DCC spends €42.5m on digital storage specialist Hammer

DCC's technology division has agreed to acquire UK-based Hammer, a specialist distributor of server and storage solutions, in a deal initially valued at £38.3 million (€42.5 million).

Hammer, which employs 165 people, is a distributor for a number of suppliers, including Dell, Intel, and NetApp, to almost 1,000 resellers, cloud service providers and system integrators in the UK and much of western Europe. DCC said the business is complementary to its own unit Exertis's existing server and storage business.

"Hammer's expertise will better enable us to take advantage of positive industry trends, including growth in cloud data centres and demand for big data analytics," said DCC chief executive Tommy Breen.

In the year to the end of January, Hammer earned an operating profit of £6.3 million on revenue of £155 million.

DCC has agreed to pay the purchase price entirely in cash and is structured as an initial payment at completion, followed by earn-out payments over three years based on Hammer’s future trading results.