Global distributor Ingram Micro, backed by private equity firm Platinum Equity, has acquired BRLink -- a Top 250 Public Cloud MSP that works closely with Amazon Web Services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal number 761 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.

Under Platinum Equity's ownership since July 2021, Ingram Micro has gained more financial freedom and business flexibility to acquire IT businesses worldwide, ChannelE2E believes.

Ingram Micro Acquires BRLink: Cloud MSP Deal Details

According to ChannelE2E's annual Top 250 Public Cloud MSPs research, BRLink has worked with Amazon Web Services since 2010. The public cloud MSP's practice areas include DevOps/Automation, ServerLess, and web application services. The company also helps customers to manage and monitor AWS workloads for customers.

BRLink, led by founder Rafael Marangoni, will become a business unit of Ingram Micro Brazil -- maintaining its identity, culture and brand, Ingram Micro indicated.

Adding BRLink's suite of solutions gives Ingram Micro partners "access to an even more complete portfolio of cloud services, as well as the opportunity to leverage BRLink's expertise in delivering a complete cloud journey. Together, the two companies expect to continue to invest to enter new cloud markets and expand their combined ecosystem of solutions and services at an accelerated pace," the two companies indicated.

The deal sounds somewhat similar to Ingram's acquisition of CloudLogic in October 2021. CloudLogic focuses on IT Strategy, Cloud Enablement, Cloud Transformation, Cloud Cost Optimization, and Migration services.

Ingram Micro: Improved Growth Prospects, Acquisition Opportunities

“Heartbleed exposes the ugly side of open-source security components. In past events a vendor would pay for the collateral damages that the vulnerability created. As this is OpenSSL, there is no clear indication on who would be responsible to pay for the collateral damages of this open-source [bug].”
Paul Bay, EVP, Ingram Micro

It has been five three months since Platinum Equity acquired Ingram Micro from Chinese conglomerate HNA Group in July 2021. At the time of the ownership transition, Ingram Executive VP Paul Bay reiterated the company’s top three market priorities for the distributor and its partners:

  1. Win together.
  2. Transform the IT customer experience across the entire lifecycle.
  3. Deliver more solutions and more deeply engage the company’s global partner communities.

Fast forward to September 2021, and Platimum Equity's ownership improved the growth prospects for Ingram, according to FitchRatings, a debt ratings service that recently took a close look at the business. Among the reason for optimism: Ingram is now free from “onerous provisions that often limited the company’s ability to invest in certain growth opportunities,” FitchRatings asserts.

Under Platinum Equity, the current setting “should allow Ingram Micro to pursue acquisition targets and to capture previously missed growth opportunities, including domestic sales into sensitive product areas,” the ratings service says. Translation: The Ingram team no longer has to navigate HNA Group-related question marks in the U.S. government market, and in IT markets worldwide.

Ingram Micro Acquires BRLink: Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the BRLink deal, Flavio Moraes, Ingram Micro's vice president and country chief executive for Brazil, said:

“With the addition of BRLink, Ingram Micro now has even more possibilities to enable and complement our partners' competencies, accelerating entry into a rapidly growing cloud market. Our channel-oriented history and expertise are perfectly complemented by BRLink's solutions, allowing us to offer excellent additional services to resellers and contribute to their performance in a market increasingly sought after by companies of all sizes, such as IaaS and data projects & AI."

Added Rafael Marangoni, founder and business unit director of BRLink:

“Becoming a part of Ingram Micro will further accelerate our growth, allowing us to expand into new markets and offerings. This step will bring our clients an even more robust and complete service structure to support them in the digital transformation of their businesses" adds Marangoni.

Concluded Platinum Equity Partner Jacob Kotzubei and Platinum Equity Managing Director Matthew Louie in a joint statement:

“We are making good on our promise to invest in Ingram Micro’s growth, expanding in key markets like Latin America and in core product segments like cloud solutions. We will continue pursuing more opportunities to drive growth organically and through acquisitions.”