Technology Reseller - v28

01732 759725 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS 10 Alexis Brabant Specialist audio visual distributor Midwich is expanding into the US with the acquisition of Starin Marketing, Inc., an Indiana-based specialist value-add AV distributor. Midwich Group is funding the £35.7m acquisition through debt facilities, which it plans to repay through a £39.7 million share placing, the proceeds of which will also be used to make further acquisitions this year. Stephen Fenby, Managing Director of Midwich Group plc, said: “The acquisition of Starin Marketing, Inc. is a significant day in Midwich Group’s history, marking our entry into North America, the largest AV market in the world. Starin’s exposure to, and relationships in, the growing unified communications segment will be greatly beneficial to Midwich as it seeks to increase revenues in this fast growing AV sub-sector across its global network.” Starin is active in three main areas: value add Pro AV distribution; fulfilment for Music Tribe, manufacturer of the Midas, Tannoy, Lab Gruppen, Lake and Behringer audio brands; and the fitting out of Zoom Rooms optimised for Zoom Video Communications. In the year to 31 December 2019, Midwich Group completed the acquisitions of MobilePro (Switzerland), Prase (Italy), AV Partner (Norway) and Entertainment Equipment Supplies (Spain), Combined with organic revenue growth of 6%, these additions to the Midwich network helped increase Group revenues by 19% to £685 million. www.midwich.com Midwich expands into US market Twelve of the best A dozen companies shared the honours at the Westcon 2020 UK and Ireland partner awards. Run by the distributor’s security, infrastructure and unified communications business, the awards recognise those partners with the best results in 2019 and the fastest growth with new vendors. This year’s winners were: n Westcon UK 2020 Partner of the Year: Maintel n Westcon 2020 Ireland Partner of the Year: Damovo n Westcon 2020 Growth Partner of the Year: Xalient n A VAYA Partner of the Year : Sabio n Check Point – Partner of the Year : Reliance ACSN n Extreme Networks Partner of the Year: NetConnection Systems n F5 Partner of the Year: Atos n Mitel Partner of the Year: Incom-CNS Group n Poly Partner of the Year: AVMI n Palo Alto Networks Partner of the Year: CAE n RingCentral Fast Start Award: Datrix n SilverPeak Partner of the Year: Ampito WestconComstor.com Arrow adds Check Point IaaS security to ArrowSphere Global technology provider Arrow Electronics is supporting the acceleration of Check Point Software Technologies’ cloud security business in EMEA by offering the Check Point Managed Service Provider Program on the ArrowSphere multi-tier cloud platform. Channel customers will now be able to license the Check Point CloudGuard IaaS security solution on a Pay-As-You-Go model through ArrowSphere. Check Point CloudGuard IaaS helps protect assets in the cloud from cyber threats with dynamic scalability, intelligent provisioning and consistent control across physical and virtual networks. Alexis Brabant, Vice President Sales of Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in EMEA, said: “CloudGuard IaaS is the first Check Point solution made available on ArrowSphere. Security is continually cited as a key barrier to widespread enterprise cloud adoption. CloudGuard IaaS and Arrow provide an answer to ease the adoption and expansion of cloud services by allowing channel customers to serve their end customers with outsourced and centralised security management.” ArrowSphere helps channel customers build a cloud practice by giving them an efficient way to quote, order, manage, analyse and invoice a wide variety of cloud solutions, backed up with dedicated support. fiveyearsout.com Exertis targets meeting spaces with end-to-end bundles To capitalise on growing end user demand for collaborative spaces, Exertis has put together a series of end-to-end bundles for small room/huddle spaces (Exertis Huddle), medium rooms (Exertis Meet) and large rooms (Exertis Board), with options for Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms and Google Hangouts Suites. Greg Bennett, Head of Exertis Pro AV, said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for our resellers to provide a complete solution with a choice of market-leading products. We’ve recently combined our UC team into our Pro AV division, enabling a complete offering for our customers. We have the solutions, portfolio, resource, facilities and technical support ready to help our customers take advantage of the market opportunity.” www.exertis.co.uk Connect catalogue Connect Distribution, a provider of spare parts, accessories, consumables and small domestic appliances, has added 158 new product lines to its Spring/Summer 2020 catalogue. Divided into four sections (floorcare, small appliances, outdoor and cooling), the catalogue showcases more than 1,000 products from 25 leading brands, including Kenwood, De’Longhi, Braun, Hotpoint, Lavazza and Samsung. Featured products can be purchased through Connect Distribution’s trade-only 24/7 electronic ordering platform, Connections online, with next-day business delivery or ‘Direct Delivery’ straight to a customer’s doors. www.connect-distribution.co.uk TIG has designs on complete AV/IT solutions Crestron distributor Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has enhanced its ability to offer fully integrated AV/IT solutions for residential and commercial spaces through a new alliance with Salamander Designs, a provider of made- to-order AV furniture, including cabinets, theatre seating, TV and tablet mounts, conference tables and huddle solutions. CEO Robin van Meeuwenn said: “This new partnership with Salamander Designs further demonstrates TIG’s commitment to becoming a ‘one-stop shop’ for smart space solutions.” Later this year, TIG will be opening an experience centre in London where customers can see the brands it represents. www.tig.eu www.technologylive.co.uk