Exertis snaps up Hammer

The consolidation in the distribution world continues with Exertis snapping up storage and server specialist Hammer for £38.3m.

Last month Tech Data moved to acquire Avnet Technology Solutions and the world of the two-tier channel continues to shrink with this latest development.

The Exertis deal has to get the thumbs up from the European Commission because of Hammer's European footprint in France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands.

For its money Exertis gets a distributor with a strong pedigree in the storage and server market with a turnover of £155m last year and relationships with Dell, NetApp, Seagate, Intel and WD amongst others.

Hammer also comes with a trading reseller base of around 1,000 and will continue as a standalone business after the deal closes by the end of the year.

For Exertis this is not the first acquisition of a fellow distributor and in April it bought Siracom and last May it picked up Computers Unlimited for £24m.

Niall Ennis, managing director of DCC Technology, said that Hammer had a strong reputation as a value added player and had developed a number of solutions aimed at vertical markets.

"The acquisition has significant benefits for both companies increasing Exertis’ expertise and solutions in the storage market, complementary to our existing server and enterprise business, and providing Hammer customers and vendors with a platform for growth within a diverse and financially strong technology distribution company," he said.

He added that it also gave Exertis the chance to expand its presence in those European countries where Hammer operated.

In response, Hammer's managing director James Ward said that there would be opportunities for growth as a result of the acquisition.

“By leveraging the complementary strengths of both companies we can only add value to what is an exciting proposition for all our stakeholders. We look forward to working with Exertis management teams and building on the success of both companies," he said.