JBA International Plc based in Edgbaston, Birmingham has acquired the US IBM mid-range distributor GMD Inc, in a bid to become the world’s largest IBM mid-range agent. GMD, which specialises in manufacturing applications and the supply of MAAPICS on th AS/400, has a US-wide network of 14 offices, employs around 140 people and had a software and services turnover last year of more than $12m. Following this acquisition JBA will have about 600 employees, and last year produced a turnover of UKP17m from its services and software, with a further UKP20m coming from the installation of IBM hardware. GMD de2ied another $15m of revenue from IBM hardware installation. GMD will continue to operate in the US under its own name, but will add JBA’s own Business/400 range of software products to its portfolio. In the UK JBA has 14 offices and serves around 500 clients including Johnson Matthey, Land Rover and Showerings (of Babycham fame). Last year it set up a subsidiary called Olympic Software to sell Business/400 to IBM Agents throughout the world, so that it now has a network covering Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The continent is a difficult distribution nut to crack, however, as the agent network there is fragmented with, say, an Agent solely operating within one big city. Consequently, JBA is currently negotiating a variety of business partnerships and associations with Agents on the Continent to get its Business/400 package as widely installed as possible. The group may float in 18 months to two years’ time but feels there is no urgency to do so.
