Swiss security distributor Infinigate has expanded its European footprint to six countries by acquiring Nordic rival Nocom Security.
David Martinez, chief executive of Infinigate whose vendor line-up includes Symantec, McAfee and SonicWall, said the acquisition will raise the company’s profile.
“Many US vendors see Europe as one country, so they don’t want too many partners. With one contract they can now cover six countries,” he said.
“Computerlinks is in 12 countries and Noxs is in eight. Based on geographic coverage, we are now the third-biggest [European] distributor focused on security.”
With operations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, Nocom sustained a loss of 8m Swedish kroner (£610,000) on revenues of 188m kroner (£14.4m) in 2006. Infinigate, trading in Austria, Switzerland and Germany, hit revenues of ?50m (£34.9m) last year.
Martinez added that privately held Infinigate had the cash to pull off further acquisitions on the back of a capital increase earlier this year.
“We have to find someone who is the right profile and is willing to sell at the right price,” he said.
Nigel Hawthorn, vice president of marketing for EMEA at security vendor Blue Coat, said: “It is easier for vendors to deal with a distributor covering multiple territories. Not only does it simplify accounts, it makes life a lot easier from a product supply perspective.”
Citing Computerlinks’ recent expansion into the US, Hawthorn said it is becoming more common for European distributors to increase their global coverage.
Dave Ellis, director of e-security at Computerlinks, said. “We do not see Infinigate as a core competitor. It does not have the same geographic coverage or breadth of vendors.”
Magirus moots Nordic acquisition