It will probably only prolong the agony, but the Dutch arm of bankrupt German Escom AG has done a management buy-out backed by two Dutch venture capital groups. Escom (Netherlands) will remain active in the Netherlands, selling personal computers and hardware through its 34 shops, which mainly serve the markets for private clients and small companies, Escom BV said – but there will be job losses. Only 430 of its current 550 employees will be hired by the new independent chain of computer out lets. Management will own 255 of Escom BV, and the venture capital firms sharing the rest are Alpinvest and Halder, each with 37.5% but financial details were disclosed. It says it was trading profitably when the parent folded.
