Getronics gets fresh owner managers

Getronics has started a fresh chapter after a €200m takeover that has seen the firm gain a senior management team.

Strategic investor GSH Private Capital, led by Kenton Fine, has taken ownership of the Dutch channel player in a move that has been described as safeguarding about 4,000 jobs.

As a result of the deal, Fine will become executive chairman of the business, controlling an empire that covers Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

“We’re proud to be custodians of this venerable business – we have thousands of colleagues looking to this new management team for consistency and continuity,” he said.

“Getronics is a fantastic business driven by brilliant people. Client-focused services are deeply embedded in its DNA. It’s up to us as the new leadership team to put the action behind the talk and make sure we keep our people and our customers happy.”

Fine is not the only fresh face in the boardroom, with Mike Field becoming CFO and Andre Ribbens group transformation director. They will be working alongside current COO Rogier Bronsgeest and CTO Harsha Gowda.

Bronsgeest welcomed the latest twist in the Getronics saga, saying: “Kenton is bringing ideas, people and much-needed capital to bear. It’s a great time for Getronics and our stable of valued clients.”

Getronics currently has annual revenues of about €300m and sells to 2,000 customers globally. It is no stranger to changes in ownership and was picked up by Brazilian businessman Nan Baffour for €220m as Bottega InvestCo took control in 2017 from asset management firm Aurelius.

Under the ownership of Aurelius, the Getronics business was swelled by around six acquisitions, including Colt’s managed cloud business back in April 2016.

Over those years, Getronics has been repositioned as an SME specialist, providing IT and comms support, with a decision taken to focus on next-generation workspaces, applications and cloud services to go after higher-margin business.