Exclusive 'very selective' on M&A after Q1 organic sales blitz

Pan-EMEA distie sees like-for-like sales grow 38 per cent as top line passes €100m

Exclusive Networks is taking a "very selective" approach to acquisitions after a first quarter in which organic growth of almost 40 per cent drove sales past the €100m mark.

For the opening three months of 2014, the distributor saw revenues increase to €111m and claims that it was "profitable in all countries" in which it operates. The firm has previously expressed its intent to grow turnover past the €500m mark this year, and it appears comfortably on course to achieve this, given that as much as 40 per cent of its total top line typically comes in Q4.

Group marketing director Barrie Desmond said: "Our business profile is heavily weighted to that final quarter, so having a first quarter of over €100m is exceptional. Our plan for a blend of acquisitive and organic growth was based on 20 per cent organic growth, but we did 38 per cent in Q1 - actual growth [including acquisitions] was way over 50 per cent."

In February, Exclusive signalled its desire to seal three or four buyouts in 2014, and began the year by snapping up Turkish firm Bilișimcim. Chief executive Olivier Breittmayer claimed that there are numerous potential targets, but that the firm intends to be very choosy.

"There are a lot of opportunities; it is a very fragmented market and we receive one information request a week," he said. "The problem is to find the right one that fits with our strategy - we are very selective.

"Our acquisition strategy is still the same. Today we cover 84 per cent of the EMEA market. The biggest countries where we are not present are Russia, Poland, and South Africa. Russia is a difficult market, and in Poland and South Africa, if there are no good candidates [for acquisition], we can live without it."