Asia PR News

SINGAPORE, July 29 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ –

Combined Forces Strengthen Avnet’s Asia Leadership in Design Solutions and
Supply-Chain Services for the Electronics Components Community

Avnet Inc. has reinforced its commitment to Singapore following the
conclusion of its recent acquisition of Memec Group Holdings Limited
("Memec"). Singapore’s Enterprise Development Board (EDB) has extended Avnet
Electronics Marketing Asia’s International Headquarters Status (IHQ) for a
further five years. The EDB has also awarded Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia
two grants — one for a Low Power Wireless LAN project and another for
Bluetooth.

To continue to create opportunities and values for customers and suppliers,
Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia Pacific will focus on two fundamental
strategies — design chain/demand creation and supply-chain management. In
addition, Avnet has defined four Asia regions — two in China, one in South
Asia and one covering Taiwan — to drive operational excellence and growth.

The acquisition of Memec underscores Avnet’s premier position among Asia
Pacific electronics component distributors. By merging with Memec, Avnet has
substantially expanded its technical resources with deep engineering and design
expertise and in-depth product knowledge to help suppliers create demand for
their semiconductor products. This focus is further complemented by Avnet’s
already strong logistics capability and world-class supply-chain management
solution.

"The addition of Memec allows us to offer a more balanced mix of design and
supply-chain services to our customers," said Stephen Wong, president of Avnet
Electronics Marketing Asia Pacific. "It accelerates our mission to be the most
successful electronics components distributor in Asia Pacific by distinguishing
ourselves from competitors in terms of the efficiency of the combined
operation, comprehensive market coverage, and enhanced line-card offerings.
Our suppliers will also benefit from our increased customer base and our
strengthened position in the marketplace."

Avnet believes in regional empowerment as a key success factor. To support
this, Avnet Electronics Marketing has defined the following four Asian regions
to direct the business, support suppliers and serve customers: Taiwan Region,
South Region, China Region I and China Region 2.

Taiwan Region will continue to be led by regional president Samuel Fang.
South Region, which includes ASEAN, India, Korea, Australia and New Zealand,
will be led by regional president Ravi Kichloo.

Reflecting the tremendous growth opportunities in China, two teams have
been formed — China Region I and China Region 2 — to further enhance Avnet’s
market leadership.

China Region I (Avnet Memec), is a separate and additional presence in
China that carries many of the Memec franchises. This will be headed by
regional president Victor Koh, former Memec China managing director. Regional
president Raymond Leung will continue to head China Region 2, assuming full
responsibility for many of the Avnet franchises (Avnet Technology, Avnet
Sunrise and Avnet ChinaTronic).

To create greater value for both suppliers and Avnet Electronics Marketing
Asia, a new central marketing structure for Asia has been created to support a
specific group of suppliers.

Chien-Chung Lim (CC Lim), former Memec Insight managing director, has been
appointed as vice president of marketing and will be responsible for business
development for Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia semiconductor suppliers. The
new structure reinforces the commitment of Avnet to its business in Asia and
facilitates more focused and efficient operations created by the joint forces
of Avnet and Memec, particularly in the high-growth China market.

The rest of the former Memec Asia Pacific team will be integrated into
Avnet Electronics Marketing.

"We are very pleased to be gaining the talented employees of Memec," said
Wong. "They not only bring their deep core competency in demand creation to
our combined business, they also add new strength to our relationships with key
suppliers, and many new customers."

About Avnet
Avnet, Inc., (NYSE: AVT) enables success from the centre of the technology
industry, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base
of more than 100,000 customers and 300 suppliers. The company markets,
distributes and adds value to a wide variety of electronic components,
enterprise computer products and embedded subsystems. Through its premier
market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities that help its
trading partners accelerate growth and realise cost efficiencies. Avnet Inc.,
a Fortune 500 company, is one of the world’s largest technology marketing,
distribution and services companies. Avnet and Memec generated combined
revenue in excess of US$13 billion in the past year through sales in 69
countries.

Avnet Electronics Marketing is the largest operating group of Avnet Inc.,
serving a wide range of customers including original equipment manufacturers
(OEMs), electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers, and small-to-medium
customers in 69 countries, distributing electronic components from leading
manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services.
The company’s web site is located at http://www.em.avnet.com .

Media contact:

Jane Neo
Tel: +65-65806007
Email: Jane.Neo@Avnet.com

Lai Peng Tan
Tel: +852-2410-2735
Email: laipeng.tan@avnet.com

SOURCE Avnet Electronics Marketing