CE Pro February 2022 - 48

Channel
TIPS | EDUCATION & EVENTS | DISTRIBUTION
Exertis Acquires
Almo Corp. in Major
Distribution Move
Parent company DCC plc's
approximately $610M pickup creates
dominant distributor in commercial
integration market as combined Exertis
Almo Pro AV entity. By Dan Ferrisi
IN DECEMBER, THE AV and
integration industry awoke
to news of one of the most
consequential acquisitions in
recent years: DCC Technology,
which trades as Exertis,
had acquired Almo Corp. in
North America. This move
came on the heels of Dublin,
Ireland-based parent company
DCC plc completing
several other North America
acquisitions in recent years
including Stampede, Jam
Industries, The Music People
and JB&A.
Almo, however, represents
the largest acquisition
in DCC plc's history. The
transaction was based on
an initial enterprise value
of about $610 million on a
cash-free, debt-free basis. It
was conducted in a bilateral
transaction with the Chaiken
family, the owners and
managers of Almo since its
founding 75 years ago.
With Almo, the organization
now has about 15,000
employees. And on the technology
side of the business,
48 | CE Pro February 2022
with Almo enfolded into the
organization, revenues are
north of $7 billion. All told,
the combined organization,
called Exertis Almo Pro AV,
has become the largest
specialist distributor of pro
AV products and services in
North America.
To learn about the implications
on the commercial/
resimercial sector, CE Pro sister
publication Commercial
Integrator chatted with Clive
Fitzharris, managing director,
Exertis International, and
Warren Chaiken, president
and CEO, Almo Corp.
" Acquisitions are ultimately
all about culture, and they
either fail or succeed because
of the culture, " Chaiken
says. Noting that initial
conversations began three
or four years ago, Chaiken
remarks that the relationship
blossomed and grew as
they discovered their shared
values. " We realized the similarities
of our companies and
our cultures, " he explains.
Exertis Almo Pro AV will be
The Chaiken family (pictured, left-right, Warren and Gene
Chaiken) had owned and managed Almo since its founding
75 years ago.
led by Sam Taylor, who has
helmed Almo Pro AV for years.
John Dunne, managing director
of Exertis North America,
will join the Almo executive
team and play a key role in
the integration process.
Fitzharris is clear that
Exertis doesn't intend to
change the Almo branding
at a corporate level or in the
company's non-AV divisions.
The goal of the acquisition,
he says, is simply " to build
and sustain a powerhouse in
specialist pro AV distribution,
under Sam's leadership and
[with] a merging of the talent
of the two organizations. "
Both Chaiken and Fitzharris
underscore how complementary
the organizations
are, not only geographically
but also with respect to
vendor partners. Chaiken,
for example, notes that, to
this point, Almo Pro AV's
footprint in Canada has been
small. By contrast, Exertis'
Pro AV Solutions division
has an established Canadian
presence. And Fitzharris,
noting Exertis' strength in
Europe, pledges to share
best practices and key
relationships that will fortify
the combined U.S. entity of
Exertis Almo Pro AV.
Although there is some
overlapping of vendors
across the now-merged organizations,
many others, to
this point, have had a relationship
only with Exertis or
with Almo. " We're going to
bring that increased vendor
breadth to the combined
customer base, " Fitzharris
promises.
Exertis Almo Pro AV -
now the largest specialist
pro AV distributor in North
America - will be able to
better support the customer
base with a larger warehouse
footprint, as well as the unification
of two strong teams.
Team members will leverage
their industry-wide relationships,
Fitzharris says, " to
provide the service that they
have done individually, but
on a combined basis, to all
the integrators and customers
of those organizations. "
DAN FERRISI is editor-in-chief
of Commercial Integrator.
cepro.com
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CE Pro February 2022

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