DCC Tech to buy Hammer Consolidated Holdings for £38m

Support services company DCC’s technology division is to buy Hammer Consolidated Holdings, a server and storage solutions reseller, for about £38m.

The acquisition by DCC Technology, which trades under Exertis, is expected to be completed by the end of the year and agreed to buy the issued share capital of Hammer based on an initial market value of £38.3m.

Payment will be made in cash with an initial payment at completion, followed by payments over three years based on Hammer's future trading results.

The FTSE 100 company said Hammer's business is complementary to Exertis' existing server and storage business, as it strengthens Exertis's supplier portfolio by adding about 1,000 reseller customers.

DCC chief executive, Tommy Breen said: "The acquisition of Hammer will significantly strengthen the product and service capability offered by Exertis to its reseller customers.

“In addition, Hammer's expertise will better enable us to take advantage of positive industry trends, including growth in cloud data centres and demand for big data analytics."

Basingstoke-based Hammer distributes server and storage products for a range of suppliers in the UK and Europe including Dell, Intel, NetApp, Seagate and Western Digital, and provides bespoke product design and build solutions.

For the year ended 31 January, Hammer had an operating profit of £6.3m on revenue of £155m.