Is Ingram Micro up for sale again?

Ingram Micro is apparently going under a new ownership. If reports are to be believed, parent company, HNA Group is in preliminary talks to sell the world’s largest technology distributor.

Following increased media speculation, HNA Technology, a listed arm of the Chinese conglomerate, confirmed discussions were underway with an interested party, in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange.

“Due to changes in market conditions and the company’s strategy, the company is in talks with a concerned party on selling Ingram Micro,” the company stated in the exchange filing.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the interested party is private equity firm Apollo Global management LLC, and the rumoured price would be USD 7.5 billion.

Ingram Micro came under the control of HNA Group in December 2016, following the completion of a US$6 billion acquisition which was first announced in February that same year. In September of 2018, HNA Technology claimed to hold US$3.55 billion of outstanding debt from the purchase of Ingram Micro, of which US$350 million was due for payment this year.

If the buyout goes through, the deal would continue the trend of increased M&A activity among distributors both globally and locally, the list of which includes Tech Data and Avnet; Synnex and Westcon-Comstor and Arrow Electronics and Distribution Central.