Westcoast merges with German player Komsa

Westcoast has sealed a strategic partnership with German player Komsa as both parties look for geographic expansion.

The sales alliance will give Westcoast access to more of continental Europe and Komsa will be able to get into the UK, Ireland and France.

The merger between the two distributors will create the largest privately owned European alliance, with a workforce of more than 2,200 employees and 400-plus technology partners with 30,000 retail partners. Both companies generate a turnover of more than €5.5bn.

If all goes to plan, the deal should close by January 2023 and Westcoast will take over the shares from the owners and founders of Komsa step by step by 2025. Gunnar Grosse and Jürgen Unger will cease to be members of the supervisory board at the end of the year, with Kerstin Grosse remaining chairwoman of the supervisory board. Komsa’s management board remains unchanged, and Pierre-Pascal Urbon will also become Westcoast’s chairman of the board of directors.

“In combination with the logistical strength of both companies, the joint technology expertise to link IT and TC [telecommunications], and expertise around repair and refurbishment, we help industry, trade and business to participate in technological progress,” said Joe Hemani, chairman and founder of Westcoast.

“Komsa also contributes extensive knowledge in the area of unified communications into our partnership, and also its specific know-how in setting up agile structures is of strategic importance for Westcoast,” he added.

Hemani said the merger also showed its commitment to the ICT industry and its determination to expand its expertise.

“We will bring our know-how from the highly competitive IT market to the world of telecommunications, which will improve the customer experience and range of available services. With access to the German growth market, where we have not been significantly active to date, we are also strategically expanding our market position,” he added.

From a Komsa perspective, the move with Westcoast has given it the chance to outline its succession plan and the business can see the benefits of coming together with a proven ICT player.

“The main driver is the convergence of the IT and telecommunications infrastructure, which opens up completely new applications and productivity gains for companies,” said Pierre-Pascal Urbon, CEO and CFO of Komsa.

“To realise the productivity gains, you need the right equipment and services, as well as professional advice. By merging with Westcoast, we are able to enrich our sector expertise in telecommunications with IT. This is of high strategic value to us, as it allows us to offer our customers a unique range of services and pass on to them the efficiencies generated by the merger,” he added.