Synnex Shareholders Overwhelmingly Approve Tech Data Merger
‘We would like to thank our shareholders for their full support of this merger. We look forward to completing the remaining steps to close this transaction,’ says Synnex CEO Dennis Polk in a prepared statement.
Synnex’s shareholders Wednesday gave the distributor the green light to move forward on its merger with rival Tech Data, carving a path for the creation of a new IT giant.
Synnex reported that shareholders used a special meeting Wednesday to approve the merger, one of the key conditions to closing the merger. According to a regulatory filing Wednesday, 46,654,053 shares were voted for the merger vs. 44,415 shares against and 102,181 shares abstained.
Synnex and Tech Data in March said they planned to merge in a deal that would create the world’s largest IT distributor with annual revenue of $57 billion. Currently, Ingram Micro, which is being acquired by Platinum Equity, is the largest.
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Once the merger closes, the combined company will be 55 percent owned by Synnex shareholders and 45 percent owned by Apollo Global management, which bought Tech Data for $5.4 billion in June 2020.
The combined Synnex-Tech Data will be led by Tech Data CEO Rich Hume, while Synnex President and CEO Dennis Polk (pictured) will serve as the executive chair of the company board.
Polk last week said that the merger remains on-track as the company continues to receive positive feedback and finalize regulatory approvals despite lingering impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that it is expected to close in the second half of 2021.
“We are set up for an effective financing of the transaction,” Polk said during Synnex’s second fiscal quarter 2021 quarterly analyst conference call. “Our proxy has been filed, and our shareholder meeting will be held next week. And, from a regulatory standpoint, we have received clearance from a number of governmental authorities, and expect the rest to process though normal course. As would be expected, the COVID pandemic has led to a few delays in some countries.”
Synnex and Tech Data executives were unavailable to provide further information. However, a Synnex spokesperson told CRN via email that Synnex obtained shareholder approval for the merger agreement, and that the transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year, the spokesperson wrote.
Polk, in a prepared statement, said, “We would like to thank our shareholders for their full support of this merger. We look forward to completing the remaining steps to close this transaction.”