Spire Technology is “totally accretive” to Westcoast, one of Westcoast’s execs claimed as he confirmed it has acquired its smaller peer.
Following an exclusive report from IT Channel Oxygen, Westcoast this morning officially announced it has grabbed a 100% stake in components specialist Spire.
The Dorset-based outfit will form part of the Westcoast Group working alongside Westcoast Ltd.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen, Westcoast Executive Director Alex Tatham stressed that Westcoast previously had a limited footprint in Spire’s PC build and gaming stomping ground.
“There is no vendor that is the same,” Tatham said.
“The portfolio is totally accretive to the business, and actually Westcoast haven’t got an enormous components business to work with, so that sits very well too.
“The power of Westcoast can bring opportunities, particularly with major vendors that Spire sub-distributes.”
Spire’s revenues fell back 3% to £103m in its fiscal 2023 amid a “continued fall in hardware demand”.
“The components business has always been tough, and it often goes from feast to famine, but Spire have got a wonderful relationship with their key suppliers and I think that will create a fantastic accretive business to Westcoast,” Tatham said.
The duo had been in talks for “some time”, Tatham said.
“The business will carry on trading as it is with no change of locks even, and we’ll no doubt do some integration of things that we can help each other with,” he concluded.
In a canned statement, Spire CEO John Appleton claimed that Westcoast “can only help grow our business”.
“In return we can bring a range of accretive components vendors to Westcoast’s significant and diverse customer base. We are delighted that we can form part of Britain’s largest privately owned technology group and can use its considerable resources to accelerate our growth,” he added.
Dave Stevinson, CEO of distributor QBS Technology Group, agreed that the “transaction makes sense on so many levels”.
“Westcoast will make an ideal home for Spire. It is a bit like two old friends getting married. Alex and John will work well together and become a huge force in the PC components marketplace.”
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
