Westcon swoops on Noxs

After a long running acquisition race, Westcon UK snaps up specialist security distributor for 'up to' Euro 53.2m

The UK arm of Westcon Group has signed a definitive agreement to acquire security distributor Noxs, the distribution division of Unit 4 Agresso, for about €53.2m.

Subject to approval by the European Union, expected to be completed in April, Westcon claims the deal, is another step in its global strategy to become a ‘leading multinational distributor of network security products and solutions’.

Noxs has been the subject of a long-running acquisition saga with several players being linked to the distributor over the past four months including Arrow/DNS and Magirus.

Barry Shakespeare, executive vice president of Westcon Europe said: “The Noxs acquisition is logical and highly complementary to Westcon’s business with very little overlap in vendors and customers. Additionally Westcon’s model of building a strong value-added distribution business around advanced technology solutions gives our customers new business opportunities in emerging areas such as Voice over IP security.”

Once the acquisition is complete, Noxs will continue as a dedicated division managed by Noxs chief executive Harry de Smedt and the existing management team, reporting to Shakespeare.

De Smedt said: "At NOXS, we have built an enviable expertise, customer base and range of services in security technology that is second to none. Westcon brings a new scale of operations to our customers and vendor partners. With their financial strength, logistics capabilities and their multinational programs we will have much more to offer."

Edwin van Leeuwen, chief financial officer of Unit 4 Agresso said: “Strategically the sale of Noxs to Westcon is a win-win for both companies. Westcon expands its security product line, skill set and services to become the leading security player in Europe, while Unit 4 Agresso strengthens its capital base through which we can expand the other parts of our organisation to provide even more services to our growing business software and integration customers.”