Ingram Micro Deal Seen Helping It In European Market

Ingram Micro will acquire the e-commerce fulfillment and payment services business of Netherlands-based Docdata for approximately $175 million in an expansion that will strengthen Ingram’s foothold and elevate its brand in Europe.

The e-commerce services business handles shipping and payment for some 125,000 to 250,000 orders a day across Europe. The Dutch company also has major operations in Germany and the United Kingdom.

"Docdata is a really established provider in Europe and this deal will help Ingram Micro enhance its presence’ on the continent, said Nate Gilmore, executive director for marketing, commerce and fulfillment solutions for Ingram Micro, based in Santa Ana, Calif..

[Related: Top Ingram Micro Execs: What's Next For Its Cloud]

"Ingram Micro has been pretty aggressive over the last few years as it moves to become a one-stop-shop," said Daniel Silva, owner of Ingram partner Vision Computer Services, based in Pampa, Texas.

"Adding Docdata's broad-based suite of commerce solutions to our existing portfolio of global services will bring critical mass to our commerce and fulfillment solutions business in Europe," Ingram Micro CEO Alain Monié said in a prepared statement.

The deal, which the companies announced earlier this week, will boost Ingram’s brand visibility in Europe and increase the company's global footprint, Gilmore said. He added that Docdata’s payment solution, which offers more than 40 online payment methods, will help Ingram better navigate the continent’s fragmented commercial landscape.

The acquisition will provide Ingram with ’instant name recognition in Europe," said Keith Housum, a senior research analyst at Northcoast Research.

Housum said that Ingram – No. 62 on the Fortune 500 - made a similar acquisition in the U.S. last year when it acquired e-commerce fulfillment business Shipwire. He added that the efficient customer onboarding processes of companies like Shipwire and Docdata have make that process cheaper for Ingram, allowing the business to grow more quickly.

"It is a big question for companies: Do you invest first and build before they come? Or grow the business first and then add the infrastructure?" he said. Housum added that the Docdata deal will provide a good infrastructure for Ingram Micro to strengthen its e-commerce business in Europe.

The deal, which must be approved by Docdata shareholders, is expected to close within two months, Gilmore said.

The addition of the Docdata business is projected to contribute more than $150 million in annual services revenue to Ingram, it said in a statement. In its most recent annual report, Ingram reported $46.4 billion in annual revenue.

The Docdata group will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram, retaining all its roughly 1,300 employees throughout Europe, Gilmore said.

This is Ingram Micro's fifth acquisition this year, two of which also helped it expand overseas. Those included a Saudi Arabia-based distributor, Arabian Applied Technology, and Tech Data's businesses in Peru and Chile.

"Ingram has always had a global eye," Gilmore said, "and a lot of the motion is to continue to expand."

PUBLISHED OCT. 15, 2015