Doye: If Kelway had been sold today it would comfortably have been worth in excess of £1bn

Phil Doye tells CRN he is not convinced "golden" period resellers are enjoying will last indefinitely, as he outlines growth plans for SBL

An uplift in reseller valuations mean Kelway would have sold for "well in excess of" £1bn if it still existed today, its founder Phil Doye has told CRN.

In a wide-ranging interview following his acquisition of SBL in May, Doye questioned how long the "golden time" the reseller industry is currently enjoying will last, however.

He pointed to the soaring valuations of the big, publicly listed resellers, including CDW, which acquired Kelway for $431m in 2015.

Since the start of 2017, US-based CDW's market cap has more than doubled to $18bn, making it worth roughly the same as HPE.

On this side of the Atlantic, Softcat's valuation in that time period has more than trebled to £1.89bn, while German duo Cancom and Bechtle's worth have both roughly doubled, to €1,75bn and €3.89bn, respectively. SHI and WWT are now among some of the most valuable private companies in the US, meanwhile.

"In the last three to five years it's been a golden time for the reseller world," Doye said.

"The reality is if Kelway was sold today, there's no question it would be worth well in excess of a £1bn. The multiples and valuations that have been applied to traditional VAR businesses have simply changed beyond recognition. When Graeme [Watt] joined Softcat 18 months ago, the business had a market cap of £1bn. It's now close to £2bn. Are you telling me in 18 months that businesses has been become inherently twice as valuable?

"Or is it just that the perception and market view of businesses like ours is just increasing? You can look at Bechtle. You can look at Cancom. You can look at CDW. You can look at Softcat. All of those businesses have just had a massive re-rating in value.

"It's been a golden time where all boats have risen on a high tide. And it's noticeable to me that there is a complacency that assumes this is a permanent state."

Doye, who has spent the last three years investing in tech startups and scale ups in fields including fintech, sharing economy, healthtech and consumer apps, described York-based Microsoft partner SBL as a business that is "crying out for some ambition and leadership".

"There are a lot of barriers to SBL being successful but we'll give it a good go. I feel like with the experience I've got I can help give it a better chance of success," he said.

The full interview will be published soon.