UK based Westcoast and Germany based KOMSA agree on a strategic partnership and create a €5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) technology enterprise.
The two companies are leaders in their respective markets and the partnership will “form Europe’s largest family-owned ICT sales alliance” the companies said in their joint press release. The partnership seeks to benefit from the 5G mobile standard, cloud computing and mobile working technology trends.
The new partnership will have a combined turnover of more than €5.5 billion ($5.4 billion), making the new partnership the “largest private sales, marketing and service partner for global brands in the technology industry in Europe,” the partners said.
The Westcoast IT company was established 40 years ago and has a current turnover of over €4 billion ($3.9 billion) and 200 technology and retail partners and puts its focus on the cloud, workplace and security business. It is the largest IT distributor in the United Kingdom and supplies leading IT brands such as Microsoft, HP, Lenovo, DELL, Meta, Google, Samsung and Apple. Westcoast operates its own data centre and has logistics centres in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The KOMSA Group is the largest sales, marketing and service partner for global telecommunications brands in Germany, with 200 international manufacturers and mobile phone providers as well as over 20,000 retailers. The company also offers the lease and operation of smartphones for companies (device-as-a-service) and is a leader in the repair and refurbishment of mobile devices and operates one of the largest mobile phone workshops in Europe.
“The main driver is the convergence of the IT and telecommunications infrastructure, which opens up completely new applications and productivity gains for companies” explains Pierre-Pascal Urbon, CEO and CFO of KOMSA. A current example is the integration of cloud-based collaboration software such as Microsoft Teams into the infrastructures already existing at the company level. “In order to realise the productivity gains, you need the right equipment, services as well as professional advice. By merging with Westcoast, we are able to enrich our sector expertise in telecommunications with IT.”
“This is a strategic alliance that will disrupt the market in Europe,” said David Connett, Partner at Connett & Unland GbR, adding “We see the 5G / IT convergence happening at pace in Europe. The new partnership looks set to lead the market in the coming years.”
“In the print space, the challenge has always been to successfully step up from a print provider to an IT company. In Europe, print providers now have an added challenge navigating their MPS with their customers and may find themselves, losing customers as they invest in integration.” Connett added.
The merger is still subject to the approval by the competent authorities. The first closing is expected for January 2023. Within the process, KOMSA’s founders and owners will settle the company succession: Westcoast will take over their shares step by step by 2025 at the latest. Gunnar Grosse and Jurgen Unger will cease to be members of the Supervisory Board to the end of the year, whereas Kerstin Grosse will remain chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. KOMSA’s Management Board remains unchanged, and Pierre-Pascal Urbon will additionally become Westcoast’s Chairman of the Board of Directors.
