"I am very proud of the success of the EEC," says Alex Sozonoff, Chairman and President of the European Wholesale Group (EEC), as he annnounced the dissolution of this Europe-wide IT distribution group.
EWG began at the end of 2002 with four members - the Swiss ALSO Holding AG, the Dutch Copaco NV, the Italian Esprinet SpA and the British wholesaler West Coast.
The declared aim was to unite for a shopping benefit and grow the group geographically. A close partnership with Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Fujitsu Siemens was created. The EWG partners six years ago were in only five countries, today it is sixteen. During the same period, the alliance's total turnover (now 6.1 billion euros) more than doubled.
So Sozonoff is correct in saying that EWG accomplished something it can be proud of. But like most alliances it fell apart eventually. Whether that is good or bad no longer matters as the individual companies will rise or fall on their own now. The Group was a vehicle and not a destination.
