DNS Arrow aims for Centia

Distribution behemoth keen to complete acquisition of Centia and AKS Group

Distribution giant DNS Arrow has added to its acquisition tally by reaching an agreement to acquire rival distributors Centia and AKS Group.

DNS Arrow???s parent company DNS Int. Europe revealed today that intends to snap up UK-based Centia and Scandinavian-based AKS Group for an undisclosed sum.

Centia has satellite offices in Germany, France and the Netherlands, and AKS is active in all Scandinavian markets. Both firms are strong in the virtualisation and access solutions space, covering vendors such as Citrix, VMWare, PlateSpin, Neoware and Vizioncore.

Steve Pearce, managing director of DNS Arrow, said: "This is yet another demonstration of our intention to dominate the high value solutions end of the distribution channel. Combined with our existing strengths in data storage, data management and data protection this move perfectly positions DNS Arrow UK to deliver an exciting portfolio of access, data consolidation and virtualisation technologies to our partners. Centia???s knowledge, skills and vendor relationships will be the catalyst for a whole host of high value propositions we can take to our channel partner base.???

Manfred Moullion, a member of the managing board of DNS Int. Europe, said: " Since becoming an Arrow company, DNS Arrow has continued to pursue pan European growth strategy in fast growing market segments???, says Manfred Moullion, co-founder and member of the managing board. ???This acquisition is another important step in implementing our strategy. We see an ongoing consolidation in the market and are actively participating in it. Both acquired companies are a perfect addition to our portfolio and bolster our presence in the UK and Scandinavia."

Yuri Pasea, chairman of Centia/AKS, said: "Our strength as a ???knowledge based distributor??? and a reputation for technical excellence has been built up over 25 years. We have always been supremely confident in our abilities in all aspects of Access Computing and Virtualisation technology. However in a fast growing market, scalability and marketing muscle are all key factors. This move and the integration of our European operation into DNS Arrow which has a much larger, Pan-European footprint, completely underpins our ambitions to be the ???go to??? distributor for channel resellers who want to service their end users requirements in this exciting and fast growing area of the market."