Arrow-Altimate union gets EU green light

Distribution merger raises no competition concerns, concludes European Commission

Arrow's move to acquire pan-European distribution powerhouse Altimate has been cleared by the European Commission.

US-based Arrow announced plans to buy Altimate – which has presence in eight western European countries including the UK – for an enterprise value of €48.1m (£38.5m) from parent DCC Group in April.

Altimate's UK presence is based on its 2010 acquisition of Symantec distributor Codework.

With both firms operating in the enterprise storage, server and security markets, the European Commission saw fit to get involved but has concluded the proposed transaction "would not raise competition concerns".

"The Commission's investigation found that the merged entity would continue to face substantial competition from several well-established, strong and effective competitors in the markets concerned," it stated.

Founded in 1994, France-based Altimate is one of western Europe's few remaining regional distribution outfits with revenue of €257m and vendor franchises including Symantec, Oracle, NetApp and IBM.

London- and Dublin-listed DCC Group has confirmed it remains committed to its other distribution interests, which include UK-based outfits Gem and Micro-P.