TIG Opens European Office, Acquires Solution Provider

Bruce Geier, president and CEO of San Diego-based TIG, a $285 million solution provider with 19 locations across the United States, said the new Heidelberg, Germany, office will help the company serve federal contracts at U.S. military bases in Europe and North Africa. The European location should add more than $10 million in revenue this year, he said.

TIG launched the German location after hiring former Northrop Grumman employees who ran the European office for that company's reseller operations, according to Geier. When Northrop Grumman decided to exit the reseller business, the opportunity came up to hire the company's Heidelberg sales staff.

"Over the next governmental year, we hope to grow the business [beyond $10 million]," Geier said. "Right now, it appears that there isn't a lot of competition from American-based companies, and most of the [military] bases are buying from U.S.-based companies."

Network Plus Technology Group (NPTG), a San Diego consulting and integration company with annual revenue of $11 million to $12 million, brings TIG expertise in network security, storage, CRM and technical staffing, Geier said. NPTG also refurbishes and redeploys older IT products for customers at a substantial savings vs. buying new equipment. Geier said TIG wasn't in the refurbishing business before the NPTG acquisition but will retain and expand that business.

Plans call for NPTG, including about 20 of the company's employees, to be folded into TIG, according to Geier. Jim Kernan, NPTG's CEO, left the company after its sale to TIG, Geier said.