B.com

B.com was a German IT trading and services company headquartered in Cologne. It was founded in 1996 as a sole proprietorship by Horst P. Beck, converted into a GmbH in 1997, and became a stock corporation (b.com Computer AG) in 2002. Its target customers were small and medium-sized enterprises, to which it offered PCs, PC components, software, accessories, EDP peripherals and consumer electronics. Beyond its Cologne base, the company maintained locations in Braunschweig, Gießen and on the Balearic Islands. In June 2011 the founder Horst P. Beck, through his Osmab Holding AG, sold b.com to Torsten Belverato and Thomas Hoffmann. The company ran into financial difficulty in 2013: on 15 March 2013 it filed for insolvency proceedings at the Cologne local court after the credit insurer Euler Hermes had cancelled its credit lines two days earlier. On 27 March 2013 the company announced in a press release that a business transfer (Betriebsübergang) into b.com GmbH would take place at the end of March 2013, with Wortmann AG as the new investor. The b.com GmbH continued as an independent company with the bulk of the 115 jobs and the sales branches, while the insolvent b.com Computer AG was wound up in the insolvency proceedings. After warehouse and logistics operations were merged with Wortmann subsidiary Kosatec Computer GmbH in early 2014, Torsten Belverato left the company and Siegbert Wortmann took sole management. From 1 May 2014 Kosatec took over the entire active business of b.com along with the remaining 35 employees, ending b.com as an independent operation.

B.com began in 1996 as a sole proprietorship founded by Horst P. Beck. In 1997 it was converted into a GmbH, and in 2002 it became a stock corporation under the name b.com Computer AG. The company was based in Cologne and operated additional locations in Braunschweig, Gießen and on the Balearic Islands. It served small and medium-sized enterprises, selling PCs, PC components, software, accessories, EDP peripherals and consumer electronics. In June 2011 the founder Horst P. Beck, or his Osmab Holding AG, sold b.com to Torsten Belverato and Thomas Hoffmann. Financial problems emerged in 2013. On 15 March 2013 the company applied at the Cologne local court for the opening of insolvency proceedings, after the credit insurer Euler Hermes had cancelled its credit lines two days earlier. On 27 March 2013 the company announced in a press release that a business transfer (Betriebsübergang) into b.com GmbH would take place at the end of March 2013, with Wortmann AG as the new investor. The b.com GmbH remained an independent company with the bulk of the 115 jobs and the sales branches, while the insolvent b.com Computer AG was wound up within the insolvency proceedings. After warehouse and logistics were merged with the Wortmann subsidiary Kosatec Computer GmbH in early 2014, Torsten Belverato left the company and Siegbert Wortmann took over sole management. From 1 May 2014 Kosatec took over the entire active business of b.com as well as the remaining 35 employees, bringing the b.com operation to an end.

• Founded as a sole proprietorship by Horst P. Beck

• Converted into a GmbH

• Became a stock corporation (b.com Computer AG)

• Sold by founder Horst P. Beck / Osmab Holding AG to Torsten Belverato and Thomas Hoffmann

• Filed for insolvency at the Cologne local court

• Announced business transfer to b.com GmbH with Wortmann AG as investor

• Kosatec Computer GmbH took over the entire active business and remaining 35 employees

IT trading and services provider for small and medium-sized enterprises

• PCs

• PC components

• Software

• Accessories

• EDP peripherals

• Consumer electronics

1. 1B.com – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
2. 2B.com – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Ekinops Partners with b<>com to Develop Future Access Network Solutionsprnewswire.com