Brightpoint becomes top European distributor with Dangaard buy

American and European wireless distribution and logistics companies Brightpoint and Dangaard Telecom today announced plans to merge their operations, creating a distribution giant spanning the Atlantic Ocean.

Their combined operations will make the company the largest handset and device distributor in the U.S. and Europe. In 2007 the companies saw an aggregate 64 million devices pass through their distribution centers. Brightpoint will act as the acquiring entity, issuing 30 million new shares of Brightpoint stock in exchange for all common stock in Dangaard Holdings. Based on Friday’s closing price the deal will be worth $309 million. In addition Brightpoint will pay Dangaard $100,000 in cash and assume Dangaard’s debt.

Brightpoint already has a European presence, one that is profitable, said Bob Laikin, CEO of Brightpoint, but its operations did poorly in many European markets, causing it to withdraw from many countries. And where it still has operations in a country it is often for a specific segment of the market such as accessories or smartphones. Brightpoint wasn’t running the end-to-end product portfolio in any of its European markets that it does in the U.S., Laikin said.

“We ended up with a hodgepodge in Europe,” Laikin said. “We had to either build or buy in Europe, and we realized that building would have taken 10 years. … This opportunity with Dangaard, though, puts us into 10 additional countries overnight.”

Though Brightpoint will act as the acquirer in this deal, Laikin said operationally it will function like a merger since each company is focused specifically on their geographical areas. Laikin will remain CEO of the combined companies, but many of the Dangaard executives will remain to run their respective business units in Europe. Brightpoint said they expect the deal to close in July.

Brightpoint has been on a growth spurt in recent months, increasing its market share through acquisition and expanding into new markets. In December, Brightpoint bought North American competitor Cellstar and it has been expanding into India and the Pacific Rim. Laikin said that the deal will allow Brightpoint to focus many of its new efforts outside of Europe particularly in China where it currently has no presence.