Exclusive achieves "super VAD" status with German buy

Pan-European distributor follows up VADition acquisition with purchase of Münster-based distributor TLK

Exclusive Networks is billing itself as Europe's first "super VAD" after acquiring its way into the only major economy in which it was not present.

Six months after purchasing UK VAD VADition, Exclusive has snapped up German security and networking distributor TLK Distribution.

The Münster-based firm – which shares several vendors in common with VADition including Aerohive, Arista, Infoblox and Palo Alto – has annual sales of more than €70m (£58m).

This will push Paris-based Exclusive's group turnover to €270m and headcount to 280, as well as expanding its coverage to 14 countries in EMEA.

Barrie Desmond, group marketing director at Exclusive, said Germany was the missing piece in the jigsaw and that TLK would likely be the firm's last purchase for a while.

"We are trying to create a true VAD on a European basis – a sort of super VAD," he said. "If people have done this before, it has certainly been on a smaller scale and without the footprint we now have.

"We will now be right up there in the top three for anyone bringing exciting new technology to Europe."

Exclusive puts an emphasis on the independence of its country subsidiaries and TLK's local management have been retained. Key principals Martin Twickler and Alexander Sprau are staying on in the posts of joint chief executives.

Desmond would not divulge the value of the acquisition but revealed the majority will be paid upfront in cash. TLK's management have been handed enough shares in Exclusive to "keep them interested".

The firm, which has three offices in Germany and also has reach into Austria and Switzerland, will operate under the TLK brand until further notice. Its other vendor franchises include Astaro, SecureGuard, Juniper and Sawmill.

TLK's Twickler said: "Our two companies are on the same wavelength. As we go forward together, neither of us needs to waste any energy to fit into a different environment."

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of rival distributor Wick Hill - which operates in both the UK and Germany - said: "We welcome Exclusive's acquisition of TLK, there has been some much needed consolidation in Germany. Their business model has some similarities to our market-making model and is unlikely to impact our 30 per cent-plus growth rates there."