According to Convoy CEO Geoff Mathews, Convoy held several discussions with Hills Industries executives, however the discussions broke down and Hills walked away from a potential acquisition of Convoy.
According to one Hills source the Company is still looking for acquisitions in Australia in an effort to grow their operations in the consumer electronics and custom install markets.
According to Stuart Craig the CEO of Hill SVL, a Company which was formed after Hills acquired the Audio Telex operations three years ago, business is booming with the Company struggling to keep up with demand prior to Xmas.
However Craig refused to comment on the potential acquisition of Convoy.
According to Mathews the potential deal with Hills was more about the distribution of branded products like Monster cables, Bowers & Wilkins sound systems, JBL speakers and brands like Harman Kardon all of which are distributed by Convoy.
"Yes we held discussions with Hills but it came to nothing. I believe that the deal was more about products than expanding the distribution of automated products in Australia which some of our vendors have but is not currently distributed in Australia by Convoy".
"Convoy is all about relationships, the relationships that we have with our vendors and the relationship that we have with our customers. This is some of the key value that Convoy delivers. I don't know why Hills did not proceed but are looking at expansion and we are looking at new distributed audio and distribution systems" said Mathews.
Last week Hills Industries Ltd increased its stake in Fielders Australia to almost 75 per cent following a rights issue and the conversion of debt to equity.
