Netstore buy will give 2e2 the edge

Integrator issues statement of intent towards rival Computacenter

Integrator 2e2 has claimed its growing services pedigree will allow it to bank more profit than rival Computacenter next year, following its £57m acquisition of Netstore.

It is thought Netstore also received interest from a US and Chinese party during its six-month sale process, but 2e2’s private equity-backed bid was enough to seal a deal.

Security and managed service VAR Netstore, which owns two datacentres in Reading, will boost software and services from 65 per cent to 70 per cent of 2e2’s £300m ann-ual sales, according to the firm’s corporate business development director Nick Grossman.

“Computacenter’s revenue mix is the other way around and we are on budget to produce more profit than it in 2009 on less than 10 per cent of its revenues,” said Grossman.

Mike Norris, chief executive of Computacenter, said: “The services /product split is a bit of an irrelevance as it is about absolutes. 2e2 has done a good job making acquisitions but it has a lot more interest in us than we have in it.”