SCH sells Specialist Distribution Group allowing for an acceleration of SCC's evolution

UK technology group SCH sells Specialist Distribution Group brand to power growth of SCC. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) September 06, 2012 - Having recorded the strongest financial performance in its 37-year history, Europe's largest privately owned technology group, Specialist Computer Holdings (SCH) plc, has agreed to sell its distribution arm, Specialist Distribution Group (SDG) to Tech Data Corporation securing its continued growth and success under a parent with a single focus and greater geographical spread.

SCH will reinvest the deal consideration in its technology, solutions and services brand, SCC, clearly positioning the brand as the partner of choice for European mid-sized companies and government bodies and so accelerating SCC's investment strategy and market positioning.

Whilst SCH has remained committed to the growth and development of its distribution businesses, SDG, we have been increasingly aware of the market drive around consolidation: vendors increasingly wanting less partners who are more specialist and focused on their core business. At the same time, SCH has been increasingly conscious of being the last global hybrid organisation, with its unique challenges of successfully executing growth and expansion strategies around a major distribution brand co-existing with a technology solutions and services provider.

"SCH has successfully operated both SDG and SCC for 25 years. With a consolidating channel, the opportunity to maximise our return on investment and deploy a single focused strategy with SCC has become more apparent explains Group Chairman and Chief Executive, Sir Peter Rigby, who continues:

"Having engaged with Tech Data, SCH has come to view the disposal of SDG as a fantastic opportunity where its unique strengths can be better developed within a global parent with distribution as its core focus. The deal offers the opportunity to unleash the potential of the next stage of SDG's evolution and provides unrivalled opportunities for career progression and growth. Most importantly, the deal enables SCH to concentrate on high margin segments of the technology industry, including Storage, Intelligent Networks, Virtualisation, Data Centre technologies and the Cloud through its technology, solutions and services brand, SCC.

"The deal accelerates investment into the next stage of SCC's evolution. For the first time in the Group's history there is a single focus and concentration on what has always been our core business. The deal enables immediate release of capital to bring forward SCC's next phase of growth.

This is an exciting time in the development of our business and it has taken much careful thought and consideration to decide to devolve a part of our business which has been built and created from scratch and driven to international status and acclaim. However, we believe that the timing is right to put SDG into the hands of one of the global players in the intensively competitive segment of distribution which SDG trades in. Likewise we plan to enhance the scale and capability of SCC significantly and to take it to the top rank in its chosen areas of activity.

We have chosen to make this fundamental change at a time when the business is in its best shape ever from a Group perspective, despite the difficult trading and economic conditions in most of the territories in which we operate."

Furthermore James Rigby SCC's Managing Director stated,

"Our clear strategy is to position SCC as the Technology and Cloud Solutions partner of choice for mid-sized companies and government organisations. We see huge potential in the market opportunity which sits between global SI's and local players, where there are few quality partners in that space who have our range and depth. "

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