Computer Australia buys Concorde

IT reseller group Computer Australia has bought the business of Brisbane reseller Concorde Computer, which tumbled into administration late last year.

The sale involved Computer Australia - which had recently undertaken a reseller member drive - buying three Concorde stores in Brisbane's Mt Gravatt, Newstead and Strathpine, its websites, customer database and other goodwill, said David Wu, co-owner of Computer Australia.

Wu said the reseller had offered jobs to the remaining Concorde staff and the three stores were still trading. He said customers were "positive" about the management change and Computer Australia would honour all product warranties.

Concorde's former management had moved on, he said.

Concorde entered voluntary administration in late November last year with around $1.6 million in debts following a poor October/November sales period.

The Brisbane office of accountancy firm Horwath Jefferson Stevenson was appointed to administer the operation.

Concorde Computer was nominated for a "reseller of the year" prize at Haymarket Publishing's IT&T Awards last year and had also moved into the digital home arena with Brisbane's first demonstration rooms showcasing convergent home entertainment technologies.

Wu said he had spoken to Concorde's major creditors - the likes of distributors Tech Pacific and Ingram Micro - companies which felt that Concorde had a "good business".

Wu would look for potential franchisees to run the three stores by the end of January.

The stores would run under the Computer Australia buying group model. Some assets such as the website and company trademark were still yet to be transferred because the administrator was still on holidays, Wu said.

Wu and his business partner Paul Li are looking to increase Computer Australia's member numbers from around 34 stores to 150 Australia-wide within the next two years.

Under its model - which is similar to the one used by the Leading Edge group - Computer Australia charges an upfront $2700 fee to resellers who want to join the group.

The fee gives members access to 2000 copies of Computer Australia's monthly product catalogue.