Centerprise opts out of Elonex bidding

Centerprise has passed on the opportunity to buy fellow British PC manufacturer Elonex Plc out of adminstration.

Acquisitive PC and services company Centerprise put in a bid for the North West London-based vendor, had it rejected, and decided not to haggle.

Centerprise CEO Richard Pursey said: "We put in a bid for Elonex we thought was fair given the state of the market and Elonex, which has been struggling for some time now."

Though he refused to say what the bid was, he did say he had been outdone by another firm.

Viglen, Research Machines, and a bidder from outside the industry are thought to be still haggling over Elonex with administrators Deloitte & Touche. Elonex slipped into administration earlier this month.

"[Elonex] has been suffering from margin erosion because it wasn't supporting its clients so much," Pursey said. "There's no point picking up a business if it's going to damage your own company.

"We didn't put a huge effort into the Elonex deal because we were aware of the risk which was picking up liabilities," he said.

Pursey, who joined Centerprise two years ago when it acquired his business continuity firm, Adam Consulting, said he was still on the look out for further acquisitions. Other purchases in recent years include Welsh PC manufacturer CFL.

"We know where we are going and we know how we want to get there and when one of these deals comes along, unless it fits our strategy we are just not interested," said Pursey.

"Management defocus is the theft of profit," he added.

Deloitte & Touche was unavailable for comment.®