Avnet announced Tuesday that the company has acquired Bell Microproducts (Bell Micro) in an all cash merger for $7 a share. This amounts to a, equity value of $252 million and a transaction value of about $631 million.

This acquisition was approved by Bell Micro shareholders, and has received all required regulatory approvals.

“The acquisition of Bell Micro marks an inflection point in Avnet’s history as the clear leader in value-added technology distribution,” said Roy Vallee, Avnet’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Bell Micro is the largest acquisition in Avnet’s history on a revenue basis, and substantially improves our global scale and scope competitiveness.”

Vallee went on to comment that the acquisition would strengthen Avnet’s presence in the America and Europe, as well as expand its presence in the Latin American market.

Bell Micro had sales of about $3 billion in the 2009 calendar year, and has more than 1,900 employees in 55 offices. The company operates a distribution and single tier reseller business, and has a portfolio of storage, computing, software and networking products.

“Bell Micro’s relationships with key hardware, software and services suppliers, further develops Avnet’s product portfolio and technical expertise,” said Rick Hamada, Avnet’s president and chief operating office. “Additionally, Bell Micro enhances our value added solutions for the data center and enables us to consolidate our presence in the embedded market, adding to our critical mass and momentum as a leader in embedded technology.”

For more information visit www.avnet.com.