Northamber expands into Ireland

Northamber has bolstered its cyber security focus and expanded into Ireland with the strategic acquisition of Irish value-added distributor Renaissance Contingency Services in a deal worth up to €900,000.

Renaissance has been operating in Ireland for more than 35 years under the ownership of Michael Conway and Denis Woods. Vendor partners include Alludo, BullWall, Censornet, OpenText, Progress Software, Proofpoint, SolarWinds, SonicWall and WatchGuard.

Commenting on the acquisition, Alex Phillips, executive chairman of Northamber, said: “Having known Michael and the reputation of Renaissance for many years, I am thrilled to welcome Renaissance into the Northamber group of companies.”

He noted the “strong alignment between the values and approaches of the two companies and the importance we place on proactively bringing cyber security solutions to our partners” adding that he was “looking forward to working with Michael and his team to continue building the Renaissance business in Ireland”. 

Renaissance managing director Michael Conway said the deal with Northamber enabled the company to sustain its growth ambitions and to add the capability, partnerships and scale required to further enhance its value to its vendors, clients and their customers.

He described Northamber as a company with the “portfolio, reach, financial strength and expertise to accelerate the pace at which Renaissance can increase our relevance to our clients”.

According to Northamber, the acquisition of Renaissance, following the purchase of Tempura Communications in April, underlines its commitment to strengthening its presence in the UK and Europe on its core technology pillars of audio-visual, unified communication and collaboration, cyber security and infrastructure solutions, through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

Northamber added that acquiring Renaissance would “provide strong cross-selling opportunities in Ireland with an enhanced offering in audio-visual, unified communications, and cyber solutions and services”.

According to Northamber’s filing with the London Stock Exchange, Renaissance had revenues of €5.15m for the year ending 30 June 2023, with gross profit of €0.99m and a loss before tax of €0.02m.

It added that there had been “a strong improvement in trading with revenues expected to be approximately 20% ahead of the prior year” for the year ending 30 June 2024, “accompanied by a move into profitability, with profits before tax of approximately €0.06m for the five months ended 31 May 2024 (based on unaudited management accounts)”.

In keeping with other Northamber acquisitions, there will be no changes to the day-to-day management, staff or location of the Renaissance business. The existing management team will continue to lead the organisation, ensuring continuity in Ireland for partners.

Northamber is not the only channeol player to get involved with the mergers and acquisitions market today, with Insight Enterprises also actively adding more muscle to its consultancy capabilities with a move to acquire New World Tech (NWT).