Staff in both companies are being told the news as they get to work this morning.
Richard Burbage, Director of Hampshire based reseller Centrix, told Comms Business Magazine that he thought the purchase of Crane was a good move for Westcon, “Time will tell if it is a good move for Crane’s resellers but for Westcon it is logical. From our perspective they have not been as strong as Crane in the voice market.”
Westcon's intent to acquire Crane directly follows an earlier announcement in March of its intent to acquire NOXS, the leading European security distributor. Following these acquisitions, Westcon plans to leverage its financial strength and scale of operations in Europe to bring new opportunities in convergence, security and mobility to both new and existing customers, while broadening and strengthening its European vendor relationships.
Barry Shakespeare, executive vice president of Westcon Europe, commented: "When evaluating a company for a potential acquisition, two of the key considerations are the company's management philosophy and their customer orientation. Crane has developed an incredibly loyal customer base built squarely on relationships. This approach is very much like our own in both the solutions approach and technology focus."
David George, executive chairman of Crane Group, added: "Westcon Group and Crane share a heritage in delivering converged voice and data solutions for well over a decade. This acquisition enables our customers to increase their success by leveraging Westcon's complementary technologies and programme infrastructure. We look forward to developing and expanding mutual opportunities once the acquisition closes."
"By acquiring Crane, Westcon Group increases its ability to deliver the most effective convergence solutions to the market," said Dave Johnson, senior vice president, global channels development and alliances, Avaya. "With broader coverage and the combined strength of these two leaders, customers will benefit from a targeted vendor portfolio, which feature solutions and programs such as VoicePoint and ConvergencePoint. Once the acquisition is complete, Avaya will continue to support the new, combined organization delivering intelligent communications solutions that help customers transform their businesses with Avaya's market leading products and services."