AVI-SLP improves its offer in AV services and collaboration with the purchase of Sharp's Audio Visual

The North American audio and video systems integrator is closer to achieving its goal of becoming a billion-dollar company with the acquisition of one of Canada's largest AV integration and unified communications and collaboration systems firms..

John Zettel, CEO of AVI-SPL, provider of managed video and audio services for meeting rooms and integration of cloud collaboration technologies in enterprise environments, has indicated in a statement that “the objective of the acquisition of Sharp’s Audio Visual is to substantially increase our local presence and resources in Canada to offer the best services and responsiveness to our clients, while improving our global delivery capabilities. The Sharp team brings a wealth of experience and talent to our team, as well as profitability”.

The acquisition of Sharp's Audio Visual, based in Calgary, in the Canadian province of Alberta, and with eight locations in six provinces of Canada, makes AVI-SPL the first national provider of AV solutions and collaboration technology in that country.

Pair Jeff Faber, president and CEO of Sharp's, “We look forward to taking advantage of this exceptional opportunity to enhance our local offering and provide a truly global solution to our multinational clients based in Canada”, as explained in the statement.

After the merger announcement, Both companies have explained that current Sharp's Audio Visual customers will receive support 24/7 Global Help Desk and new remote monitoring and administration capabilities through AVI-SPL's Unify ME Symphony platform to proactively evaluate the performance and operations of your collaborative environments around the world.

The purchase of Sharp's is the latest in a series of active expansion moves by AVI-SPL, such as the acquisitions of video production companies VideoLink and Anderson AV, as well as the opening of an office in Frankfurt (Germany) and the association with an Asian company in this sector.

This announcement came just hours after Diversified, the second largest integration firm in the industry, announced the acquisition of MCW.