Private equity firm One Equity Partners (OEP) is acquiring MCL Computer & Zubehör GmbH, a German IT consulting services provider and hardware reseller.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though MCL’s management team will retain a minority stake in the business.
This M&A deal 159 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2020, though the pace of deals has slowed considerably since the coronavirus pandemic emerged. See the complete M&A deal list here.
One Equity Partners Acquires MCL: Deal Background
MCL has seven locations in Germany and Austria, including its headquarters in Böblingen, and more than 160 employees. The company’s services include networking, workspace, security, IoT, cloud, support, and managed services. Key technology partners include HP, HPE and Lenovo.
Vittorio Palladino, vice president at OEP, commented:
“MCL is well-positioned to meet the strong demand for next-generation cloud, digital infrastructure and IoT solutions, supported by its strong vendor relationships and unmatched technical expertise.”
Stefan Voß, managing shareholder of MCL, added:
“Our partnership with OEP will help strengthen our ability to manage complex IT infrastructure challenges for our clients, and also creates new opportunities for our growing and talented staff. Together, we have identified strategic acquisition opportunities to position MCL as a full solution provider for digital transformation, supporting our customers in their migration of data and systems to scalable, economic and easy-to-manage hybrid IT solutions.”
Market Investments
The German hardware IT VAR (value-added reseller) market is estimated to have exceeded €20 billion in 2019. Even with the market expected to grow in tandem with the rise of data and the shift toward cloud and hybrid cloud setups, the sector is currently highly fragmented, according to OEP, with a high number of small and niche resellers and service providers.
OEP has experience in the IT consulting and software business, having recently invested in Computer Design & Integration, a leading U.S. provider of IT infrastructure hardware and software, consulting and managed services. Other key investments from the private equity firm have included SAP partner Rizing, and digital transformation specialist Orion Business Information.
The private equity firm was founded in 2001, and spun out of JP Morgan in 2015.
