CSI grows through acquisition

Alan Watkins' plans to build a mid-market VAR giant continue

CSI Group has acquired virtualisation and security specialist CVSI for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition of the VAR – which counts IBM, Lenovo, Cisco and Kaspersky as some of its vendor partners – is part of chairman Alan Watkins' plan to build and buy his way to a mid-market super VAR.

Watkins' private equity firm Blackhawk Capital kicked off its buying spree last year with the acquisition of IBM partner CSI and around the same time it bought service provider SysMicro for an undisclosed sum.

Last month the firm acquired the SAP division of K3.

This latest acquisition will see the four existing directors of CVSI – Philip O'Neill, Marie O'Neill, Michael Bogunovic and Derek Cross – remain with the business together with their team.

Watkins said: "CVSI is a great addition to the Group and we are delighted that the management team has agreed to remain. Their expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow in all aspects of our business."