Telecoms distributor Nimans has snapped up arch-rival Rocom from parent AT Communications (ATC) in a £12.45m cash deal.

Nimans was believed to be in a two-horse race for the Yorkshire-based distributor with Rocom management.

It will pay £11.95m in cash upon completion of the deal, and a further non-contingent cash sum of £0.5 million payable on 23 March 2010. The acquisition will be the biggest in the UK comms distribution space since the merger of Westcon and Crane two years ago.

ATC publicly announced it was in “early stage talks” to sell one of its three divisions in November, in a bid to slash back debt levels. But it repeatedly refused to confirm widespread rumours the division in question was Rocom.

AIM-listed ATC bought Rocom for £17.6m in 2006. In 2008, the distributor banked earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation of goodwill of £3.5m on sales of £45.4m. Rocom managing director Richard Carter will stay on at the firm for three months before taking up a new role at ATC Group, Nimans said in a statement.

ATC said the deal would allow it to sharpen its focus on its two remaining divisions – services wing Servassure and ATC Solutions.

As a result of the disposal, Alex Tupman intends to step down from his position of ATC chief executive. Tupman, who founded ATC in 1999, will hand the reins to current chief operating officer Scott Kean on an interim basis.

Tupman said in a statement: “I am delighted that we have successfully completed the sale of Rocom. We wish our former Rocom colleagues every success and thank them for their contribution to the group.

“The £12.45m consideration significantly reduces the group's net debt and enables the group to become a more focused, high-margin business, underpinned by strong recurring revenue streams.”