C2000 grabs Irish Cadco

Broadliner buys Cork-based Autodesk distributor

C2000 buys Autodesk’s sole distributor in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for an undisclosed sum

Computer 2000 (C2000) has upped the ante in Ireland by snapping up local Autodesk distributor Cadco.

The broadliner has spent the past year building up sales, account management, training and support resources in the country, and has also inked local deals with Fujitsu and HP.

But it has now upped the stakes by grabbing the distribution assets of Cadco, Autodesk’s sole distributor in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, for an undisclosed sum. The Cork-based outfit will become part of Datech, C2000’s specialist design software division.

Seamus Hurley, who headed up Cadco, has been appointed as Datech’s Irish division.

Hurley claimed the acquisition would be “positive news” for all Irish CAD resellers.

“It enables us to continue providing the high levels of service that we have always delivered to our reseller customers and will provide further security and investment for the business,” he said. “Computer 2000 has access to unrivalled stock-holding, delivery and financial resources and Datech will now be able to use these capabilities to deliver more value to our customers in Ireland.”

David Watts, director of C2000’s Datech division in UK and Ireland, said: “With the acquisition of the distribution business assets of Cadco, we have acquired part of a business with an excellent reputation and a well-established and loyal customer base.”

Cadco is just the latest in a string of European acquisitions made by Computer 2000 parent Tech Data this year.

Other purchases include Spanish IBM distributor Compumedi, the Portuguese operation of broadliner Investronica and Man and Machine's Germany-based Autodesk operations.