Global Industrial Company, is a

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), No ...

based company and is a provider of industrial and MRO (maintenance, repair, and operating supply) products through a system of branded e-Commerce websites and relationship marketers in North America. The primary brand is Global Industrial. The company was founded in 1949 as Global Equipment Company, a material handler. It first entered direct marketing in 1972 and began marketing computer equipment in 1981. The company changed its name to Global Direct-mail in 1995 and to Systemax in 1999 and Global Industrial Company in 2021.

Subsidiaries and divisions

Subsidiaries and divisions of Systemax, Inc. include Global Industrial, Nexel, Infotel, C&H Distributors and Avenue Industrial Supply Company.

Acquisition of CompUSA

On January 6, 2008, Systemax Inc. announced an agreement on the acquisition of the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

-based

CompUSA CompUSA was a retailer and reseller of personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, by the 1990s CompUSA had grown into a nati ...

brand, trademarks, and

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...

business, and as many as 16 CompUSA retail outlets in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. The first new CompUSA store under Systemax ownership was opened in November 2009.

Acquisition of Circuit City trademarks and website

On May 13, 2009, Circuit City announced it would sell its intellectual property, including its trademarks, brand name, and internet domain, to Systemax for $14 million. The deal took effect six days later. The defunct CircuitCity.com website was restored after the Systemax purchase. In late December 2012, CompUSA and Circuit City were both consolidated into TigerDirect, which Systemax sold to PCM, Inc. on December 1, 2015.

Acquisition of WStore Europe

On September 18, 2009 Systemax announced the acquisition of WStore Europe, SA, a European supplier of business IT products with operations in France (Inmac WStore SAS and I-Com Software) and in the United Kingdom (WStore UK Limited).

Acquisition of Misco Solutions (SCC Netherlands)

On June 12, 2014, Systemax announced the acquisition of SCC Services B.V., a supplier of business-to-business IT products and services with operations in the Netherlands. This subsidiary was renamed Misco Solutions.

Acquisition of Plant Equipment Group (“PEG”)

On January 30, 2015, Systemax announced the acquisition of the Plant Equipment Group ("PEG"), a business-to-business direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations ("MRO") products, from TAKKT America . PEG serves business customers within the North American MRO market.

Sale of TigerDirect

On December 1, 2015, Systemax announced the sale of certain Business to Business assets of its North American Technology Group, including TigerDirect to PCM, Inc.

Sale of German Operations to CANCOM SE

On July 25, 2016, Systemax announced the sale of its Misco Germany assets to CANCOM SE.

Sale of European Technology Products Group Businesses

On March 27, 2017, Systemax announced the sale of all its European Technology Products Group Businesses, excluding their operations in France. Sale of French-based Information Technology Business On September 4, 2018, Systemax announced it has closed the previously announced sale of its France-based IT business to Bechtle AG.

Legal disputes

On September 17, 2012, the U.S.

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC) charged a former director of Systemax Inc for fraudulently reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed compensation between January 2006 to December 2010. The SEC alleged that Gilbert Fiorentino, who in addition to serving on the board was the former chief executive of Systemax’s Technology Products Group in Miami, "obtained more than $400,000 in extra compensation directly from firms that conducted business with Systemax." The SEC also alleged Fiorentino of stealing "several hundred thousand dollars worth of company merchandise that was used to market Systemax’s products." Fiorentino failed to disclose his extra compensation and perks to Systemax or its auditors, so that the amounts reported to shareholders were understated. In April 2011, Systemax placed Fiorentino on administrative leave. On May 9, 2011, Fiorentino agreed to resign from all of his positions with Systemax, surrender stock and stock options valued at approximately $9.1 million, and repay his 2010 annual bonus of $480,000. With Fiorentino's departure, Robert Leeds, Systemax's founding CEO of the technology division, took over as CEO of Systemax's technology products group. Fiorentino agreed to settle the SEC charges by paying a $65,000 fine and consenting to a permanent bar from serving as an officer or director of any publicly held company. On December 3, 2014, Gilbert and Carl Fiorentino pleaded guilty for their participation in a bribery scheme, after it was found that between during his employment, Carl had received over $7 million in

kickbacks A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered. Generally speaking, the remuneration (money, goods, or services handed over) is negotiated ahead of time. The kickbac ...

from suppliers he had entered into agreements with Systemax, and obscured his participation in these agreements to Systemax. Gilbert was also charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and impeding the operation of the IRS.

Restatement

On February 21, 2005, the company restated financial results for each of the first three quarters of 2004 and the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, following the discovery of certain inventory accounting errors at the company's British unit. On May 11, 2005, the company restated its results for the year 2004, following the discovery of errors in accounting for inventory at its Tiger Direct Inc. unit, an online retailer.

References

External links

Systemax, Inc. homepage
{{Authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Business services companies established in 1949 Industrial supply companies Companies based in Nassau County, New York 1949 establishments in New York (state) Retail companies of the United States