Exertis Enterprise has reverted to its historic Hammer name, following the agreed sale of sister company Exertis IT to private equity firm AURELIUS.
Having acquired storage distributor Hammer for £38.3m in 2016, Exertis rebranded it under the Exertis Enterprise banner in 2018.
But it says the recent £100m sale of Exertis IT and global reorganisation “provided an opportunity for the business to reflect on its position”.
Re-awakening Hammer “returns to the brand that best represents its ethos and reputation”, the distributor said.
Exertis Enterprise – now Hammer – is one of several remaining distribution brands that will remain with DCC Technology after the Exertis IT sale completes.
Together these businesses generate revenues of £2.7bn, the division’s CEO Clive Fitzharris recently told IT Channel Oxygen.
Parent DCC Group will hold off selling them for 12-18 months, Fitzharris revealed.
Retooling Hammer
Hammer characterises itself as “one of Europe’s leading enterprise components distributors, delivering across storage devices, networking, GPUs and CPUs”.
At the time Exertis acquired it, the Basingstoke-based outfit boasted revenues of £155m.
Under Exertis’ tutelage, it has expanded into cyber, cloud and networking, and added six additional trading offices across Europe.
“It’s been an honour to be part of a global brand that the industry recognises, but with that recognition came assumptions – that we operated and delivered in exactly the same way as Exertis UK,” stated Hammer MD Jason Chibnall.
“The reality is that Hammer has always done things differently: our methods, our ethos, and above all our people-powered approach. Time and again we found ourselves explaining who we were not, until the words ‘we are Hammer’ immediately transformed perception. Today we are making that truth official once again.”
