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Synnex, Tech Data complete $7.2bn merger

The combined entity is now called TD Synnex.
Paul Booth
By Paul Booth
Johannesburg, 04 Oct 2021

The finalisation of the Synnex/Tech Data merger dominated the ICT market last month.

Key local news

  • Karooooo acquired Picup Technologies, an on-demand logistics provider, for R70 million.
  • +OneX bought Code Maven, a software specialist.
  • Prosus purchased India-based BillDesk, the provider of a payment platform, for $4.7 billion.
  • TFG Labs acquired the Flat Circle team, a specialist mobile app development agency.
  • The Finclusion Group has acquired a strategic stake in HelloHR, a South African payroll software start-up.
  • Frogfoot Networks has acquired the fibre-to-the-home assets of Link Africa Western Cape.
  • iSON Xperiences has acquired Altron People Solutions’ BPO and Customer Experience Technology business.
  • LRMG, a South African-based management consultancy, has acquired Altron People Solutions’ Learning Solutions business.
  • Virgin Mobile will close its doors in South Africa.
  • Australia-based Zip intends to fully acquire Payflex, a South African buy-now-pay-later fintech.
  • ThreatConnect has entered SA via a strategic partnership with BUI, Microsoft’s largest security and consulting partner in SA.
  • The appointments of new CEOs/MDs at Adapt IT, Altron Nexus, Iron Mountain SA and Quintica SA.
  • The deaths of Rudi Jansen, a former CEO of MWeb, and Hlengiwe Mkhize, an ex-deputy minister of telecommunications and postal services.

Key African news

  • The DPO Group, Africa’s largest and fastest-growing payment service provider, has finalised its acquisition by Network International, an enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa ($291.3 million).
  • The Ethiopian government has finally released an RFP for the partial privatisation (40%) of state-owned operator Ethio Telecom.
  • A new operating company, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, through a holding company in the Netherlands, has been established to begin providing mobile telecommunications services in Ethiopia.

Key international news

  • Accenture acquired Gevity, a strategy and consulting service provider focused on helping healthcare industry clients transform their businesses through innovative technology solutions. Accenture also formed agreements to acquire South Africa-based King James Group, a creative agency with deep expertise in brand strategy, creativity and digital marketing services; BENEXT, an independent product consulting company specialising in product management, agile coaching, cloud-based development and data science; and Experity, a leading provider of cloud-based customer experience and commerce solutions in Brazil.
  • Aicadium bought Singapore-based BasisAI, an AI software firm.
  • Apple purchased Primephonic, a classical music streaming service.
  • Aquila acquired Infinity Software.
  • Arctic Wolf bought Habitu8 to create security awareness content that’s engaging and fun and not an annual check-the-box exercise focused primarily on compliance.
  • Avalara purchased Track1099, a company that provides online software and services for cost-effectively managing, e-filing and e-delivering IRS forms.
  • Bentley Systems’ Seequent business unit acquired Minalytix, a Canadian software company and the developer of MX Deposit.
  • BitSight bought VisibleRisk, a cyber risk assessment start-up.
  • Blackstone purchased Sphera, a provider of ESG software, data and consulting services ($1.4 billion).

Virgin Mobile will close its doors in South Africa.

