Ingram Micro went public on the New York Stock Exchange for the second time in October 2024. It had first listed in 1996, then spent eight years owned by a Chinese conglomerate and a private equity firm. The Irvine, California, company is one of the world's largest tech distributors. It buys laptops, servers, and software in bulk from makers like Apple and Cisco, then sells them to the resellers who supply businesses.

Micro D to Ingram

Geza Csige and Lorraine Mecca started the business in 1979 as Micro D, a distributor of computer products. Ingram Industries, a Nashville family company, bought into it in the 1980s and built Ingram Micro around it. The bet was scale: tech makers did not want to deal with tens of thousands of small resellers, and resellers did not want dozens of suppliers. A distributor sitting in the middle could serve both.

Owners Come and Go

China's HNA Group bought Ingram Micro for about $6 billion in 2016. Platinum Equity bought it in 2021. Platinum then took it public again, pricing at $22 a share on October 23, 2024. Shares began trading on the NYSE as INGM the next day and closed at $24.60, up about 12 percent. Platinum kept a majority stake, and Ingram Micro still trades on the NYSE as INGM.

Cover: The Ordnance Wharf, Balaklava, Roger Fenton. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a supply wharf stacked with goods (distribution).