Nexxlink’s president says the acquisition of Inacom Canada’s remaining assets will catapult the Quebec-based network integrator into a national player.
The company this week said it would purchase the Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto offices of Inacom Canada for an undisclosed sum. The company will retire the Inacom name and will immediately move Nexxlink’s Toronto staff into Inacom’s larger Toronto offices. In total, Nexxlink will gain about 30 employees through the transactions, mostly in sales and service. No layoffs are expected.
Karol Brassard, Nexxlink’s president, said the deal would have an immediate short-term impact on the company’s profitability, boosting sales by more than $25 million and allowing it to reach a $100 million sales target by next year.
Twenty-four-year-old Nexxlink, which dropped its former DTM Technologies Group Inc. name in January, has set out a mandate to acquire more companies on both coasts. Brossard said the low margins and fragmented nature of the current market have led the company to seek new growth opportunities.
“We’re looking to consolidate some regional and smaller players,” he said. “Our strategy is to be a full service provider — focusing on network infrastructure services. We have a complete offering now, including the integration and support.”
The Inacom Canada assets are the second major purchase for Nexxlink, which completed the acquisition of Montreal-based storage consultant Osiris Inc. last month. Inacom has been chopped up slowly over the last year and a half. Compaq bought distribution assets of Inacom in the U.S. in 2000, while Compaq Canada bought its Mississauga, Ont. facilities in February.
Brassard said former Inacom Canada VP Paul Morrison would continue to steer the offices outside Quebec. His former boss, Mike Abbott, was among the approximately 20 people to leave Inacom Canada for Compaq. Nexxlink will also grow organically through hiring, Brassard added.
“With Paul and his team, we could extend our services across Canada,” he said. “With a national presence, we will be pushing harder to satisfy bigger customers.”
The purchase of the Inacom Canada assets is subject to the future performance of Inacom as an operating unit of Nexxlink, but the company expects the transaction to close by the end of this week.
