Technology distributor Exertis has acquired Almo Corporation in the US and will create a $2.4bn turnover unit to serve the North American market and beyond. The Almo buy was based on an initial enterprise value of around $610m, on a cash-free and debt-free basis.
Exertis is a subsidiary of the multi-industry group DCC, and this is the biggest deal the group has secured, as Exertis continues to snap up Pro AV businesses in the US. Exertis is a distributor for hundreds of thousands of technology products, including those from many of the main UC and AV vendors.
The latest deal builds on other much smaller Exertis acquisitions in North America, such as Stampede, Jam Industries, The Music People and JB&A. As a result of it, Exertis reckons it will become the largest specialist Pro AV business in North America.
Alongside Pro AV, Almo says it is the largest distributor of mainstream electrical appliances in the US market.
The 75-year-old family-owned Almo business will add 660 staff to Exertis' payroll, nine distribution centres and more than 2.5m square feet of warehousing space across North America. The expanded North American operation will be overseen by Martin Szpiro, Managing Director of Exertis North America.
The combined Exertis and Almo Pro AV divisions will “in due course” be led by Sam Taylor, current Executive Vice President and COO of Almo Pro AV, said Exertis.
The integrated business will be rebranded as Exertis Almo Pro AV. John Dunne, a long-time senior executive with Exertis, currently leading the Exertis Pro AV team in North America, will join the Almo executive team.
