Resale giant Computacenter has splashed €2m (£1.8m) on German IBM specialist becom Informationssysteme.

Becom is an IBM Premier Business Partner and also works with manufacturers including Lenovo, Cisco and CA. It is based in Schwerte in Germany's Ruhr valley and has about 120 employees.

In addition to the upfront €2m cash consideration, Computacenter indicated it may have to fork out an additional €1.2m, depending on becom's final balance sheet position. The Hatfield-based über-VAR claimed the deal would boost its standing in the German IT systems market.

Marc Fischer, vice president of the systems and technology group for IBM Germany, welcomed the acquisition.

"The acquisition of becom by Computacenter is great for us and our customers, " he said.

Computacenter Germany chief executive OIiver Tuszik claimed becom's datacentre nous would be a boon for his firm.

"In return, we bring financial security and access to a broad product and service portfolio," he added. "Becom and Computacenter complement each other perfectly and there is little overlap among target customers."