ALSO completes takeover of leading Bulgarian IT distributor

The ALSO Holding AG has received regulatory approval to take over Solytron Bulgaria's operations. With a turnover of 110 million euros and around 120 employees the IT distributor is according to ICT Media the leading provider in Bulgaria. The acquisition is another important step in the implementation of ALSO's strategy to strengthen its position in the Eastern European markets.

Solytron, founded in Sofia in 1991, trebled its sales revenue between 2011 and 2018 and sells solutions and products of over 50 leading manufacturers. The company provides comprehensive services, consulting and training. With the completion of the takeover Solytron's Business partners will now have access to the three business models from ALSO: Supply, with a broad range of products, solutions and services, as well as a wide portfolio of suppliers. New innovative technologies and platforms, such as virtualization, cloud, 3D printing, process mining, AI-based security solutions and IoT will be provided by the ALSO Group and enable the partners to enhance their actual business.

The acquisition is the next step for the ALSO Group to enlarge its footprint further in the Eastern European region: In the past 12 month the company took over the value addded distributor DISS in Slovenia, the polish ABC Data Group, a regional IT distributor with the largest country coverage in Eastern Europe with subsidiaries in Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia and one of the top-three IT distributors in Croatia, RECRO. Now the Group is present in 13 Eastern European countries including Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Belarus and Ukraine. The addressable market volume in these countries is around EUR 30 billion. ALSO wants to achieve an overall market share of 20 percent in the entire region.

Direct link to media release: https://www2.also.com/press/20191029en.pdf

Contact person ALSO Holding AG:
Manuela Rost-Hein
Head of Communications ALSO Group
Phone: +49 151 14040215
E-Mail: manuela.rost-hein@also.com

ALSO Holding AG (ALSN.SW) (Emmen/Switzerland) brings providers and buyers of the ICT industry together. ALSO offer more than 550 vendors of hardware, software and IT-services access to over 100 000 buyers, who can call a broad spectrum of other customized services in the logistics, finance, and IT services sectors, as well as traditional distribution services. From the development of complex IT landscapes, the provision and maintenance of hardware and software, right through to the return, reconditioning and remarketing of IT hardware, ALSO offers all services as a one-stop shop. ALSO (SIX: ALSN) is represented in 23 European countries and generates total net sales of approximately 9.2 billion euros with around 4 000 employees in the fiscal year 2018. The majority shareholder of ALSO Holding AG is the Droege Group, Düsseldorf, Germany. Further information is available at http://also.group

Droege Group
Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent advisory and investment company under full family ownership. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs aiming to enhance corporate value. Droege Group combines its corporate family-run structure and capital strength into a family-equity business model. The group carries out direct investments with its own equity in corporate spin-offs and medium-sized companies in "special situations". With the guiding principle "execution - following the rules of art", the group is a pioneer in execution-oriented corporate development. Droege Group follows a focused investment strategy based on current megatrends (knowledge, connectivity, prevention, demography, specialization, future work, shopping 4.0). Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company's actions. In recent years Droege Group has successfully positioned itself in domestic and international markets and operates in 30 countries. More information: https://droege-group.com

Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the ALSO management. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements made here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation, and performance of our Group. The Group accepts no responsibility for updating these forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments.