Logicalis to buy IBM VAR

Acquisitive reseller poised to make another purchase

Acquisition-hungry VAR Logicalis is just weeks away from adding another reseller to its shopping basket.

The firm, which bought VARs Hawke Systems and Notability in the past six months, had hoped the deal would go through this week but is running behind schedule, according to Ian Cook, chief executive of European operations at Logicalis.

“We are in negotiations to acquire a UK-based IBM VAR, and currently everything is with the lawyers,” Cook told CRN.

He said that once this deal is done he will be on the lookout for further acquisitions.

“I would like to buy a firm in the voice and networking space, preferably one with a focus on application integration,” he said.

“But we do not want to just bolt another company onto the side. That is unsustainable. I’m looking to add integration capabilities because we have to be able to do more than resell other people’s technology.”

However, Cook added that he has yet to find a suitable company.

Keith Humphreys, consultant at EuroLan Research, said size could be a problem. “Voice and application integration is quite a new area, so the only firms likely to have the right skills are the big players such as CapGemini. Logicalis may have trouble finding something small enough for it to buy.

“It could look at buying a traditional voice player which can adapt to networking and integration.”