- AVI-SPL has acquired Anderson Audio Visual. Anderson’s regional capabilities will strengthen AVI-SPL’s presence in high growth markets and expand AVI-SPL’s global support and services platform to current and prospective customers.
- Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Anderson has six locations (four in California, one in Texas, and one in North Carolina). Ranked as the industry’s 17th largest revenue generator in 2015, Anderson has earned the trust of some of today’s marquee organizations, including several highly recognized technology companies.
- The merger strengthens AVI-SPL’s resources in regions and markets with strong demand for digital workplace transformation and global standardization and positions the combined company to further meet the needs of its customers.
Per SCN's 2016 Top 50 Systems Integrators ranking, the move combines the first and 17th top integrators, reporting combined estimated revenues for 2016 of $670 million.
“We were targeting growth regions, or growth sectors,” said John Zettel, CEO of AVI-SPL in an interview with SCN. “So obviously the West Coast of the United States, with high-tech companies was a growth area that we wanted to be more deeply penetrated in.
“We started looking at potential companies and quickly zeroed in on Anderson for lots of reasons. They’ve been in the market for a long time, they were in locations that we were really looking for, they had the right size, the right customers. And then we started talking to them and learned what a great culture they had as a company.”
According to Zettel and Shane Parkes, Anderson Audio Visual’s co-founder and CEO, Anderson will be fully absorbed into AVI-SPL.
“This is about growing and expanding the AVI-SPL core group of business,” Parkes said to SCN. “It’s not a question of coming and deciding who stays and who goes. It’s coming together and saying ‘Let’s turn this into an AV powerhouse and grow and build on what we have.’”
Since announcing its new relationship in April 2016, AVI-SPL and private equity firm H.I.G. Capital have expressed their shared desire for AVI-SPL to expand its resources and capabilities to widen its gap as the leading total solutions provider for workspaces around the world. With the welcoming of Anderson to the company, as well as the recent opening of its German office to support organizations throughout Europe, AVI-SPL has taken the initial steps in achieving this strategy.
Zettel said that the company will continue to explore other potential opportunities for expansion, and that it will “very possibly” execute further acquisitions going forward.
