London, 7th March 2013 - Kelway, the London-based IT solutions and services provider, today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire the non-trade and public sector business of Equanet, the specialist IT solutions brand of Dixons Retail plc. Equanet is a respected and established brand within the industry, and the acquisition reflects Kelway’s focus on delivering solutions and managed services to medium and large businesses, whilst enhancing the firm’s proposition to the public sector.

With a strong presence in the North of England, Equanet also expands Kelway’s customer base in the region and provides significant opportunities for revenue growth.  Equanet will initially continue to operate as a separate brand within the group and upon completion later this month, Kelway and Equanet will trade on integrated systems.

Dixons Retail will continue to operate its successful PC World Business offering, serving small businesses in its stores across the UK.

Equanet is recognised for its proven e-commerce platform, which will complement ServiceTrack, Kelway’s award winning, market-leading online order management system. With both systems in place, Kelway will offer customers a unique tool for managing their IT expenditure.

Phil Doye, CEO at Kelway commented: "By adding the Equanet business to Kelway we are further strengthening our differentiated customer proposition. This acquisition reinforces our growth trajectory, which sees Kelway accelerating towards the landmark of becoming a UK Technology Company with half a billion pounds of turnover.”

The acquisition will also bring Kelway’s ServiceWorks suite of Cloud services to the Equanet client base, as well as a new software offering created by combining both companies’ Microsoft Large Account Reseller (LAR) accreditations.

Dan Laws, Managing Director at Kelway commented: “The benefits of acquiring Equanet are numerous, with many interesting opportunities to build upon Kelway’s current proposition. Equanet is a business we have known for many years, and the acquisition reinforces our commitment to our supply chain business and its continued value to our clients”

Sebastian James, Chief Executive of Dixons Retail commented: “Equanet and Kelway complement each other extremely well and this transaction will enable Equanet to flourish in the specialist B2B market.”

Kelway continues to outpace the market in terms offering and revenue growth. As the business approaches £500m, it continues to operate with no long term debt and a strong balance sheet.

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