Westcon Group Closes Acquisition of Crane, UK-Based Distributor of Voice, Data and Converged Communications Solutions

Westcon Group, Inc, a multi-national distributor of networking,
security, mobility and convergence solutions, announced that its
parent company, Datatec Limited, has completed its previously
announced acquisition of Crane Telecommunications Group Limited, a
leading value added distributor for voice, data and converged
communications solutions in the UK and Ireland, The Netherlands,
Belgium and France.

Now that the acquisition is closed, Westcon Group adds
considerable strength to its European convergence practice through
enhanced relationships with Avaya, Nortel, Alcatel and Mitel, while
gaining new vendor relationships with companies including Samsung and
BT Network Services. Crane is well known for its consultative approach
and excellence in training--its customer base includes over 250
resellers focused on convergence and mobility.

The closing of this acquisition directly follows Westcon Group's
closing of the acquisition of NOXS, the leading European security
distributor. Now that these acquisitions are closed, Westcon plans to
leverage its financial strength and scale of operations in Europe to
bring new opportunities in convergence, security and mobility to both
new and existing customers, while broadening and strengthening its
European vendor relationships.

Barry Shakespeare, executive vice president of Westcon Europe,
commented: "When evaluating a company for a potential acquisition, two
of the key considerations are the company's management philosophy and
their customer orientation. Crane has developed an incredibly loyal
customer base built squarely on relationships. This approach is very
much like our own in both the solutions approach and technology
focus."

About Westcon Group

Westcon Group, Inc. is a multi-national specialty distributor of
networking, security and communications equipment for leading
technology vendors, including Cisco Systems, Inc., Nortel Networks
Corporation and Avaya, Inc. Through its Westcon and Comstor divisions,
Westcon Group sells products and services to resellers, systems
integrators and service providers. Westcon Group has particular
expertise in the convergence of voice, data and video applications and
technologies, including voice-over Internet protocol, or VoIP,
security for networking and communications systems, remote access,
Internet and e-business, virtual private networks, videoconferencing
and wireless connectivity. For more information, visit
www.westcongroup.com.