Westcon owner gets into India

Datatec, parent company of Westcon, has bought a 50.01% stake in Inflow Technologies (“Inflow”), an Indian ICT distribution business. The remaining 49.99% will continue be held by management and other existing shareholders. 

The acquisition of a 50.01% stake in Inflow, with its presence in nine key Indian cities, provides Datatec with an entry point and initial footprint in India.  Inflow also has operations in Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Inflow is a value-added distributor focusing on technology enablement and distribution of security, storage and networking products, solutions and services. Inflow has alliances with 22 global technology vendors including CheckPoint, Nokia, McAfee Ironport, Websense, Radware, NetApp and Quantum.   The investment will also provide Datatec with a platform to add additional vendors and eventual incorporation into the Westcon brand.

Inflow achieved revenue of $32 million in the last financial year ending 31 March 2008 and currently has over 130 employees.

Jens Montanana, CEO of Datatec, commented:
"India is a very large and fast growing market offering strong prospects in our sector with a lower cost of entry compared to many other developing markets and potentially higher returns and greater organic investment opportunities.  Our investment in Inflow is another important step in our international strategy to increase our exposure to the world’s major emerging markets which has recently seen our presence grow in markets such as Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and Brazil.”