CMS Peripherals acquires York based CCI Distribution

Trade

UK and Ireland-based storage distributor CMS Peripherals has acquired Yorkshire-based CCI Distribution and held out the prospect of making another purchase next year as part of its target to achieve €250m annual turnover within three years. 

CCI Distribution, which describes itself as a "value added niche distributor with a strong technology infrastructure" supplies storage, connectivity, peripherals & accessories, security & surveillance and audio-visual products to retail, e-tail, B2B and trade partners. Following the acquisition, CMS Peripherals’ annual turnover will rise to €145m and 175 staff.  

CMS Peripherals managing director Frank Salmon said the distributor was setting out on "a new journey" on the acquisition trail and the CCI Distribution purchase would "create a whole new platform to increase growth".
He described the deal as a "brave move in the current climate" as the distributor aimed for 20% annual growth over the next three years.  "We’re setting our stall out for growth," he told Irish Computer. "We expect to make another acquisition next year for a storage-centric distributor with complementary bolt-ons." 

CCI Distribution was a "perfect fit", he added because there was minimal vendor or customer cross-over between the two distributors. While the companies will trade independently "for the foreseeable future", each will have access to the other’s product lines providing them with a broader range of product offerings. 

According to Salmon, adding CCI Distribution’s product lines would give CMS’ Irish resellers access to an additional 30 vendors and a range that stretched from entry-level storage to the enterprise, addressing the needs of small, medium and large businesses.   He predicted it would be easier for the distributor to become a preferred supplier in product areas such as hard disk drives, solid state drives and NAS and offer customers a "one-stop shop". 

CCI Distribution managing director Paul Roughley, who will remain in place and take a seat on the board of CMS Peripherals’ holding company, said the acquisition was a "great move for my team as well as all the vendors we represent…The opportunity that lies ahead is tremendous".  Salmon said another positive was that there would be no job cuts at CCI Distribution, adding that, in time, CMS could be looking to create more jobs.

Billy MacInnes