The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
CRN has covered a whopping 46 total number of acquisitions involving vendors, distributors and channel partners in the first half of 2024.
Of the M&A deals reported by CRN, 23 have involved partners, eight between distributors, and 15 takeovers with vendors.
In the midst of all the buying and splashing the cash, we quizzed distributors, as well as VARs and MSPs on what makes an M&A deal tick.
But now we're halfway through the year, here's a round-up of the biggest acquisitions involving UK channel partners that have happened in 2024 so far (in no particular order).
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Acquisition: T otal Computers
Rationale: Expansion in the corporate space
Phil Doye, CEO: "One thing that we haven't been that successful in, although we've had notable wins, is in the corporate space. This is where Total has really excelled, where they have around about 2,000 customers across corporate mid-market and enterprise.
"For us, this means we gain significant traction in the corporate market. We've grown within our own space, in the public sector and specifically in defence, local and central government and NHS but we have struggled to really ignite growth with corporate customers."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Bell Integration
Acquisition: Amelia (services unit)
Rationale: To enhance the capabilities of its AI services and solutions team
The collaboration empowers Portsmouth-HQ Bell, enhancing the capabilities of its AI services and solutions team, while Amelia's digital first team is expected to receive support from Bell's delivery division.
Manpreet Gill, CEO: "This strategic relationship will allow us to better serve our customers, extend our service offering and accelerate the growth of our AI business."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Conscia
Acquisition: ITGL
Rationale: To enter the UK market
Erik Bertman, CEO: "Conscia covers six countries. Since we wanted to be a leader in Europe of course we want it to be in the UK as it's such a large market in our industry.
"When we were looking at companies to join the Conscia family, for us it was very important that we had a cultural shift in terms of being driven by competence and trying to help and solve customer challenges.
"ITGL fits very well with us in terms of culture and being driven by the curiosity of always improving in terms of competence."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
SCC
Acquisition: Resonate
Rationale: To build out SCC's services portfolio and access to the public sector
Graham Fry, MD of collaboration: "Over 50 per cent of our business is in the public sector and Resonate didn't have access to those markets.
"An area where people are trying to do more with less is across the public sector. So suddenly, you've opened up that whole market to Resonate and I think that's where we'll see a lot of growth this year."
Christine Olmsted, former head of strategy & corporate development: "SCC has invested to build services around the Microsoft toolset, including an Azure platform, Azure managed service, as well as a cybersecurity service.
"Those are organic investments, but when we looked at the rest of the portfolio, we saw an opportunity to do inorganic growth, acquiring skill sets and services that help us bring more to our clients.
"Microsoft's obviously very popular with companies of all sizes, and having a capability like this one, a world class capability to do global large scale Teams implementations was a real opportunity for us to bring into the portfolio."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
FluidOne
Acquisition: SureCloud Cyber Services
Rationale: Adding new capabilities to the business
Russell Horton, CEO: "Risk consulting for SureCloud Cyber Services often opens up a pen testing opportunity. But actually, we can leverage it to open up managed detection opportunities or IT remediation.
"They can't leverage that on their own in the business they're in. But we could.
"So the ability to cross-sell from both their pen testing and risk consulting is high for our wider portfolio of connected cloud."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Saepio
Acquisition: Tech veterans Amir Nooriala and Daniel Cardenas-Clark acquire Saepio
Rationale: Saepio's growth potential
Amir Nooriala: "We see strong synergy between all our skill sets and experience, which will enable Saepio to achieve its full potential on an international scale, without any compromise to the industry leading level of support clients currently receive."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Core Technology Systems
Acquisition: Velocity IT
Rationale: Broadening Al and automation capabilities
Conor Callanan, CEO: "Velocity IT is a perfect fit for Core, not just in terms of technology and expertise, but also in culture and values.
"This acquisition is a growth story. It's about bringing together two like-minded companies that share a vision for innovation and excellence. We are excited to welcome Arno and his team to the Core family and to be able to expand our offering and value provided to our customers."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Wavenet/Daisy Corporate Services
Acquisition: Separation of Daisy Corporate Services from the Daisy Group to be absorbed into Wavenet
Rationale: To form a leading MSP serving more than 20,000 UK enterprise customers, valued at £500m.
Bill Dawson, Wavenet chairman: "We are thrilled to be joining forces with Daisy. By combining our strengths, resources and expertise, we are poised to create a stronger and more innovative organisation, well positioned to maximise on the rising tide markets of cyber, cloud and intelligent networks.
"Daisy is a well-known and well-respected business, and both parties bring unique but complementary strengths to the table. Our shared vision is to create a best-in-class business that will help shape the future of next generation technology."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Advania
Acquisition: Servium
Rationale: To expand its reselling business
Geoff Kneen, CEO, Advania UK: "Over the past seven years, we've built our business around a cloud-first offering, digital transformation, and cloud managed services. We've been successful in securing larger relationships with our clients. However, it was clear that as we continued to grow, there were gaps in our portfolio offering."
"Many clients told us that if we had these services, they would take them from us as a trusted, long-term partner helping with their technology roadmap and needs.
"When developing our new five-year plan around two and a half years ago, filling this resale capability gap was identified as a strategic priority. It also aligned with Advania's overall strategy of becoming the leading technology services partner in Northern Europe, where we already had resale capabilities across Sweden, Norway, and Iceland."
The partner acquisitions of H1 2024
CRN rounds up the M&A deals involving channel partners in 2024 so far
Aspire Technology Solutions
Acquisition: Cloud Cover IT
Rationale: To enter the Scottish market
Chris Fraser, CEO: "Our acquisition of Cloud Cover IT marks a new and exciting chapter for both companies. This move will strengthen our presence in Scotland, positioning us in a thriving market.
"The Cloud Cover team will become an integral part of the Aspire group, and together, we believe we can grow significantly in this key strategic market."