Two distributors with a focus on innovative software — the UK’s QBS Technology Group and Germany’s Compuwave — have teamed up to extend their offerings across Europe.
Dave Stevinson [pictured], CEO of QBS Technology Group, said its acquisition of Compuwave, including 35 staff and offices in Munich and Berlin, represented “another exceptionally high-quality addition to our European network”.
“Compuwave represented a most compelling opportunity to acquire a fast growing and highly focused business with a strong management team,” Stevinson said.
Compuwave boasts active relationships with some 1600 resellers across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including some of the largest in the region. It turned over around €30m in its 2018 year. It targets VARs, cloud services providers and systems integrators with solutions from 3800 software publishers, including Progress, JetBrains, Teamviewer and Techsmith.
Oliver Schnapka, joint CEO of Compuwave, said the distributors, which had previously worked together, shared a vision for growth as well as a history of investing in the future.
“The acquisition confirms our business strategy and enables us to further accelerate our profitable growth both in the DACH region and across Europe,” Schnapka said.
According to QBS Technology Group’s announcement on the deal, Compuwave’s targeted growth trajectory and expansion plans will be supported via QBS’s software delivery platform in particular, offering exposure via the updated platform to more customers.
Holger Brunken, joint CEO and founder of Compuwave, will work with Schnapka and Stevinson to grow the international business. Core markets are the UK, Germany, France and the Baltic states. Compuwave will continue operating as a standalone firm.
The acquisition is QBS Technology Group’s third since Covid-19 began slowing European economies in March 2020, according to Stevinson. QBS announced the acquisition of security VAD AlphaGen in March and of the full stake of Zedsphere (now QBS:MSP) in April, as reported by CRN UK.
