Santa Ana’s Ingram Micro Inc. is on the prowl for more acquisitions, according to a recent report.
Ingram is the world’s biggest distributor of technology products, including computers, software and consumer electronics.
Chief Executive Greg Spierkel told Reuters this week that the company is “considering a range of acquisitions.”
It’s part of a larger effort by Ingram Micro in the past few years to offer more services to its customers, which are called “value added resellers” in the industry.
Offering services helps Ingram boost profits in its low-margin distribution business, which nets pennies on the dollar.
Some buyout targets include companies that do customer data collection, corporate computing, logistics, mobile technology and cloud computing services, Spierkel said in a Reuters report.
The company’s long-term strategy is “moving some degree away from what I call a commoditized transactional business to a more value and solutions-oriented side of the portfolio,” he said.
Ingram has recently expanded its software business with a handful of deals designed to boost profits amid a projected uptick in corporate spending.
It has bought four small companies in the past year in a bid to be a bigger player in software distribution, which involves selling and managing licenses, installation and customer support.
The company made two software acquisitions in July.
Ingram bought Hong Kong’s Asiasoft Hong Kong Ltd. for undisclosed terms. Asiasoft distributes licenses for business software that does virtualization, security, system and desktop management, networking and business planning.
Asiasoft also provides training, consulting and support services.
Ingram also picked up Spain’s Albora Soluciones SL, a provider of business software based in Barcelona.
Albora Soluciones deals in what’s known as middleware, or software that links different applications on a network.
The recent deals come after buys in 2009.
In November, Ingram bought parts of Computacenter Distribution Ltd., a unit of Computacenter PLC, Britain’s largest reseller of technology products used by corporations.
Computacenter Distribution specializes in distributing servers, storage and related software and services.
Last year Ingram also bought two New Zealand distributors, including Vantex Technology Distribution Ltd., which does software for inventory, tracking, delivery fleets and warehouse management.
Ingram is the biggest company of any type in Orange County, with more than $30 billion in yearly sales and a recent market value of about $2 billion.
