back to article Sources: Misco sold to Hilco Capital, care home for the distressed

Systemax has offloaded almost all of its Misco-branded European reseller operations to Hilco Capital, a buyer of distressed firms that will add the failing tech supplier to a basket that already contains HMV and Staples, multiple sources have told The Reg. An agreement was reached on Friday that comprises entities trading as …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sales Calls

    I miss my (umpteen!) sales calls from Ged at Misco! Guess he jumped ship a while ago - he'd call every week though, but never got that I could buy stuff cheaper elsewhere!

  2. J.Smith

    More asset stripping. It's the modern way.

    1. AMBxx Silver badge
      Alert

      It's a dead company. Been on the verge for years. Used to be important in the days of paper catalogues, but never really made the transition to online.

      Won't be many tears for Misco.

    2. fran 2

      Hilco shut down the Irish branches of HMV last January, even though they turned a small profit, they are pretty ruthless

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      More asset stripping. It's the modern way.

      It's the sensible way. Misco UK accounts show a company with net assets of £25m made of largely of cash or cash-convertible assets but the company has been burning through its balance sheet for several years now, with no obvious sign of recovery. So the current owners gave it a go, it didn't work out, they're hoping to get out before there's nowt left.

      Hilco hope that by nailing together the dog-eared Misco business with the equally dog-eared Staples business they'll be able to crop off a few loss making bits and then have something magically profitable that they can resell to some complete mug. This is akin to taking two mongrels, docking their tails, then breeding them and hoping for the offspring to be a pedigree labrador. Then again, it isn't our money on the line - until the taxpayer has to bail out any unpaid employee liabilities, like we did with Comet.

      1. opaque

        Or you could just shoot the two mongrels right now.

        Not even worth a go? Not like the assets would be split between the staff on the way out is it.

  3. big_D Silver badge

    There is a name I haven't heard for nearly 2 decades! I didn't realise they were still in business.

  4. Blitheringeejit
    Headmaster

    D'Oh

    So Systemax in the US sell "office stationary"..? Haven't they realised eveything has to be mobile these days?

    C'mon El Reg, I know it's Monday morning but you're supposed to be journalists - you should be able to spell simple words correctly even with a crashing hangover.

    1. Ellipsis
      Headmaster

      Re: D'Oh

      Then again, moving chains can be extremely dangerous, so buying “stationary chain Staples” was probably a sensible move, H&S-wise, on Hilco’s part.

      I worked in one office with lots of cupboards. None of them ever moved, but only one was labelled “stationary”…

  5. Adrian 4

    Management

    I wonder if they considered putting the good managers in France in charge of the whole lot.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Management

      France are a country still living in the 1980s when it comes to retailing. That's how that part appears to be better than the divisions in other countries.

      1. LordWilmore

        Re: Management

        Citation needed

    2. Duffaboy
      Trollface

      Re: Management

      France LOL

  6. Andy E

    Paper catalogues

    I used to look forward to receiving the Misco paper catalogues. Never knew there was so much stuff I didn't want or need.

  7. Michael Souris

    Pretty sure that Jessops was bought by Peter Jones, not Hilco Capital. Unless the two are related?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ok fine, but don't get rid of...

    Insight...I use them to calculate my markup when reselling from Amazon / C2K.

    Insight is the benchmark in overpricing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ok fine, but don't get rid of...

      thanks for pointer :)

    2. Blitheringeejit
      Trollface

      Re: Ok fine, but don't get rid of...

      Surely your markup when reselling from Amazon / C2K is the UK rate of Corporation Tax?

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon