Climb CEO sets sights on further M&A across Europe

Climb Global Solutions has already used an acquisition this year to expand its foothold across Europe, and in a catch-up with the distributor’s CEO, it is clear that will not be the end of activity in 2026.

Dale Foster, CEO of Climb, shared his thoughts around M&A, the ambitions for 2026 and why there continues to be growth – even in established markets – for a specialist with the ability to identify and introduce disruptive technologies.

Back in February, Climb added Interworks.cloud, a value-added distributor operating in South-Eastern Europe in a deal worth €8m, and Foster is back from recently visiting the business and liaising with its leadership team.

“I spent half the week in Greece, and then the other half of the week in potential acquisition companies throughout Europe,” he said, making it clear that discussions are advancing on the M&A front.

“There’s a lot of good targets, a lot of good companies. It’s got to be a cultural fit for me, first and foremost, because we don’t have IP, we are relationship based – just like the targets we have are relationship based,” he added. “We got one acquisition done this year. I’m looking at two to three more.”

He said deals take time, usually at least a quarter to finalise, and involved getting to know the owners and gaining a sense of whether they would be a cultural fit with Climb. Underlining the determination to continue growing the business is a confidence in the role that specialised distribution continues to play across the industry.

“If you’re a software application security agent...you want to get to market faster, and you want to get more eyeballs on your product. The channel – including distribution, MSP, VARs, DMRs, whatever they call themselves – it’s still the cheapest, fastest way to get there, and it’s shown true to companies that have chosen that route,” said Foster.

It is difficult to have a conversation now without mentioning AI, and for Climb it has an impact both internally and as a technology that can be sold and supported. The company is focusing on using AI internally to make life easier for staff and customers, with the external opportunities the tech can bring coming later.

“We will use AI in 2026 more than we’ll sell it. We are using it in our ERP and our marketing all the way through,” said Foster, adding that Climb has established a software development team that was tasked with using the technology to increase efficiency. “That’s what we expect as a channel. The same thing rings true with our vendors. They’re using AI and making their products better. They’re being able to put out code faster.”

Foster added that the pressure was increasing because bad actors were also using the technology to facilitate more sophisticated attacks. Those attacks continue to drive customer spending as firms look to protect data and keep on the right side of compliance regulations, but growth must be earned, even in a buoyant security market.

Around 80% of the software that Climb delivers relates to security, and the business strategy is to identify and bring emerging technologies to market to address the latest threats.

“We personally interviewed or talked to [many people], and we [onboarded around] 400 vendors last year. It’ll be more than that this year,” said Foster. “I don’t see it slowing down at all. The market is expanding in a good way.”

The UK continues to be a primary market for Climb, with Foster keen to praise the team running the business here and driving the numbers in the right direction.

“That’s my biggest team. We have more than 100 team members down in Devon,” he added “The UK is very important to us. If you look at the other GDP countries, both Germany and France, that’s where my focus is on acquisition. Before we acquire, we still have people on the ground there to get a sense of who we should look at. And we’re already selling for the vendors we have.”

Foster remains optimistic about the prospects for the rest of this year, claiming that the company’s portfolio is one of its key strengths: “If I was limited to a line card that was 10 brands, and that’s all I could do, [it would be no good]. I have so many different brands, [I can think] ‘If customers don’t want this, what about this?’. There’s always going to be gaps for us to fill. I see the positive of that.”