OXFORD, England, July 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- RS Components, the world's largest distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Installations Middle East Group (IME) for the Turkish market.

IME has partnered with RS in the Middle East for over 35 years and exclusively represents the company in UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon. The addition of Turkey is part of an ongoing strategy by RS to penetrate emerging markets, which present significant opportunities for its portfolio of around 500,000 electronics and maintenance products.

"We value the close working relationship between our two organisations and are pleased that we are strengthening it further through our entry into Turkey," said Rami Halabi, managing director at IME. "We feel confident that together we will provide a much needed high-service distribution offer to customers in Turkey, who are showing a strong interest in electronics and maintenance products."

With the agreement for Turkey, IME has formed IME General Components and opened a sales office in Istanbul to provide a considerable in-country presence. The IME-RS website for Turkey has been translated and localised to ensure that customers can complete orders easily and quickly.

"We believe that Turkey presents a significant growth opportunity for RS," said Keith Rice, general manager for emerging markets at RS. "We're pleased to be extending our partnership with IME to cover this strategic market. Our decision to partner with IME in Turkey is testament to the success we have experienced within the other markets where IME represents us; the company's knowledge, expertise and approach are impressive and have brought us some significant results across the region."

About RS Components

RS Components is the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the world's largest distributor of electronic and maintenance products. The Group serves 1.5 million customers worldwide. Through operations in 27 countries and 17 warehouses, RS distributes around 500,000 products from over 2,500 suppliers. The Group has an annual turnover of over GBP972 million and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more details on the Group please visit the corporate website (http://www.electrocomponents.com).

    
    Contact for media enquiries:

    Andrea Barnard
    RS Components
    Tel: +44-1865-207464
    andrea.barnard@rs-components.com