Another VAR500 Acquisition: Managed Services In the Spotlight

For the second time in January 2010, there’s major M&A activity within the VAR500. The latest example involves World Wide Technology snapping up Performance Technology Group. The deal potentially bolsters World Wide Technology’s managed services offering in the government market. Here are some quick details.

World Wide Technology was No. 52 in the 2009 VAR500, generating annual revenues of about $2.6 billion in 2008. WWT says combined revenues with Performance Technology Group will be nearly US$3 billion.

The official announcement is strikingly similar to the Presidio Inc.’s buyout of and Coleman Technologies Inc. Both of those companies also are VAR500 members. The Presidio-Coleman combo will have about US$1.1 billion in combined revenues.

We’re two weeks into 2010, and it seems clear that M&A activity across the high-end integrator market is accelerating — especially as companies target companies that have managed services, data center, hosting, SaaS and virtualization expertise. Systems integrators in the government vertical also seem to be prime targets.

No doubt, more deals are coming. During prep calls for our January 20 MSPmentor Live webcast, one of the guest MSP speakers mentioned that he’s in the market to make potential acquisitions this year. I hope to cull more details about the strategy during the webcast.

At the same time, I’m hearing from some MSPs that are sizing up potential Angel Investor relationships, or retaining advisors to assist with potential M&A activity. And one of MSPmentor’s widest-read stories from December 2009 involved Gerard Kane’s investment group acquiring MSP Services Network.

In some ways it seems like there’s no middle ground in the MSP market: While some VARs and MSPs struggle to line up basic financing and lines of credit, others are sitting down to discuss merges, acquisitions and strategic investments.