  • Booz Allen Hamilton acquired Tracepoint, an industry-leading digital forensics and incident response company serving public and private sector clients.
  • Check Point Software Technologies bought Avanan, an Israeli cyber security company.
  • Computer Design & Integration purchased Candoris, a fellow solution provider.
  • DigitalOcean acquired Nimbella, a serverless platform provider.
  • Dover bought Espy, which designs and manufactures advanced electronic radio frequency sensor systems.
  • Dynatrace purchased SpectX, a high-speed parsing and query analytics company.
  • Electric acquired Techvera, a fellow MSP.
  • Exadel, a software engineering solution provider, bought Coppei, a management consultancy.
  • Fortive purchased ServiceChannel, a provider of a SaaS-based service automation platform for multi-site facility management.
  • Jungle Disk acquired the assets of KeepItSafe, LiveVault and OffsiteDataSync from J2 Global.
  • Kape Technologies bought ExpressVPN, a virtual private network firm ($936 million).
  • The Macquarie Group purchased Cincinnati Bell, a telecoms and IT services provider ($2.9 billion).
  • Microsoft acquired Australia-based Clipchamp, a video-editing software company, and TakeLessons, a platform for students to connect with individual tutors in areas like music lessons, language learning, academic subjects and professional training or hobbies, and for tutors to book and organise the lessons they give, both online and in person.
  • Netflix bought Night School Studio, a video game creator, and has agreed to acquire the Roald Dahl Story Company.
  • NetGain Technologies purchased 4EOS, a fellow MSP.
  • Netrix acquired the PSC Group, which is focused on cloud development and cloud-native applications.
  • Okta bought atSpoke, an early-stage workplace operations platform.
  • OwnBackup purchased RevCult, a software company that provides Salesforce security and governance solutions.
  • Park Place Technologies acquired SiteGrid’s inventory and logistics management solution, NetSure+.
  • Password Boss bought AutoElevate, which will offer automated privileged access management and password manager solutions to end-users.
  • Ping Identity acquired Singular Key, a security orchestration start-up.
  • Qlik Technologies purchased Big Squid, a developer of automated machine learning technology.
  • Scaler Academy acquired Coding Elements, an online coding platform.
  • ZoomInfo bought RingLead, an industry leader in data orchestration and revenue operations automation.
  • Adtran has agreed to acquire Germany-based ADVA, a networking services company (€789 million).
  • Akamai Technologies will buy Israel-based Guardicore, which specialises in software that helps to limit user access to only those applications that are authorised to communicate with each other ($600 million).
  • America Movil has agreed with Cable & Wireless Panama to sell its Claro Panama unit ($200 million) and spin off its tower business into a new company called Sitio Latinoamerica.
  • Ansys will acquire Zemax, a leader in high-performance optical imaging system simulation.
  • Apple is facing an anti-trust challenge in India for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. Apple has also been found guilty in the UK High Court of infringing the patent rights of Optis, a technology-owning company based in Texas, in a move that could potentially see sales of Apple products banned in the UK if the company does not commit to an expensive licensing arrangement.
  • Brooks Automation has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Semiconductor Solutions Group business to Thomas H Lee Partners ($3 billion).
  • Capgemini has signed an agreement to acquire VariQ, an IT services provider.
  • The Carlyle Group has agreed to buy Hexaware Technologies, a software firm ($3 billion).
  • The core management team of Cumberland Group has acquired the data-centric technology services solution provider.
  • Deutsche Telekom has sold its Dutch unit T-Mobile Netherlands to a consortium of private equity houses Apax and Warburg Pincus (€5.1 billion) and has struck a share-swap deal with Softbank Group to increase its stake in US unit T-Mobile.
  • F5 Networks has agreed to buy Threat Stack, a cloud security company.
  • Global Payments has agreed to purchase MineralTree, a leading provider of accounts payable automation and business-to-business payments solutions ($500 million).
  • Google has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a video, screenshare and whiteboard collaboration software named Playspace.
  • Iliad will purchase Liberty Global’s Polish broadband unit UPC Polska.
  • Intuit will acquire Mailchimp, a digital marketing company ($12 billion).
  • KKR will buy a majority stake in Australia-based Probe, a leading provider of customer experience and BPO solutions.
  • South Korea’s KT Corp will purchase Epsilon Global Communications, a global connectivity provider ($145 million).
  • Mastercard has an agreement to acquire CipherTrace, a leading crypto-currency intelligence company.
  • Mercury Systems has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Avalex Technologies, a provider of mission-critical avionics, including rugged displays, integrated communications management systems, digital video recorders and warning systems.
  • Orange has purchased OTE’s 54% stake in Telekom Romania for €296 million and is to buy insurer Groupama's 21.7% stake in Orange Bank, its online banking unit, thus taking its stake to 100%.
  • PayPal will acquire Paidy, a Japanese buy-now-pay-later firm ($2.7 billion).
  • Perforce Software has agreed to buy the BlazeMeter Continuous Testing platform from Broadcom.
  • S4 Capital has struck a deal to buy Zemoga, a technology services company.
  • Sinch has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pathwire, a leading cloud-based e-mail delivery platform.
  • Singapore Telecommunications has divested a 70% stake in its Australian tower network to superannuation fund AustralianSuper ($1.37 billion).
  • The Sony Group is acquiring Bluepoint Games, a studio best known for remaking classic PlayStation video games.
  • The Symphony Technology Group plans to bring together McAfee Enterprise and FireEye Products into a cyber security behemoth led by former BlackBerry president and Cisco SVP Bryan Palma.
  • Synaptics has agreed to buy DSP Group, a leading global provider of voice and wireless chipset solutions for converged communications.
  • Synnex’s $7.2 billion merger with Tech Data has been completed, with the combined entity now called TD Synnex, thus becoming the industry’s largest IT distributor.
  • Tenable has agreed to purchase Accurics, an early-stage cloud security vendor ($160 million).
  • Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire HCSS, a supplier of estimating, operations and fleet management software to the construction sector and has invested in Intel 471, a cyber threat intelligence provider.
