Westcon Acquires Video, VoIP Distributor

In addition to expanding the distributor's capacity for unified communications, the move gives Westcon a larger stake distributing Pleasanton, Calif.-based communications vendor Polycom's products as it acquires Review Video's Polycom business in the United States and the U.K. Westcon also recently launched a Polycom business in Australia.

"Enterprise and midtier companies are realizing new efficiencies and cost savings through the use of IP videoconferencing and other collaborative applications -- these are no longer 'early adopter' communication media. Through this acquisition and our strengthened position with Polycom, we intend to help both new and existing resellers build on their success in this emerging market," said Anthony Daley, executive vice president and general manager of the Americas, Westcon Group, in a statement.

Timothy Gelman, former CEO of Review, will move to Westcon as vice president and general manager of Westcon Group North America. "When you combine our strength in IP-based videoconferencing products and services with Westcon Group's focused technology solutions and operational infrastructure, this represents an enormous opportunity for customers," he said in a statement.

The acquisition is the third this year for the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based distributor. In April it acquired NOXS, a U.K-based security distributor, and in May it bought U.K.-based Avaya distributor Crane Telecommunications.