Calence, which is fast becoming one of the nation's largest service providers, agreed on Oct. 16 to acquire the Texas operations of Global Data Systems, a nationwide VAR.

The acquisition increases Calence's presence in the education and public sector spaces and several key Texas markets—Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo, McAllen, San Angelo and San Antonio.

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"By adding the Texas customers and several employees of GDS to the Calence business, we are increasing not only our customer base in the region, but also the depth of our sales, technical operations and business development teams," said Mike Fong, president and CEO of Calence.

The privately owned GDS, based in Lafayette, La., did $53.6 million in sales in 2005, according to Hoover's business information service.

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GDS will continue to operate in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

Calence, in its present form, was created in Nov. 2005 when Calence merged with Avnet spinoff Avnet Enterprise Solutions.

Avnet maintains a significant stake in the company's holdings and management, according to both companies.

The firm, based in Tempe, Ariz., did $300 million in revenue in 2005 and has more than 400 employees in 20 offices coast to coast.

Terms of the Calence-GDS deal were not disclosed. It should be completed this week, the company said in a statement.