MicroWarehouse, parent company of MacWarehouse, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday in the US. This follows the Sept. 8 announcement that CDW Corp. would buy certain assets of MicroWarehouse for US$22 million and take over the company’s Mac distribution in the U.S. and Canada.
MicroWarehouse lists assets of over US$100 million and debts of more than $100 million with distributor Ingram Micro listed as the company’s biggest unsecured creditor in papers filed with the court, according to a Macworld UK article. Ingram Micro is owed $17.9 million.
CDW won’t take on MacWarehouse’s liabilities, but will take a five per cent fee for collecting money due the company. MicroWarehouse enjoys annual worldwide sales of $1.9 billion worldwide, with US customers accounting for $900 million of sales.
Regarding the company’s European operation, Macworld UK says MicroWarehouse retains its 100 percent ownership of MicroWarehouse BV, the European umbrella company that itself owns 100 percent of the four MicroWarehouse business units in Europe, in the UK, Germany, France and Italy. However, the parent company in the US is now looking to sell its interest in the European units, which could take a few months.