JOHANNESBURG – South African information technology firm Datatec Ltd said on Tuesday it will sell its Westcon-Comstor Americas business to Synnex Corp for up to $800 million, sending its shares up 25 percent.
Westcon-Comstor, a distributor of technology and services for network security and data centres mostly in the United States, accounts for more than a third of Datatec’s sales and a quarter of profit.
“The transaction provides a unique opportunity for Datatec to partner with a leading distribution business in North America and benefit from its significant scale,” Datatec said in a statement.
U.S.-based Synnex will buy Westcon-Comstar’s North American and Latin American businesses for $500 million in Synnex shares, $130 million in cash and a further $200 million cash payment subject to Westcon’s full-year performance.
Datatec’s market value was around 11 billion rand ($850 million) before the announcement, but its shares had rallied by 25 percent to 63.70 rand by 0711 GMT.
In addition, Synnex will take a 10 percent stake in the remaining part of Westcon International for $30 million.
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