Computacenter chairman buys

Computacenter chairman Greg Lock has increased his stake in the computer services company the day after it acquired Germany-based IBM systems provider becom Informationssysteme.

Lock, who is also chairman of Kofax and previously worked at IBM, has taken his stake to 350,000 shares with the purchase of 50,000 shares at 249p a share. In April 2009, he purchased 100,000 shares at 150p each.

Computacenter is paying an initial €2m in cash for becom Informationssysteme and there may be up to €1.2m more payable depending on the final balance sheet.

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In October 2009, Computacenter sold its trade distribution division to Ingram Micro. The computer services business has completely withdrawn from low margin trade distribution.

Unwinding the working capital, along with the sale proceeds, should generate £20m of cash over the next few months. The business is a strong cash generator and net debt, including customer-specific financing, has fallen from £89m to £4m over the 12 months to September 2009. The latest acquisition won't have much effect on Computacenter's cash position.

Computacenter will publish a full year trading update on 12 January.

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Computacenter (CCC) Director name: Mr Greg LockAmount purchased: 50,000 @ 249.00p Value: £124,500

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