Ingram Buys Promark for Storage, Government Distribution

Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM) wants in on a greater piece of the enterprise storage and government markets, and its purchase of Promark, a $100 million value-added distributor, may have opened the doors to both a bit wider.

Promark, based in Annapolis Junction, Md., is a specialist in data storage, data management and electronic document imaging, and supplies federal and state contract instruments, including GSA schedules, for vendors and channel partners.

Both companies kept terms of the deal from public view. After the standard transaction closing dust settles on Friday, Nov. 30, Promark will retain its corporate name and Dale Foster, its current chief executive, will stay on as executive director and general manager, reporting to Scott Zahl, vice president and general manager of Ingram’s Advanced Computing Division in the United States.

With the Promark purchase, Ingram gains not only stronger access to the enterprise storage and government markets but also the opportunity to drive greater revenues from cross-selling between its channel partners and Promark’s reseller base.

“Together, we will drive revenue synergies by cross-selling Ingram Micro’s current storage solutions to Promark’s customers and offering our channel partners access to Promark’s specialized product portfolio and established government contracts,” said Paul Bay, Ingram North America acting president.

Promark, for its part, will benefit from Ingram’s size, scope and heft. “Being part of Ingram Micro provides Promark customers, vendor partners and associates with a vast array of business opportunities that were previously unavailable,” said Foster.

Promark’s vendor card includes Dell Compellent, Dot Hill, QLogic, Overland Storage, ExaGrid, Nexsan, FalconStor, Enterasys, Panasonic and Fujitsu. The distributor maintains a professional services division to help VARs with installation, implementation and support services. Its professional services offerings include application integration, backup and recovery, network optimization, storage implementations and disaster recover solutions.

Neither Ingram nor Promark commented on how the latter’s professional services unit would operate after the transaction finalizes.

Separately, Ingram inducted Don Conaby, president of Conpute, an Oshawa, Ontario-based IT solution provider, and Anthony (Tony) Gorjan, president of Central Microsystems, a Lasalle, Quebec City-based IT solution provider, into its VentureTech Network (VTN) Hall of Fame. Conaby and Gorjan, both Canadians, were honored at this year’s Fall VTN Invitational in Boston. The two honorees are longtime friends, colleagues and VTN members.