Avnet buys refurbished reseller Canvas

Distribution giant boosts its remarketing offering with acquisition of UK, US and Dutch operator

Avnet has splashed the cash on acquiring US-based refurbished hardware reseller Canvas Systems from investment firm Platinum Equity.

The deal has been agreed for an undisclosed sum and Avnet expects it be immediately accretive to its financials. Canvas is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia and was founded in 1998, setting up a UK office in Warwickshire the following year. It also runs a Dutch outpost.

The firm specialises in refurbished servers from HP, Dell, IBM and Sun, as well as selling storage and networking technology. Canvas also offers new products and provides services including power monitoring, data erasure and business continuity.

It runs an IT rental operation, and its UK website claims to have £50m worth of stock warehoused at any given time. According to Avnet, Canvas' global revenues for 2011 stood at $122m (£77m).

Jeff Bawol, Americas president of Avnet Technology Solutions, said: "The acquisition of Canvas Systems enhances our IT lifecycle management services capabilities and supports our strategy to deliver best-in-class solutions that help our business partners consistently achieve profitable growth.

"The addition of Canvas Systems enhances Avnet Technology Solutions' ability to deliver a seamless solution at any phase in the IT lifecycle and provides its suppliers with an additional channel for capturing brand loyalty in the secondary market."