01732 759725 30 Q&A With Klaus Schlichtherle, CEO of Infinigate Group Technology Reseller (TR): Can you tell me a little bit about the acquisition or merger, starting with who initiated it? Klaus Schlichtherle (KS): Simon England, the CEO of Nuvias, and I had been colleagues at Tech Data 15 years ago, and obviously we’ve been talking to each other for a long time. At some point at the end of last year, we said ‘Hey, we should really build a powerhouse in Europe, focusing on cybersecurity’ because it really makes sense: Nuvias is very strong in the UK; Infinigate is very strong in DACH and Scandinavia, and has reasonably good business in other countries of Europe. Putting them together creates a powerhouse with a very strong business in DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), the UK, France, Benelux and the Nordics. Add in two businesses in Italy and Spain and business in Eastern Europe, and that’s a whole new world for us, especially when it comes to vendor discussions. Offering vendors great access to the whole of Europe is a different value proposition than being strong in DACH or being strong in the UK. That’s not enough today. So that’s why we said strategically let’s do it, and then both parties came together very quickly. TR: What’s the ownership of the new company and what will it be called? KS: We want to keep the Infinigate name and use it for the whole group but introduce a new logo and tagline within 12 months of closure. From an ownership point of view, Infinigate, owned by Bridgepoint, is acquiring Nuvias. We will buy it from Rigby Private Equity, and Rigby will then reinvest in the new Infinigate Group and become a part of it. This sends a clear signal that Rigby is a strong believer in the new Infinigate Group, consisting of the old Infinigate plus Nuvias, as the new powerhouse in Europe. It’s very encouraging that Steve Rigby is so supportive of the whole transaction. TR: You say that the Group’s expanded footprint will be a benefit to vendors. What are some of the other advantages of this merger? KS: First, our customers will have access to a bigger portfolio. We have also doubled the number of people who have technical expertise, training and certifications. And that technical expertise has been widened because of the complementary vendor portfolio. I think that’s very compelling. Then, we will stay very focused on cybersecurity. Our brand image needs to be razor-sharp around cybersecurity, secure cloud, secure networking so that our customers know where our expertise lies – they love us for that today and they will love us for it in the future as well – and so that vendor partners know that we are their extended sales force and speak the same cybersecurity language they do. We’re a perfect match for a lot of vendors in the marketplace. TR: Was there much overlap in your vendor relationships? KS: Very little. We have four vendors, I think, where we have an overlap, and what’s interesting in the case of a vendor like Watchguard, say, is that we have WatchGuard in France through an acquisition and we have Watchguard in the Nordics, while Nuvias has Watchguard in Germany, the UK, Benelux. So, all of a sudden we have almost pan-European coverage. On top of that there are a lot of vendors we didn’t have before, in geographies that we didn’t have before. For example, Checkpoint in the UK we didn’t have, so that’s a great addition. The acquisition gives a much bigger geographical exposure to a lot of vendor partners, which is a good basis for further growth for us all. TR: Do you know what Infinigate Group’s combined share of the cybersecurity distribution market in Europe will be? KS: That’s very hard to say, but it’s smaller than you might think because there are a couple of major vendors we don’t carry, like Cisco – they’re really huge in At the beginning of July, fast growing value-added distributor (VAD) Infinigate Group announced its intention to acquire Nuvias Group’s Cyber Security and Secure Networking business from Rigby Private Equity. The merging of Nuvias Group’s cyber security and networking businesses with Infinigate, which specialises in cyber security, secure networking and secure cloud, will create a new pan-European cyber security powerhouse with a footprint in 18 countries across EMEA and combined annual revenues of E1.4 billion by 2023 – circa E600 million from Nuvias and E800 million from Inifinigate. As part of the deal, which is expected to close in November or December subject to regulatory approval, Rigby will invest in the new, expanded Infinigate Group, becoming the second largest shareholder after Infinigate’s existing owner Bridgepoint. Nuvias Group’s smaller unified communications business, Nuvias UC, is not part of the acquisition and will be run as a separate entity under the ownership of Rigby Private Equity. With its planned acquisition of Nuvias, Infinigate has revised its previous revenue target of E1.4 billion by the end of 2023 to E2 billion by the same date. To discuss this and other matters, Technology Reseller spoke to Infinigate Group CEO Klaus Schlichtherle. Q&A Klaus Schlichtherle
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDUxNDM=