Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
DCC plc (LSE: DCC), a support services business and one of the largest companies in Ireland, has acquired two companies worth a total of €124 million. Before its annual general meeting in Dublin last week it announced that it had acquired Stampede and Kondor.
DCC plc employs 11,000 people in four divisions operating in 17 countries. Stampede however is DCC’s technology division’s first acquisition in North America.
Tim Griffin, managing director, DCC Technology told us “The acquisition of Stampede adds an exciting new brand to our portfolio that complements our Exertis brand in Europe. The combination of Stampede’s expertise in value added distribution and our resources is going to unleash a new wave of opportunity for our partners in pro AV around the world. By establishing a presence in North America, we will be strategically positioned to leverage all of the new opportunities we expect to develop as a result of this acquisition.”
Stampede president and CEO Kevin Kelly called the acquisition a paradigm shift that ushers in an exciting new era for a global pro AV industry. “Overnight, Stampede has become one of the world’s largest pro AV distributors, able to operate at a level certain to create exciting new business opportunities for our partners,” he said. “Supported by the resources and long-term commitment of DCC, we are now able to scale across all pro AV product categories in all vertical markets globally in a way that we simply could not do on our own. For our manufacturer partners this means greater reach and scale. For our resellers, this means more products and new product categories than ever before.”
Stampede founder and CEO Mark Wilkins has decided to retire following the acquisition. He has given nearly 40 years of service to the pro AV industry.
Kondor is a UK distributor of audio and mobile accessory products to e-tailers, retailers and mobile operators.
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