Viadex is “going back to what we’re known for”, its CEO said as he opened up on its decision to perform a management buyout (MBO) from Fulcrum IT Partners.
Acquisitive Canadian investor Fulcrum snapped up the Surbiton-based MSP – which serves globally distributed midmarket firms – in April 2023.
Talking to IT Channel Oxygen, Viadex CEO Dino Cooper said it was clear from a two-year review held in April that the two parties had diverging priorities.
“We are very much going back to what we’ve always been known for, which is the international piece,” said Cooper, whose majority control of Viadex has been restored as a result of the MBO.
“Our focus was – and is – entirely on the global piece, and growing IP to support that. Fulcrum wanted to grow IP in a different direction, and so we agreed to part company.
“We can go back to being very single minded in our purpose, which is to simplify global business and join the dots for globally distributed enterprises.”
Viadex’s rate of opening new global entities had “slowed to a grind” over the last two years, Cooper acknowledged.
“When you’re opening businesses and bank accounts around the world, it already takes months. But if you’re waiting for all sorts of attestations and signatures from all over the world, it slows it down immeasurably and it becomes a real challenge to our ability to expand and service our existing clients.”
“What we’ve done for data centre, we’re now doing for device”
Viadex’s calendar 2024 revenues hit around £72m.
Around two-thirds of its top line is drawn from its faster-growing indirect business, which sees it help vendors, distributors and partners simplify the complexity of global projects.
Viadex’s newly rediscovered independence will enable it to boost investment in platforms that deliver a “cloud-like experience” to globally distributed businesses across infrastructure and end-user devices, Chief Commercial Officer Brian Dunleavy claimed.
‘What we’ve done for the data centre, we’re now doing for the device,” Dunleavy said.
“When you go to an HP, Dell or Lenovo, their structure is lease per country, which isn’t cloud like. We’ve broken the mould of what is required and challenged the mainstream players in the same way we have in the data centre.”
“Being separate from the previous owners allows us to back these elements of our business for more clarity and purpose,” Cooper added.
“We’re all incredibly excited and have great momentum going into the beginning of next year.”
Claiming to have a global turnover of over $1bn, Toronto-based Fulcrum operates six brands, including UK-based TIEVA, and US and Canadian solutions providers Advizex and iON.
Built on the 2021 and 2022 acquisitions of Pure Technology and Prodec Networks, the TIEVA business is unaffected by Viadex’s MBO.
IT Channel Oxygen has approached Fulcrum for comment and will update accordingly.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
