News

Westcon Group Closes Acquisition of Crane, UK-Based Distributor of Voice, Data and Converged Communi

Slough, England, May 3, 2007--Westcon Group, Inc, a multi-national distributor of networking, security, mobility and convergence solutions, announced that its parent company, Datatec Limited, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Crane Telecommunications Group Limited, a leading value added distributor for voice, data and converged communications solutions in the UK and Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Now that the acquisition is closed, Westcon Group adds considerable strength to its European convergence practice through enhanced relationships with Avaya, Nortel, Alcatel and Mitel, while gaining new vendor relationships with companies including Samsung and BT Network Services. Crane is well known for its consultative approach and excellence in training--its customer base includes over 250 resellers focused on convergence and mobility.

The closing of this acquisition directly follows Westcon Group’s closing of the acquisition of NOXS, the leading European security distributor. Now that these acquisitions are closed, Westcon plans to leverage its financial strength and scale of operations in Europe to bring new opportunities in convergence, security and mobility to both new and existing customers, while broadening and strengthening its European vendor relationships.

Barry Shakespeare, executive vice president of Westcon Europe, commented: “When evaluating a company for a potential acquisition, two of the key considerations are the company’s management philosophy and their customer orientation. Crane has developed an incredibly loyal customer base built squarely on relationships. This approach is very much like our own in both the solutions approach and technology focus.”

About Westcon Group
Westcon Group, Inc. is a multi-national specialty distributor of networking, security and communications equipment for leading technology vendors, including Cisco Systems, Inc., Nortel Networks Corporation and Avaya, Inc.  Through its Westcon and Comstor divisions, Westcon Group sells products and services to resellers, systems integrators and service providers. Westcon Group has particular expertise in the convergence of voice, data and video applications and technologies, including voice-over Internet protocol, or VoIP, security for networking and communications systems, remote access, Internet and e-business, virtual private networks, videoconferencing and wireless connectivity. For more information, visit www.westcongroup.com.


Contact:          
James Clark
Westcon Group, Inc.
+44 1285 627 140
jclark@westcongroup.com

Jeffrey Touzeau                                     
Westcon Group, Inc.                             
(914) 829-7388                          
jtouzeau@westcongroup.com