Not just the UK then
Spain’s leading business daily, Expansión, reported Friday that Cofiman, the country’s largest desktop SI, and second largest SI overall (after Airis), has been declared insolvent after years of declining sales and a mortally damaging split among its owners in 2006.
The Court of Trade (Juzgado de lo Mercantil) in Jaén will act as receiver. Outstanding debts have not been declared, but they totalled 20 million euros at the end of 2006. Revenues of 50 million euros during 2007 were only 30 percent of forecast.
The fall of Cofiman, said Expansión, dates from a dispute among the main partners, which ended with the departure of Juan Ruiz. Ruiz took much of the equipment, staff, and the company’s government contracts with him to his new company, EDM, which produced 220,000 machines last year, compared to Cofiman’s 132,800.
Ruiz’s departure also left Cofiman without the qualifications to bid for other government contracts. Further disputes among the shareholders resulted in the loss of the company’s outlet through UPI stores (one of the largest in the country) and the wholesaler Tech Micro.
