Montreal-based MXI Security, part of Memory Experts International, has been purchased by Oakdale, Minn.-based Imation in a deal that will an executive says will help expand the MXI brand and offer more opportunities to channel partners.

Prior to making the purchase, Imation was an MXI partner for about a year, with MXI supplying Imation with its secure USB desktop devices and its software management platform. But becoming part of the Imation family will allow it to develop and come to market faster, and offer other perks for the company’s channel partners, according to Jack Sebbag, vice president of sales and marketing for North America at MXI.

“This is a new realm for Imation, Sebbag said. “They realized this is an investment they want to further grow their business.”

Under the deal, MXI will continue to be run separately, with Sebbag still running North American operations out of Montreal. But what will change will be the kinds of resources MXI can put towards R&D, marketing and sales efforts. Sebbag said that Imation has committed to doubling MXI’s research and development activity in Ottawa, and to adding more marketing and sales resources in Canada and the U.S.

Imation also has a broader channel play than MXI – which went all-channel last year – did, including distribution deals across North America with Ingram Micro and Tech Data, which MXI will be able to use to grow its business in the channel.

“[Channel partners] will see more products coming out quicker because we’ll have more investment available,” Sebbag said. “Expect to see a better set of programs and market development resources, as well as MDF to put on all kinds of activities. These are all things I would have liked to have done more in the past.”

Imation’s mantra is “store, protect, connect,” and MXI’s technology will fit into that second category. Sebbag said he expects MXI to take advantage of Imation’s overarching channel program, but it’s still being selective about who its channel partners are. In the early days, it will be all about integration – getting MXI partners educated and enabled across more of the Imation family of products, while also searching through Imation’s broader base of partners to find solution providers that make sense for Imation.

Beyond that, Sebbag said that MXI remains “absolutely in recruiting mode” when it comes to channel partners, particularly with the new distribution partnerships to use in searching out new partners. “We’ll be looking for a lot of partners to grow the business,” he said.

Financial terms of the MXI purchase were not disclosed, but Imation has been on a bit of an acquisition streak of late. In March, Imation announced another security-focused purchase, gobbling up Encryptx, which also provides encryption and other security for removable storage.