Exclusive Group is combining the operations of two of its most successful sales regions to create a single operational presence in Northern Europe. The new region comprises the whole of the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) and Benelux - Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Those regions currently generate annual revenues of around €350m and will now be headed up by Kris Van Den Bergh. “This move creates a northern European powerhouse that mirrors the operational organisation of our key partners and delivers the necessary critical mass to sustain further growth,” said Julien Antoine, VP of EMEA at Exclusive Group.
“We expect increased operational efficiencies and expanded services coverage to be realised immediately, while vendor and reseller partners are also set to benefit through enhanced penetration into northern European markets,” Antoine said.
Van Den Bergh has been promoted from his previous role as regional director for Benelux. Ben Aelbrecht becomes general manager for Belgium from his previous position as sales director. Assisting the transition is Fredrik Armandt, who is departing the company later this year after nearly a decade of leading the Nordics business.
Van Den Bergh said: “I see great opportunities across the extended region, on both a global and local level, as our services, portfolio and geo-reach continue to expand.”
Exclusive's new private equity investor Permira, which has taken a majority share in the firm, has made available extra funds to the group to scale up its operations and extend its reach into new markets.
Earlier this month, the distributor signed a pan-European deal with new US security vendor JASK after it entered the EMEA market. JASK [or Just Ask] is an artificial intelligence platform which consolidates the data out of the multitude of security solutions an organisation already uses, into one viewing system to enable security professionals to more easily tackle the threats they are alerted to.
