Micro D to Buy 33% Stake in Australian Distributor

Hoping to gain a strong foothold in the fast-growing Pacific Rim computer market, Ingram Micro D said Thursday that it has tentatively agreed to buy a 33% interest in a large Australian computer distributor.

Ingram Micro D, the nation’s largest independent distributor of personal computer products, said it will pay $2.4 million for a one-third interest in Sidney, Australia-based Imagineering Technology Ltd. Under terms of the deal, the Santa Ana company would also provide $9.4 million in capital to Imagineering, said Linwood A. (Chip) Lacy, Ingram Micro D’s chairman and chief executive.

Ingram Micro D’s partner in the deal is First Pacific Co., a diversified Hong Kong company with real estate, banking and telecommunications interests. First Pacific, which currently owns 42% of Imagineering, would invest $17.9 million in capital and increase its stake to 67% if the deal succeeds.

Lacy said the agreement would fulfill key company goals to establish itself as a major overseas supplier of computer products and gain a strong presence in the Far East.

“Our strategy is to have three worldwide markets in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim,” Lacy said. “We also like having a partner that knows Asia. If you consider Imagineering as part of our group, then we’ll be larger in international sales than any other distributor.”

Privately held Ingram Micro D posted sales of $367 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, and it expects to report annual sales of $1.45 billion.

Together, Ingram Micro D and First Pacific will offer 47 cents a share to shareholders who hold the 58% of Imagineering stock not owned by First Pacific. That represents a hefty premium over Imagineering’s current trading price of 21 cents a share.