Ingram's CCD buy sparks broadliner debate

Rivals question whether Ingram will be able to hang on to all its franchises in wake of acquisition

Channel rivals are hoping to capitalise as the dust settles on Ingram’s acquisition of CCD.

After weeks of speculation, the broadliner bought CCD for an undisclosed amount last week, to give it the clout it has craved in the enterprise space.

All 40 CCD employees will transfer with the business including general manager Jon Bunyard, who will report to Ingram’s new UK head Matt Sanderson.

Johan Vandenbussche, vice president Pan-European business unit at Ingram, said: “This is the completion of our [value] strategy and we have started to bring all parts of the puzzle together”.

He added that the CCD brand will be preserved for the next four to five months, but will eventually be phased out to become Ingram’s Enterprise Computing and Enterprise Storage division.

Vandenbussche also said the move has had the initial backing of CCD’s main vendor HP. Phil Doye, chief executive of VAR Kelway, said the acquisition made sense.

“Ingram had no choice but to make this acquisition to get into the enterprise space and it certainly gives them a good chance to build an enterprise business in the UK which they have not had before,” he said.

“What will be interesting is whether Computacenter will now buy direct from HP or whether it will sign some sort of agreement with Ingram.”

Graeme Watt, global president of distribution at rival Bell Micro, said he will watch developments closely.

“There is always a challenge in integrating companies and for Bell we see it as a short-to-mid-term opportunity,” he said.

“Also will some vendors use this as an opportunity to consolidate and will Ingram be able to retain all the franchises it has bought into?”