2e2 makes £53m bid for Compel
Integrator set to break its £200m turnover goal
Integrator 2e2 is set to smash the £200m turnover goal it set when it was founded five years ago, following its acquisition bid for rival Compel, as revealed by CRN last week (CRN Online, 6 March).
Having already made 13 acquisitions since its inception, 2e2 has paid £53m in cash for Oracle and Hewlett-Packard-specialist Compel, in a deal that would lift its annual sales to £250m.
Nick Grossman, business development director at 2e2, said: “We said we would grow to a £200m business in five years, and everyone laughed. This deal gets us to the magic point almost five years to the day.”
Grossman claimed that the acquisition, which is set to close in late March, would enable 2e2 to compete against larger system integrators.
“The enterprise solutions business was the most compelling part for us,” he said. “Whereas Compel is in large enterprises and big in telecoms and transport, we focus on the medium-to-large corporate market.”
Compel will be run as an autonomous unit, at least until the end of 2007, although Compel chief executive Neville Davis will soon leave the firm.
The deal will be financed by 2e2’s private-equity backers Duke Street Capital.
Phil Doye, managing director of VAR Kelway, which took on Core Capital in November (CRN, 4 December), said: “This is a reflection of the market consolidation. It is a warning to smaller players.”