Avnet Gets Rolling With Access Integration

Plans call for Access to be integrated into Avnet Technology Solutions (ATS), where it will be known as Avnet Technology Solutions, Access Division. ATS president Fred Cuen said that with the acquisition, the distributor hopes to grow from $5 billion to $10 billion in annual sales over the next five years.

"We were very, very proactive in coming up with the plans, based on a philosophy called best people and best practices, so that we would be able to take the best of both worlds both from Access and Avnet so that we have a better play for our VARs, our suppliers and our employees," Cuen said.

Phoenix, Ariz.-based Avnet completed the $410.3 million purchase of Access on Tuesday. On top of bringing Access VAR partners into its fold, Avnet also is expanding its product catalog to include additional offerings from Sun Microsystems, Avaya, F5 Networks, McAfee and Nokia. Cuen said Avnet VARs have already expressed interest in carrying the vendors.

"Obviously, Avaya is another great play that a lot of our partners are interested in as well," he said.

An integration team is working on ensuring a smooth transition for solution provider partners, Cuen added. "We want to make sure that we give our partners the best service and the best access," he said. "We're going to put an environment together for our partners so that they have the best of both worlds [even] if that means they're going to be under the Access umbrella."

Access will continue to be based in Westminster, Colo., and former CEO Anna McDermott will serve as senior vice president and general manager of the ATS Access Division, which includes an emerging technology group that specializes in networking and security solutions.

"This will be a great complementary play for the entire region as we're able to expand those particular suppliers' sales across a greater group of VARs," Cuen said.

McDermott shared Cuen's optimism. "As we come together, there's a new value proposition that hasn't been in the market before," she said. "I think there are some great opportunities for our reseller partners to enable their growth and their momentum."