not moving there. The country is very advanced and the cost of living is very high as well. I know that semiconductor companies like AMD has some back end manufacturing there but it definitely did not beat other countries like Thailand, Malaysia or China.