ALSO strengthens European position with Westcoast

The distribution landscape continues to alter with the coming together of ALSO and Westcoast to create a European powerhouse.

The firms indicated they were joining forces late last week, with ALSO revealing plans to pick up Westcoast’s operations in the UK, Ireland and France.

Under the deal, which still has to go through regulatory approval, Westcoast founder and chairman Joe Hemani will become a major shareholder in ALSO and will retain full control of Westcoast’s operations in Germany and the Netherlands.

As one of the oldest distributors in the UK, established in 1983, Westcoast is a significant channel player, with a turnover of £4.2bn in 2023 and relationships with major vendors, serving a strong network of resellers and managed service providers (MSPs).

“This is an alliance of two highly successful businesses sharing the same mindset of growth. Over the last 42 years, our company went from strength to strength. And this is how it will remain in the future,” said Hemani.

“The continuity of the business, which is paramount for vendors, customers, and our team alike, is secured with this move. I am excited to play an active role during what I know will be a smooth transition and beyond,” he added.

Swiss-based ALSO has been focused on increasing its UK business for the past couple of years and is well versed in using acquisition as a means of growing the business, sealing 30 deals over the past 12 years.

Gustavo Möller-Hergt, chairman of the board of directors of ALSO Holding, said the Westcoast tie-up would add some serious depth to its operations.

“We already have a successful collaboration, providing over 1.5 million seats to end customers of Westcoast with access to the cloud via the ALSO Cloud Marketplace. This next level opens exciting opportunities for us to scale our business and benefit from the expertise of the UK team. For our customers, it means the highest level of expertise in IT provisioning, cutting-edge infrastructure solutions, and services via digital platforms such as cloud, AI [artificial intelligence], IoT [internet of things] and cyber security,” he stated.

Following the announcement, Westcoast’s long-time staffer Alex Tatham, executive director at the distie, announced his departure. Writing on LinkedIn, Tatham announced the decision to move on from the firm and indicated he would return to the IT world soon.

“It is with a great deal of pride, satisfaction and plenty of sadness that I announce my departure from Westcoast Limited. Following the huge announcement that Westcoast UK, Ireland and France is to be acquired by the excellent ALSO Group to form Europe’s most powerful IT distributor, it is time for me to find other things to shout loudly about,” he stated.

ALSO made an investment in the UK in February last year, opening an office in London and launching ALSO Cloud UK, which aims to tap into the 20 million enterprise users that could be buyers of cloud-driven managed services.

The ALSO Cloud Markletplace is already an established option across Europe, and the distributor is processing around 2.8 million monthly transactions, which support more than six million unique users via the channel. The platform hosts technology from more than 200 vendors and will present a strong alternative for those MSPs looking to work with more distributors.