CompuServe Messages

This is getting strange … are they dead? Are they alive? Is this the basis of a new techno religion? The following is a usenet message from Gilles Bourdin. Good stuff, but take it for what it's worth … optimistic _rumor_. ———– From: Gilles Bourdin Date : Monday, May 2nd 1994, 16H30 CET. Source : Commodore Germany Commodore is NOT DEAD and neither is the Amiga. Call it a miracle, or whateveryou like, but it's TRUE. Look, I just called Commodore Germany and was told that the european operations were not affected by the American liquidation. "Things are just fine over here in Frankfurt, thank you". I called four different people to make sure that the information is accurate (yes, I speak german). I know someof these people personnaly, I worked at Commodore Germany a few years ago, andam concerned in spreading reliable information from reliable sources, so please, do not flame this information as rumours, it is REAL. Commodore currently only gives information by phone, untill everything is cleared up. Commodore US HAD to be liquidated because they found an investor who is willing to inject enough cash to startup Commodores business again. They won'ttell at this time who actually bought them up, this will be done later in anofficial press announcement. It is also not sure what sort of agreement wasreached between them, if it's a joint venture, a participation in Commodorescapital or a complete takeover. What I can tell you, is that the buyer is a big asian investor who has enoughfinancial power to restart Commodore and who is willing to keep the Amiga product line alive. The american structure WILL be maintained, all devellopment comes from there.The recent layoffs are the results of the liquidation. There are good chancesthat many of these employees will be hired back when the storm is over. No clear statement, though. Production is still halted and restarting it is not a problem at all. The names "Commodore" and "Amiga", as well as the product line will be maintanined and supported in the future. There will be *no layoffs* at Commodore Germany. Alwin Stumpf (GEO of C= Germany) was in England on Saturday at a general meeting where these issues were discussed. I phoned with him last week (can'tbe reached today, unfortunately, you will understand why, actually it was areal pain to get through the busy phone lines today) and he mainly gave me informations about what was going to happen with Commodore in France. The main point in the negociations in GB were that the name Commodore and theproduct Amiga had to be maintained. They succeeded in avoiding an "Amiga slaughtering takeover". They found a way to acomplish this needed liquidation of C= US and all non-rentable subsidiaries (C= France, C= Spain, C= Belgium) without suspendingthe operations of C= Germany, C= Italy, C= GB and C= Scandinavia. Commodore France will be replaced by a new company called "Amiga Computer- export SARL", which will have an office in Paris. Developper and dealer support as well as marketing and distribution will be their main activity. This subsidiary of Commodore Germany will have a lighter structure than former Commodore France and will be 100% Amiga oriented, unlike C= France whowas too much PC oriented and who didn't survive the loss of the clone market. NJM> Yes this is the end. No, it's a new beginning. NJM> For the first time CBM made a headline on Compuserve! There will be more opportunities for them to make headlines soon, believe me. Feel free to phone or mail me for further informations, the lines are buzzingand I'll be back with more info as soon as available. Gilles Bourdin, Paris. Tel (331)45341957 FAX(331)46266261 gbo@ramses.fdn.org —————– -sja