Econocom has bolstered its UK audio-visual capabilities by snapping up the business and assets of Smartcomm, IT Channel Oxygen can reveal.
High Wycombe-based Smartcomm went into administration on 21 February following a winding-up petition from HMRC the previous month.
Serving the commercial and residential sectors, it turned over £22.9m in calendar 2022, employing an average of 107 staff that year.
Now, an Administrators’ Statement of Proposals has revealed that its business and assets were snapped up by Econocom Products & Solutions for £300,000 plus VAT on 25 March.
The UK has been singled out for further M&A as Econocom chases its €4bn 2028 revenue target, new UK CEO Gavin Bell told IT Channel Oxygen in November.
Despite being a near-€100m business in the UK, the France-headquartered IT solutions provider is eager to accelerate growth more quickly here than elsewhere, he indicated.
“We’re looking at broadening out that capability through another couple of acquisitions in the audio visual and MSP space to give us the same breadth of capability in the UK that we have in some of our more established countries, like France, Belgium, Italy and Spain,” Bell said at the time.
The skinny on Smartcomm
HMRC issued a winding-up petition against Smartcomm – which served the commercial and residential & hospitality sectors – on 14 January for £1.84m in respect of PAYE, NI and VAT.
Before the winding-up petition, Smartcomm had held “extensive talks” for a solvent sale to a potential acquirer, the Statement of Proposals revealed.
Had the petition been withdrawn and the sale concluded, this would have resulted in all creditors being paid in full and ensured the continuation of the company, it added.
Smartcomm’s invoice finance funder e-Capital Commercial Finance took steps to appoint administrators KRE Corporate Recovery after HMRC refused to back down.
It went under owing trade and expense creditors nearly £2.1m. Turnover for the year to 31 October 2024 fell to £15.8m, according to draft management accounts included in the Statement of Proposals.
Some nine interested parties signed NDAs in relation to purchasing Smartcomm’s business and assets.
More to follow…..
