The acquisition of IT brokerage Wyse Leasing
by the UK arm of CHG-Meridian last month has changed the tone of
the M&A market, representing the first instance in a long while
of a finance provider strategically purchasing a channel to
market.

Talking to Tricia Bolton, who heads the
British operations of the independent German IT lessor, it becomes
clear that this was no opportunistic pick-up of a cheap book, but a
calculated move into the UK SME sector, predicated by a desire to
absorb elements of Wyse’s sales strategy.

A principal reason for the purchase was that
CHG, which specialises in lease finance and asset management
offerings for large corporate and public sector clients, wanted to
enhance the channel partnerships part of its business. The
acquisition of the brokerage gave CHG a transaction-based sales
model that could approach a high volume of SME level deals without
sacrificing due diligence or drawing resources away from large
scale corporate and public sector work.

Against this background, it is not surprising
that CHG, which has 32 members of staff, wants to keep intact
Wyse’s sales operation, led by sales director Wayne Fowkes. It is
understood CHG expects to retain all of Wyse’s 26 staff
members.

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Wyse’s SME customers will also benefit from
the lifecycle management resources available to CHG, a proposition
which Bolton believes is “probably unique in that market”.

Bolton is confident about the future,
believing the Wyse legacy business will help CHG grow new business
by more than the 20 percent it did since this time last year.

Fred Crawley