Nexora’s margins are double those typically seen in IT distribution, its CEO claimed as he stressed it is seeing “good appetite” among potential suitors in its sale process.
FTSE-listed DCC Group is aiming to reach an agreement to sell its remaining £2.5bn-revenue distribution brand – recently rechristened Nexora – by the end of 2026.
This follows the completion of the sale of its lower-margin, £2bn-revenue Exertis IT business to AURELIUS last November.
“Good appetite for attractive asset”
In DCC Group’s year to 31 March 2026, Nexora saw revenues fall 3.4% to £2.5bn.
It comprises DCC Technology’s so-called ‘Pro Tech’ businesses, including its Almo and JAM pro-AV brands in North America, as well as its Hammer and Captech infrastructure brands in Europe.
“We’ve been in the market meeting potential investors over the last number of months, and there is good appetite for what is an attractive asset,” CEO Clive Fitzharris told IT Channel Oxygen.
“The gross margins are north of 15%, where typical IT distribution is half that at best.
“That just shows the level of value add we have within the business.”
“Very different business”
Nexora is a “very different business” to Exertis IT, whose Exertis UK business has seen its fortunes go from bad to worse under AURELIUS, Fitzharris said.
“Our strategy was the optimisation and exit of Info Tech and focus on Pro Tech,” he said.
“If you take our overall scale globally, we’re number one in AV and pro-audio and also have a strong position in custom compute and infrastructure products through Hammer and some other parts of the portfolio.
“We’re very stable and financially strong, and have strong margins.”
Nexora’s fiscal 2026 adjusted operating profit advanced 4.3% to £79.8m. The figure in dollar terms rose 9% to $100m.
“It was a difficult start to the year, particularly in North America, with the tariffs in the first quarter,” Fitzharris said.
“But all of the businesses progressed well into the back end, and we had a particularly strong year in our pro AV business, which is the largest side of the business, and good recovery in a number of the markets in Europe.”
“Right new owner”
Nexora is “very focused on getting the right new owner for the business”, Fitzharris said.
“There are fact-based assessments, but there are also more subjective assessments in terms of chemistry and alignment of vision that potential investors have,” he said.
“The right new owner will understand value-added distribution and the specialist focus we have.
“They’ll also be very interested in the M&A DNA we have as an organisation. We’ve been doing smaller deals as we’ve been preparing for sale, but we’ll restart that M&A engine once we have a new owner on board.”
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
