Omega acquires Hallmark

The merger would officially begin in Adelaide on 9 April and it’s anticipated that the Melbourne and Darwin branches of Hallmark would be integrated by 30 May, the companies said.

It was expected that ‘very few’ staff retrenchments would be made as a result of the merger, Omega said.

Hallmark boss Edward Ho told CRN that both companies had a relationship that went back as far as 1992.

He said Hallmark needed "economies of scale in order to become competitive and grow in the current market."

"They [Omega] have had a strong business running for the past 10 years," he said, adding that both businesses had similarities as they were involved in PC and server building and the supply of notebook computers. "Our businesses don’t overlap," he said.

Hallmark offered Omega a strong IT importing capability while Omega had good relationships with branded vendors such as LG, Ho said.

Hallmark’s existing Melbourne and Adelaide offices will relocate to Omega’s premises in these cities, Ho said. Hallmark closed its Sydney and Perth branches in July last year.

In Melbourne and Adelaide, Hallmark would continue to trade under its own name but may eventually trade as Omega down the track, Ho said.

Omega has developed a strategy of growth through acquisitions and said it was also considering alliances and relationships with other distributors that currently may be competitors to achieve benefits of combined purchasing.

In a statement, Omega said given there is consolidation in the IT distribution market, high profile vendors will need to make very careful decisions as to who they run with in the future and no doubt would make some poor decisions.

"Further consolidation in IT distribution has long been anticipated and we are of the view the number of players at the end of the day will be very few," Omega said.