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ScanSource
ScanSource was founded in 1992 by Mike Baur and a group of partners in Greenville, South Carolina, to serve as a wholesale distributor focused exclusively...
ScanSource
ScanSource was founded in 1992 by Mike Baur and a group of partners in Greenville, South Carolina, to serve as a wholesale distributor focused exclusively on automatic identification and point-of-sale technologies. The company went public in 1994 and has since expanded its logistics capabilities across two primary operating segments: Worldwide Barcode, Networking & Security, and Worldwide Communications & Services. Baur has led the firm through decades of consolidation in the IT channel, maintaining a model that never competes with its reseller customers. The company's strategy centers on aggregating demand from thousands of resellers and supplying them with hardware from major manufacturers including Cisco, Zebra Technologies, and Honeywell. Unlike broadline distributors, ScanSource bundles hardware with configuration, customized logistics, and pre-sales engineering support for channel partners deploying enterprise networking, unified communications, and data capture solutions. The firm does not make direct enterprise investments or manage third-party capital; its deployment consists of working capital and operational infrastructure across distribution centers in North America, Brazil, and Europe. ScanSource operates multiple distribution centers and sales offices, with its international footprint concentrated in the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. In September 2023, the company sold its Intelisys business unit to focus more strictly on hardware distribution and associated services. The firm's primary adjacent vehicle is its charity arm, ScanSource Charitable Foundation, which directs corporate giving toward education and community development in the South Carolina Upstate region. What separates ScanSource from aggregator-plagued technology distributors is its channel specialization. The company supplies only value-added resellers — never direct end users — creating a structural alignment where ScanSource's engineering and financing teams optimize deployment for partners rather than competing against them. This pure channel posture has allowed the firm to secure exclusive distribution agreements in niche hardware categories, though its public-company status exposes its logistics margins to component cycle risk in a way private competitors can more readily absorb.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1992
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Greenville
Corporate office
Greenville, SC, United States
Principals
Mike Baur
Chairman and CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at ScanSource?
ScanSource is not structured as an investment firm; it is an operating technology distributor. Capital allocation decisions — acquisitions, divestitures, and logistics infrastructure investments — are led by Chairman and CEO Mike Baur alongside the company's board of directors. There is no separate CIO or investment committee managing external capital, as the firm deploys corporate balance-sheet resources exclusively into its distribution operations.
Is ScanSource a family office or a venture firm?
ScanSource is neither a family office nor a venture firm. It is a publicly traded technology wholesaler listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker SCSC. The firm generates revenue through hardware sales and logistics services to reseller partners, not through investment management or capital deployment into portfolio companies.
How does ScanSource source its hardware supply chain?
ScanSource sources hardware through direct distribution agreements with major technology manufacturers, including Cisco, Zebra Technologies, and Honeywell. The company maintains dedicated supplier relationships that grant it access to specialty product lines, which it then bundles with pre-sales engineering, configuration, and financing for thousands of reseller partners across North and South America and Europe.
How is ScanSource structured internationally?
ScanSource operates distribution centers and sales offices in the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. Its international business is segmented into Worldwide Barcode, Networking & Security and Worldwide Communications & Services, with the Brazilian market served through a dedicated subsidiary established in the early 2010s.
Does ScanSource maintain any philanthropic structures?
Yes, ScanSource operates the ScanSource Charitable Foundation, a corporate giving vehicle that funds education and community development initiatives, primarily in the Greenville, South Carolina area where the company is headquartered. The foundation's activities are legally separated from the commercial distribution business but draw funding directly from corporate profits.
Why did ScanSource sell its Intelisys unit in 2023?
Per the firm's official communications in September 2023, ScanSource divested its Intelisys business — a technology services distributor — to sharpen strategic focus on its core hardware distribution and associated services. The sale represented a deliberate narrowing of the company's scope toward its original specialty in physical technology products and logistics.
Does ScanSource invest in startups or technology companies?
ScanSource does not operate a venture capital arm or make minority investments in technology startups. Its capital deployment is limited to working capital for inventory, acquisitions of complementary distribution businesses, and infrastructure spending on its logistics network. Previous acquisitions have been integrated operating companies rather than passive investments.
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