  • A US federal judge struck down a core part of Apple App Store rules, forcing the company to allow developers to send their users to other payment systems in a win for Fortnite creator Epic Games and other app makers.
  • VEON has reached an agreement to sell its mobile network towers in Russia to Service-Telecom ($970 million), a well-known partner to PJSC VimpelCom, which operates in Russia under the Beeline brand and already provides the company with passive infrastructure across various regions in Russia.
  • Vista Equity Partners is taking a majority stake in Drift, a company that aims to be the Amazon of businesses, and Blue Prism, a UK-based company that specialises in software robots that automate repetitive tasks (£1.1 billion).
  • Workday intends to acquire Zimit, one of the only configure price quote solutions built specifically for services industries.
  • Xerox will transfer its common stock listing from the NYSE to the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
  • Zebra Technologies intends to buy antuit.ai, a provider of artificial intelligence-powered SaaS solutions specific to forecasting and merchandising for the retail and CPG industries.
  • Zoom and Five9 have abandoned their $14.7 billion deal.
  • The $75 million investment by Atlassian Ventures and Salesforce Ventures in Snyk, a developer security start-up.
  • Autodesk invested in iOFFICE + SpaceIQ, a leader in the digital transformation of workplace and asset management.
  • Insight Partners invested in NMI, a leading global full commerce enablement technology company.
  • The $120 million investment by NetEase in Kepler Interactive, a game publisher co-owned and run by developers.
  • Salesforce Ventures invested in Razorpay, a digital payments firm.
  • The $150 million investment co-led by Insight Partners and Venrock in Rebellion Defense, a developer of AI-based products for the defence and security industry.
  • The $530 million investment co-led by private equity firms Sands Capital Ventures and Tiger Global in Snyk, a cyber security company.
  • The investments led by Andreessen Horowitz in SpotOn, a provider of software and payments solutions for restaurants and retailers ($300 million) and Fivetran, a data integration start-up ($565 million).
  • The investments led by Coatue in Bigeye, a data observability tech developer.
  • The $570 million investment led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and B Capital Group in Meesho, an Indian social commerce platform backed by Facebook.
  • The $150 million investment led by Founders Fund in Persona, an identity verification technology company.
  • The $150 million investment led by General Atlantic in Matillion, a cloud data integration technology developer.
  • The $100 million investment led by Great Hill Partners in Totango, a developer of a customer engagement platform.
  • The investments led by Insight Partners in Copado, a leading DevOps platform ($140 million); Papaya Global, a provider of a workforce management platform ($250 million); and Versatile, a developer of construction tech software that helps users analyse data in real-time and provides them with visibility into production rates ($80 million).
  • The $100 million investment led by Insight Partners and Hanaco Venture Capital in Lightricks, the creator of a variety of photo and video editing apps such as Facetune and Filtertune.
  • The $1.6 billion investment led by Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s investment arm Counterpoint Global in Databricks, a data analytics platform that uses artificial intelligence.
  • The $159 million investment led by Sapphire Ventures in JumpCloud, a provider of a cloud platform that unifies device and identity management across all types of IT resources.
  • The $200 million investment led by Softbank’s Vision Fund 2 in Andela, the operator of a global network that connects companies with remote engineers based in emerging markets.
  • The $200 million investment led by TCV in Aviatrix, a cloud networking start-up.
  • The investments led by Tiger Global in Factorial, an HR automation platform designed to help employers manage recruitment, onboarding and other administrative operations, and in Xendit, the developer of payments infrastructure designed to help businesses across Southeast Asia accept payments and manage operations ($150 million).
  • The $180 million investment led by Viking Global Investors and the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management in AlphaSense, a leading market intelligence and search platform.
  • The $200 million investment led by Warburg Pincus in Singapore-based ADVANCE.AI, which uses artificial intelligence-driven technology to offer digital identity verification, fraud detection and credit scoring services.
  • The appointments of new CEOs at Applause, CARFAX, FireMon, GFI Software, SeaChange International, SecureWorks, StorMagic, TD Synnex and Yahoo.
  • The deaths of Bruce Geier, a founder of the Technology Integration Group (TIG), and Sir Clive Sinclair, the home computing pioneer.
  • IPO filings from Allvue Systems (NYSE), AutoStore (Oslo), Ensemble Health Partners (Nasdaq), GitLab (Nasdaq), IHS Towers (NYSE), MapmyIndia (India), Megvii Technology (Nasdaq-like STAR market) and Ximalaya (Hong Kong).
  • IPOs/listings from Amplitude (Nasdaq), Clearwater Analytics (NYSE), DoubleDown Interactive (Nasdaq), EngageSmart (NYSE), ForgeRock (NYSE), Freshworks (Nasdaq), IonQ (NYSE), Thoughtworks (Nasdaq) and Toast (NYSE).

Research results and predictions

Worldwide:

  • According to Gartner, worldwide government IT spending is forecast to total $557.3 billion in 2022, an increase of 6.5% from 2021.
  • According to IDC, the semiconductor market will grow by 17.3% in 2021 versus 10.8% in 2020.

Stock market changes

  • JSE All share index: Down 5.9%
  • FTSE100: Down 1.7%
  • DAX: Down 4.4%
  • NYSE (Dow): Down 3.2%
  • S&P 500: Down 3.4%
  • Nasdaq: Down 3.7%
  • Nikkei225: Up 4.1%
  • Hang Seng: Down 3.3%
  • Shanghai: Up 1.3%

Final word

Inc. magazine recently published its 2021 list of America’s fastest growing private companies. Included in the top 50 are:

  • 6: Brander Group, which offers IT consulting services that help companies reduce costs and streamline their operations.
  • 16: Banyan Software, which acquires, grows and holds niche-market enterprise software businesses with high recurring revenues.
  • 19: BigID, which helps organisations discover, manage, protect and get more value from their personal data.
  • 34: Global Alliant, which solves business problems through innovative and cost-effective IT and software solutions.
  • 47: Clutch Solutions, which provides enterprise-class software and hardware focused on IT infrastructure and IOT.

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