Indian summer for Westcon

Networking distributor Westcon is set to take the Indian market by storm after parent Datatec acquired a 50.01 per cent stake in local hero Inflow Technologies.

It is not the first time Westcon has taken a cautious approach to expansion in developing territories by opting not to acquire outright. Last August, the distributor set up a networking distribution joint venture with Turkish broadliner Index Group (channelweb, 2 August).

Datatec said the investment will provide it with a platform to add additional vendors and eventual incorporation into the Westcon brand.

Inflow boasts presence in nine Indian cities and alliances with 22 vendors including Check Point, Nokia, McAfee, NetApp and Quantum. The distributor, which has annual revenues of $32m, also has operations in Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Jens Montanana, chief executive of Datatec, said India offered a lower cost of entry and potentially higher returns compared to many other developing countries.

“Our investment in Inflow is another important step in our international strategy to increase our exposure to the world’s major emerging markets which has recently seen our presence grow in markets such as Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Brazil,” he added.

Byju Pillai, chief executive of Inflow, said: “This investment along with access to global best practices of Datatec in value added distribution gives us greater ability to grow our market share, make alliances with new technology vendors and expand into new geographies.”