Local reaction
Around Pinellas, initial reaction to the news was guarded, but hopeful.
Largo Mayor Woody Brown said the city has had a good relationship with Tech Data over the years. Its naturally a little concerning when an out-of-state firm buys a large local company, he said, but having the headquarters isnt as important as hanging on to the well-paying jobs.
Often when this happens the jobs stay in the local area, he said. We hope thats the case.
Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos first reaction: I wish I had Tech Data stock.
He was cautiously optimistic that the company would remain a big player in Tampa Bays business and philanthropic communities. He described Tech Data as
one of the founding partners of the local technology industry, which helped spawn a lot of smaller start-ups in the area.
The Tampa Bay area needs more companies like Tech Data, he said.
Pinellas County Economic Development Director Mike Meidel said it hurts to lose the bragging rights to a Fortune 500 company. On the upside, Apollo Global
Management appears eager to invest in Tech Data.
(Apollo) hasnt made any indication that they are planning to take it to another city,
Meidel said. They like the location. They like the leadership. They like the direction of the company. Thats why theyre investing in it. From that standpoint, I think itll be positive.
An Apollo executive said the buyer is committed to expanding Tech Datas position as a trusted partner to the worlds leading technology
vendors while providing best-in-class customer service.
Tech
Data will have significant financial and strategic flexibility to drive growth going forward, Matt Nord, co-lead partner of Apollo Private Equity, said in a statement released through Tech Data.
To Raymund, the prospect of downsizing at Tech Data headquarters after the sale does not seem to be an obvious lever for them to pull right now.
Thats because he said Tech Data already did some painful work after buying Avnets 5,000-person
Technology Solutions group for $2.6 billion in 2017.
That started when I was there and kind of set the stage ultimately for this
acquisition, Raymund said. Through that integration, which was effectively a merger between two very big companies, there was a lot of restructuring done and some layoffs on both sides
towards the company streamlining their
operations and getting them right. So I think a lot of that heavy lifting really has already been done.
A vision fulfilled
Tech Datas board of directors has voted unanimously to approve the proposed deal and recommended that shareholders do the same.
Meanwhile, Tech Data said the sales agreement allows it to entertain other offers until Dec. 9. But, the company said, there is no guarantee this process will
produce a better deal.
Tech Datas stock trading at $131 a share Wednesday, up 41⁄2 percent.
Tech Data founder Edward Raymund, who died in 2008, probably would have been elated, his son said.
He always did have a vision of this becoming a big company, Steven Raymund said. What do they say? From small acorns mighty oaks grow,
and this is a perfect example. We were around at the time the acorn was planted, so its pretty exciting to see all of this come to fruition.