A Marriage Made in Heaven? Partners React to Telarus Buying TCG
"This was an initial shock. Although I've always said, 'Never say never,'" one partner said.
![Wedding rings in clouds Wedding rings in clouds](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blta90cbb855cff6e45/65242445b09e4b7b33576243/Wedding-Rings-in-Clouds.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
MOReCOMM’s Jay Morris said that although the acquisition surprised many in the channel, it could tap into clear synergies between the two companies.
“I look at this like ‘a little bit of country and a little bit of rock and roll.’ We all scratched our heads a bit when Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani got together, but it turned out to be a marriage made in heaven,” Morris told Channel Futures.
He pointed to the geographical fit between Florida-based TCG and Utah-based Telarus.
“TCG has a strong East/Southeast presence. However, the West Coast has always been a tough nut for them to crack, while Telarus is extremely strong in the West,” he said.
Ashley Rowland runs technology advisory firm Adaptiv Advisors, which sells through both TCG and Telarus.
“I like seeing two of my favorite TSBs join forces because they are two of the best at earning my business through human support and enablement tools,” she told Channel Futures. “The better the TSBs get at enabling their agent/partners, the more partners sell and the stronger the channel becomes.”
Rob DeVita is the CEO of Mejeticks.
“This is a good revenue play for Telarus and delivers them a big commodity transactional base from TCG (LEC and MSO). It also gives them a much stronger presence in the Southeast,” DeVita told Channel Futures.
“This provides TCG agents with a greater breadth of expertise to try and crack more strategic enterprise deals that Telarus can bring to the table. I am surprised it wasn’t Avant, but coupling this with the PlanetOne acquisition would have been difficult.”
Although Morris sold exclusively through TCG, Telarus made it to the top of his shortlist when he was picking a distribution partner. And that’s due to the tools Telarus offers.
“If I had joined them, it would have been to ensure that I had the additional technology Telarus brings to the plate in my back pocket. This was an area that TCG hadn’t buttoned down yet,” he said.
Rowland, who also founded partner education platform Recurring Raise, pointed to a binary that is occuring in the channel.
“The number of vendors or suppliers is exploding while the number of TSBs are shrinking,” she told Channel Futures.
That contrast comes with implications for customer-facing partners.
“The M&A obviously creates fewer TSB choices for agents/partners, but the positive is that it makes the TSB role more clear. I think TSBs are getting better at what they do and better at enabling partners. It makes it easier for agents/partners to choose a TSB and utilize them and all of their value to grow their businesses. With fewer, really efficient TSBs with tons of resources, I see more agents empowered to go out on their own versus work for another agent and give up a cut for support that they can get directly from the TSB.”
Kate Jaffe works as business development consultant for Helm Partners. Helm acquired her company, Convergent Technologies (CTI), last year.
She spoke positively of the Telarus-TCG deal.
“It’s an exciting time in this industry! It validates the importance of the channel space, and there will be more to come. I predict some smaller and midsize players will join forces,” Jaffe said.
Dan Pirigyi said in an interview with Channel Futures that all TCG employees will transition to a role at Telarus.
Morris said he hopes all TCG personnel will be retained in the long run.
“While I’m hopeful most if not all of the TCG team will remain intact, and I’m sure it will for a while, we all know the long-term outcome of M&A,” Morris said. “I’m not as close to the people at Telarus as I am to all of the TCG family, but I’m optimistic for the combined companies.”
Randy Jeter is chief strategy officer for ARG. The firm last year landed Telarus’ largest UCaaS deal.
“Great win for the industry and for Telarus,” Jeter wrote on LinkedIn. “Nice to see two great companies coming together to build something bigger.”
Morris, who also is channel chief of MSP Keystone Solutions, said he anticipates that the TCG supplier partner will make a painless transition into the Telarus portfolio.
“From a TCG supplier perspective, this is great news, as it doubles our prospective channel partner base,” he said.
Morris, who also is channel chief of MSP Keystone Solutions, said he anticipates that the TCG supplier partner will make a painless transition into the Telarus portfolio.
“From a TCG supplier perspective, this is great news, as it doubles our prospective channel partner base,” he said.
Telarus‘ acquisition of fellow tech solutions brokerage TCG has the channel talking.
The firms on Tuesday unveiled their merger agreement. The acquisition brings TCG managing partner Dan Pirigyi and his team under Telarus, which is scaling thanks in part to a Columbia Capital investment.
Pirigyi touted synergies between the two companies.
Telarus’ Dan Pirigyi
“When you look at culture, supplier portfolios and our respective partner support structures, it is clear just how complementary our companies are,” said Pirigyi, now Telarus’ senior vice president of strategic partners.
Telarus chief revenue officer Dan Foster said the acquisition of TCG adds more than a dozen more partner development managers. They’ll work in the field on an “increasingly local basis.”
Telarus’ Dan Foster
“With our combined back-office staff of industry veterans, patented software tools and sales engineers, we will continue to raise the bar of delivering white-glove, personalized service that advisers have come to expect,” Foster said.
The news came as a surprise to many channel partners; however, It has also come with largely positive feedback. Many partners told Channel Futures they were surprised to hear that TCG agreed to a deal. Executives from TCG, as well as those from companies like TBI, have at times used their independence from private equity funding as a value proposition.
“For someone who has bled TCG green for many, many years, this was an initial shock — although, as I’ve said, ‘Never say never,'” MOReCOMM Solutions president Jay Morris said. “Although I didn’t see this coming from a mile away, we’ve all thought there was going to be continued consolidation.”
Scroll through the images above to see reactions from different partners.
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