Kelway closes Panacea deal

Mid-market focused reseller Kelway completes purchase of managed services and virtualisation specialist

Deal boosts Kelway's turnover to £140m

VAR Kelway claims it has become a £140m-turnover firm after putting pen to paper on its acquisition of Panacea Services.

The deal – which was exclusively revealed by CRN last month – is designed to swell product-focused Kelway’s managed services and virtualisation capabilities.

Around 80 of Panacea’s 110 staff focus on providing project and technical services. The HP and VMware partner is headquartered in London with technical support centres in the Midlands, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and the United Arab Emirates.

Private equity-backed Kelway, which hasn’t made an acquisition since Elcom in 2007, said the purchase will swell its annual turnover to £140m.

Kelway chief executive Phil Doye said: “The acquisition of Panacea represents another dynamic move forward for Kelway and a key step in strengthening our position as the UK’s foremost mid-market IT reseller.”

Panacea managing director Peter Stroud joins Kelway’s board and assumes the role of head of Kelway's solutions and services offering.

Stroud said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with Kelway in a move that will be hugely beneficial to both parties. Panacea Services has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 1992 to its current position as an agile and profitable leader in managed services and virtualisation.”