ANS gets set to buy after impressive year
Strong year-end results encourage networking VAR to head for acquisition territory
VAR Associated Network Solutions (ANS) is poised to step into the acquisition market after posting strong end-of-year results.
ANS’s turnover rose by 24 per cent from £4.1m last year to £5.1m in 2006. Pre-tax profit also soared by 49 per cent from £369,351 to £549,567 over the same period.
The VAR, which has vendor partnerships with Microsoft, Citrix, Cisco and IBM, is now on the hunt for suitable acquisition targets.
Chris Malthouse, finance director at ANS, told CRN: “Our results have shown excellent growth and we have found identity management was a big growth area for us. We are now actively looking for acquisitions and talking to a number of potential targets.
“We have £1.5m of excess cash on our balance sheet and we are growing this by £30,000 to £40,000 a month.”
Malthouse said ANS has the option to raise money by share sales, using its spare cash or by borrowing additional funds from the bank.
“The ideal target is to make an acquisition in the next 12 months,” Malthouse added. “The product set [of the firm we acquire] would be different from ours; not another ANS, but something that could complement what we do.”
Jess Thompson-Hughes, managing director of distributor React Technologies, said making acquisitions is the best method for ANS to grow its business.
“You could spend £1.5m on marketing and not get the same level of return as you would with an acquisition,” he said.
Thompson-Hughes added that ANS is likely to steer clear of acquiring an infrastructure player and would be well advised to buy an application or security VAR.
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