Softcat agrees to buy GDT, building a transatlantic IT services platform

Softcat agrees to buy GDT, building a transatlantic IT services platform

17 September 2026 — Softcat, the publicly traded UK IT infrastructure and services reseller, said on 17 September 2026 that it has agreed to buy GDT (General Datatech, LP), a Dallas-based IT solutions and data-centre services provider, from the private equity firm H.I.G. Capital. Both companies' own announcements disclose the deal's enterprise value: approximately $1,050 million, or £785 million.

What's changing

• Softcat is financing the purchase with about £100 million from existing cash, £550 million in new debt facilities, and roughly £350 million raised through a UK equity placing, according to its own company announcement.
• GDT continues operating from its Dallas base inside the combined group. Both companies describe the deal as adding US data-centre and infrastructure services capacity to Softcat's UK and European business, and giving GDT access to Softcat's wider customer channel.
• The deal needs regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027 — it has not closed yet, and both companies continue operating separately in the meantime.

Why it matters if you buy from either company

• If GDT or Softcat is already on your supplier list, expect the account team, contracting entity and support processes to change once the deal closes, even where day-to-day service is not expected to change immediately.
• A buyer comparing transatlantic IT service providers now has one consolidated option where there were two separate regional ones — worth revisiting a shortlist built on the assumption they were separate businesses.
• Ask either company directly for a timeline on when accounts, pricing or contracts might move; neither company's own announcement gives one beyond the expected closing quarter.
• Both companies describe the strategic goal as the same thing from opposite sides: Softcat gets a US data-centre and infrastructure services business it did not have at scale, and GDT gets a channel into Softcat's larger UK and European customer base. Neither company has said whether the two brands will merge into one name or continue to operate separately after close, so a customer relying on either name for contracts should ask directly rather than assume.
• The £350 million UK equity placing that partly funds the deal means existing Softcat shareholders are being diluted to pay for the purchase, which is disclosed in the company's own announcement alongside the debt and cash components.

Sources

• GDT's own newsroom: GDT to be Acquired by Softcat — 17 September 2026
• Softcat's own RNS company announcement (Investegate) — 17 September 2026
• Telecom Reseller: Softcat Expands U.S. Presence With GDT Acquisition — 17 September 2026
• RTTNews: H.I.G. Capital's Subsidiary To Sell General Datatech To Softcat Affiliate For $1.05 Bln — 17 September 2026