Computacenter acquires in Europe

Reseller giant builds on last year's acquisitions of US-based FusionStorm and Misco's Dutch business

Computacenter has bought €13m-turnover Swiss VAR PathWorks, adding a reseller arm to its operations in Switzerland.

The London Stock Exchange-listed firm said the acquisition "closes a gap" in its own portfolio in the central European country.

"With PathWorks we now have our own product house, which makes us significantly more independent and therefore more flexible when it comes to procuring hardware for our customers," said Computacenter Switzerland's CEO Massimiliano D`Auria.

"That's a significant competitive advantage for an IT general contractor like we are."

PathWorks is an 18-year-old VAR based in Neudorf, in the district of Lucerne, with 10 employees.

D`Auria added that PathWork's location is also strategic for Computacenter Switzerland.

"Computacenter is acquiring interesting new customers in the public and private sector, in addition to a product house and the additional location near Lucerne."

PathWorks is a Lenovo Platinum Partner, HP Gold Partner, Samsung Enterprise and Dell partner.

Public administration and education are its key verticals with a particular focus on SMB customers.

Computacenter's last acquisition in Switzerland was in 2017 when it bought professional servies firm Citius.

And in 2011 Computacenter payed £5.4m (€6.27m) for an 80 per cent stake in the Swiss IT service provider, DAMAX AG.

The British reseller has also been expanding its footprint across other parts of the world in recent months.

Both US firm FusionStorm and Misco Netherlands were snapped up by Computacetner last year.

In its last quarter, Computacenter's international business saw revenue increase 12 per cent excluding FusionStorm and Misco Netherlands.

However, Computacenter said these two businesses exceeded expectations, hitting combined sales of £220m in Q4.