Toronto-based Converge has paid £39.2 million for UK edtech Stone Group.
The PC builder, reseller and ITAD has been owned since 2019 by private equity house Souter Investments which has decided that now is the time to off-load it.
Toronto-based Converge is paying £39.2 milion for an 89 percent stake in Stone, which specialises in supplying hardware and IT services to the UK education and public sectors. Management will hang on to the remaining 11 percent.
Stone, XMA and Softcat are among the companies to be awarded spots on an NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) framework.
The Link 3 framework is for the procurement of IT hardware and services and will run for four years. It replaces the Link 2 framework, which expires from 12 March 2021.
Other suppliers on the framework include Ricoh, CDW, SCC and Insight. Stone is listed in five of the six Lots and was previously on the Link 2 framework.
The framework is split into six Lots: Desktop PCs, laptop, tablets, specialist healthcare technology, printing and scanning hardware and a “one-stop-shop” the latter of which is a list of suppliers who can provide two or more of the items together that are covered in the other five Lots.
Stone Group has acquired gaming specialist DinoPC.
For those not in the know, DinoPC is an 11-year-old Intel Partner which flogs components and builds PCs under its brand.
Stone CEO Simon Harbridge said the acquisition would take Stone into the gaming and entertainment biz.
“The gaming sector and e-sports market is a successful and growing part of the UK economy, and a natural area in which our configure-to-order capabilities can provide a level of service consumers are looking for,” he said.
DinoPC turned over £3.5m in its financial year ending 30 April 2017 and will be used as a basis for Stone’s gaming division.
DinoPC founder Vladimir Kuzenetsov will run the new unit.
He said: “I have always been aware of Stone’s strong reputation and capability as an IT solutions provider and manufacturer of devices, which is why I am thrilled that DinoPC is becoming part of the business, and I look forward to my new role.”
Public and private sector ICT service outfit Stone Group has been selected by HP as one of three resellers on the National Desktop and Notebook Agreement (NDNA) framework for higher education (HE), across all three available lots.
Stone can now provide HP branded hardware across the framework, including:
Public Health England (PHE) has signed up the Stone Group to supply 6,200 Toshiba and Lenovo devices.
The deal was done through the Technology Products 2 framework – it will see the agency migrate its 5,500 staff to Windows 10 devices ahead of the January 2020 end-of-support date for its current Windows 7 devices.
Technology Products 2 is set to expire this October. Its organiser, Crown Commercial Service, is running a series of workshops this month as it consults on its successor Technology Products 3 framework.
Simon Pettit, corporate director at Stone Group, said: “As one of the only UK-based IT solutions providers for the public sector with its manufacturing facility on site, Stone has proven experience in delivering large-scale device rollouts that are ready to go straight out of the box on delivery.
“This means we are well placed to help PHE transition to the new Windows 10 devices seamlessly. For PHE, this was a real game changer, and eased their decision to choose Stone as their preferred supplier.”
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