Synnex and Tech Data have completed their $7.2 billion merger to form TD Synnex.

The merged entity creates a mega-distributor with more than 150,000 customers in more than 100 countries. It will make around $57 billion in annual revenue.

TD Synnex claims customers and vendors will have “unparalleled access to a global distribution platform.” It described “best-in-class product offerings in some of the largest and most profitable product segments.”

The new company said it can “accelerate technology adoption, diversify revenue streams, create cross-selling opportunities and bring to market comprehensive everything as-a-service offerings.”

The firm will be led by Rich Hume as CEO. Dennis Polk, formerly CEO of Synnex, will be executive chair of the TD Synnex board of directors.

TD Synnex’s Rich Hume

Hume said the company is “uniquely positioned in today’s relentlessly transforming technology ecosystem.”

He described TD Synnex as “a versatile distributor and solutions aggregator for the IT ecosystem.” Also, Hume says, this strengthens its portfolio of solutions and it is “raising the bar on the value we deliver to customers and vendors.”

He also cited its “exceptional reach, efficiency and expertise.”

Polk said the firm was pleased to complete the merger; it will now focus on integrating the businesses.

“We are energized by the enhanced breadth and depth of our offerings and the opportunities ahead of us to deliver superior value to our stakeholders,” he said.

Value in Distribution Scale and Reach

Synnex shareholders approved the deal in July. The new company then received the required regulatory approvals on Friday.

Under the terms of the agreement, Apollo Funds received an aggregate 44 million shares of common stock. It also got net $1.1 billion in cash after giving effect to a $500 million equity contribution by Apollo and the refinancing of Tech Data net debt. It now owns approximately 45% of the new company.

Tech Data was previously owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, and their co-investors.

Robin Ody, senior analyst at Canalys, recently spoke with Channel Futures about the impact of private equity investment in tech. He noted that Apollo’s acquisition of Synnex “makes sense, because that’s a huge amount of market share it gets from that merger. The ultimate value right now in distribution is in scale and reach, and it does create a massive reach over Ingram Micro.”

Canalys’ Robin Ody

He added that for Apollo, there is a need to generate huge returns over time.

“The best way to do that in distribution is to be one of the two biggest distributors in the world,” said Ody.

He did say, however, that the merger actually helps Ingram Micro. That’s “because there are no longer two other people to fight, just one.”

‘Positive Impact on the World’

Hume also said TD Synnex aimed to be “a good corporate citizen and the employer of choice in the global IT industry.”

He noted an “important responsibility to have a positive impact on the world. Our focus on corporate social responsibility embodies our commitment to make the world a better place, both today and into the future.”

HPE-Zerto

Synnex and Tech Data weren’t the only tech giants to wrap a merger today. HPE said it completed its acquisition of Zerto, the cloud data management and protection provider. As we told you when the companies first announced the deal, the $374 million acquisition puts the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform in the data protection market. It also propels HPE’s storage business into a cloud-native, software-defined data services business.