17 July 2020, Huntington, UK, & Eaubonne, France – Euro Techno Com Group (ETC Group), a one-stop shop value-added distributor of telecommunications equipment and supplies, announced today the acquisition of Comtec Group, one of the UK’s largest value-added distributors of telecom and datacoms products. The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in 1993, ETC Group is headquartered in Eaubonne (Ile-de-France) and has operations across six countries in Europe and North America. The company is a global leader in product design, procurement, supply chain management, and the distribution of passive and active telecom equipment and materials with best-in-class technical and logistics solutions for communications service providers’ network deployment and maintenance. ETC Group’s 2,000+ customers include major American and European cable operators and telecommunications service providers, as well as large and small independent installers and sub-contractors.

Founded in 1978, Comtec Group is one of the UK’s largest value-added distributors of telecom and IP equipment to both the carrier and enterprise markets, and a specialist in supply chain management for telecommunications operators and systems vendors. Comtec serves most major telecom operators and installers in the UK and the Middle East, including BT, Virgin Media, Sky and Ooredoo. The company has experienced continuous growth since inception and has expanded through targeted acquisitions and sustained international growth. Today, Comtec has seven offices across the UK, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Hong Kong.

For ETC Group, the transaction allows it to further expand its geographic footprint and customer base. In particular, ETC Group now benefits from a strong foothold in the fast-growing UK market, where all major telecom operators and alternative networks have started a long-term deployment phase of fibre across the country to support the ever-increasing demand for high-speed connectivity. Ambitious targets and the complexity of fibre network deployments are increasingly making ETC’s value-added offering critical to operators who seek to maximise operational efficiencies and lower their deployment costs. The acquisition also allows ETC Group to serve the growing IP infrastructure market for enterprise customers and further expand its offerings and expertise in datacentre supply and maintenance.

For Comtec, the transaction provides additional offerings for its customers, particularly in the areas of product design, technical services, supply chain management services and logistics outsourcing for telecommunications service providers.

Cédric Varasteh, Founder of ETC Group, said: “The acquisition of Comtec is a milestone in ETC’s growth. It allows us to significantly enhance our geographic reach and further expand our range of products and technologies, particularly in the UK market where demand for value-added services of telecom equipment is growing. We look forward to working with John and his team and are excited about the future.”

John Archer, CEO of Comtec Group, said: “We are delighted to join ETC Group and to combine our offering, expertise and scale to further support our customers in accelerating their fibre and IP infrastructure deployments. The acceleration of fibre roll-out will create several business opportunities for which the enlarged group is uniquely positioned.” John and his fellow Comtec Group Managing Directors, John Buck and Dan Conway, remain with the business.

Vladimir Lasocki, Managing Director and co-Head of the Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (“CETP”) advisory team and Cyril Bourdarot, a Director on the CETP advisory team, concluded: “In October 2019, CETP IV invested in ETC Group to support the next phase of the company’s growth, including a focus on expansion into new geographies and technologies. The acquisition of Comtec is in line with this strategy, providing ETC with a leading position in the rapidly expanding UK market which we believe is at the beginning of an unprecedented deployment phase.”