Systemax has entered into agreement to purchase the CompUSA brand, trademarks, and e-commerce business. The direct cost of the acquisition, which is expected to close this quarter, will be about $30 million.
Port Washington, NY-based Systemax will run CompUSA as a complimentary business to its TigerDirect operation. In fact, it plans to launch a CompUSA catalog as early as March.
The company will also purchase up to 16 CompUSA locations in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, says Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO of TigerDirect, It will also rebrand its 11 TigerDirect retail stores in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ontario with the CompUSA name.
CompUSA announced in March that it would liquidate 126 of its retail locations last spring. It sold the final 103 to an affiliate of the Gordon Brothers Group last month.
Although it will no longer operate TigerDirect-branded stores, Systemax will continue to run the TigerDirect Website and catalog. “TigerDirect is within the top 10 computer e-commerce sites and top 50 e-commerce sites, so we obviously want to keep the name,” Fiorentino says.
Miami-based TigerDirect will run the CompUSA e-commerce site, and the new CompUSA catalog, which will be similar to its own twice-monthly 68-page book, Fiorentino says. “In our heart we’re a catalog brand, and we look forward to exploring additional ways to promote the CompUSA name.”