OREANDA-NEWS.  August 12, 2014. MERLION, Russia's largest Genius Micro Traveler 9000R Hello KittyIT distributor, and DNA SCS, a leading distributor of SCS solutions for commercial buildings and data centers (www.dnascs.ru), announced the merger.

The agreement is part of the strategy that MERLION has been following for the last three years, the development of VAD (Value Add Distribution) and gaining the lead in this segment of the IT market.

The deal helps MERLION to strengthen significantly its competence in passive networking equipment and, in particular, SCS solutions. As part of the merger, the company added products of the top five manufacturers to its portfolio: Panduit, Belden, Conteg, Brand-Rex and Tecnosteel (formal agreements have been already signed). A strong team of professionals that worked with these vendors in DNA SCS will now be fully integrated into MERLION’s VAD Division. The professionals will continue to develop these manufacturers’ business in Russia, now on MERLION’s behalf.

According to DNA SCS team, "Through this partnership, MERLION will be able to significantly increase its competitive edge in projects to supply technical infrastructure solutions for data centers and cabling systems for commercial and corporate buildings, in the first place, due to more complete offers and supply comprehensiveness. The company has an opportunity to enter a completely new support level for partners and projects."

"Currently, MERLION supplies probably the most comprehensive range of SCS solutions in Russia and the CIS for any segment of the system integration market, from simple and cost-efficient solutions to the most complex and expensive data center equipment", emphasizes Anton Lukyanov, MERLION’s Deputy Director for VAD. "VAD in MERLION’s business is a strategic corporate vector. Recently, it made a real breakthrough. For example, in the first half of 2014, its share in total revenues already exceeds 25%! There is no doubt that MERLION will efficiently pick up the long-term partnership of DNA SCS with leading manufacturers and continue to gain market share rapidly in thisdirection."

MERLION as a distributor has over 9,000 partners who can now take advantage of ordering structured cabling systems, electrical equipment, cables, patch cords and patch panels, connectors, cabinets, open racks and related accessories, and more. In addition to SCS equipment, the distributor’s portfolio offers a wide range of solutions for data centers, infrastructure and security systems, including CCTV of recognized leaders HIKVISION, Samsung Techwin, Panasonic and D-LINK. The partners can get all these products in the shortest possible time through an extensive branch network. MERLION’s offices and warehouses operate not only in Moscow but also in Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Khabarovsk.

Partners can also get technical expertise. Experts of MERLION Engineering Center provide full support, including engineering support, at all stages from the solution and specification development to commissioning and audit of the ready solution.

Financial and other aspects of the transaction are not disclosed.