Big Channel M&A Update: 8x8, CDW, ConnectWise, Ingram Micro, More
A global cloud service provider and a boutique IT services and support firm were among those acquired.
January 14, 2022
XCaaS (experience communications as a service) is shaping the future of cloud communications and 8×8 sees its potential for growth. So much so that it acquired its rival Fuze for approximately $250 million in stock and cash. 8×8’s acquisition of Fuze will help the UCaaS provider establish itself as an alternative to rivals Microsoft, Zoom and RingCentral.
“The acquisition of Fuze expands our operational scale and extends our global presence as we meet enterprise demand for our XCaaS integrated UCaaS and CCaaS solution,” said Dave Sipes, CEO at 8×8.
To learn more about the deal, read our initial coverage and then expert reaction.
2021 demonstrated that billion-dollar deals are becoming more commonplace in the channel. CDW is no exception. It closed on its purchase of Sirius for a respectable $2.5 billion.
The acquisition may not completely diversify CDW’s portfolio because its gains are primarily in similar vertical markets. Channel Futures reported that another drawback is that offshore presence remains limited for the combined entity. This makes it more difficult to compete with other system integrators on price when competing for high-value deals.
However, others see the transaction differently.
Executives at ConnectWise may be grinning about one of the company’s latest acquisitions. SmileBack, a customer feedback system designed specifically for MSPs, has been purchased by the Tampa-based firm.
“With quantitative and qualitative customer insights, our IT solution provider partners can improve the efficiency of their operations, retain more customers, and go to market more effectively,” said ConnectWise executive vice president Chris Timms. “The immediate visibility into customers’ perceptions is important for recognizing what businesses are doing right and where improvement is needed. The acquisition of SmileBack is a logical and natural evolution of our existing relationship, and we look forward to bringing SmileBack into the ConnectWise Asio Platform to help our partners achieve greater levels of success in their business.”
Some like to keep it in the family.
Take SADA, a Google Cloud premier partner. It acquired ByteWave Digital, also a Google Cloud partner, to expand its business into the APAC market.
Dana Berg is SADA’s COO.
“We’re excited about even more growth and opportunity for both SADA and Google Cloud, and our mutual customers,” he said. “As we continue to transform customers with Google Cloud, we’re always looking to bring even more value to them with more solutions and services to address their data analytics and machine learning (ML) needs, effective management of hybrid/multicloud environments, cloud cost optimization with FinOps, and address their security challenges, plus provide them additional solutions and services via our alliance partners.”
Going into the new year companies may look to shed a few corporate pounds. For Ingram Micro that meant the sale of its Commerce & Lifecycle Services (CLS) to France’s CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest container shipping lines. The deal is valued at $3 billion.
Read on to understand the decision behind the sale.
At $28.3 billion, it’s a behemoth of a deal. Oracle shelled out that amount for Cerner, a provider of digital information systems used within hospitals and health systems. According to Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chairman and CTO, the goal is to transform health care delivery.
“With this acquisition, Oracle’s corporate mission expands to assume the responsibility to provide our overworked medical professionals with a new generation of easier-to-use digital tools that enable access to information via a hands-free voice interface to secure cloud applications,” Ellison said. “This new generation of medical information systems promises to lower the administrative workload burdening our medical professionals, improve patient privacy and outcomes, and lower overall health care costs.”
Read more about Oracle’s projected revenue growth because of the deal.
In its five-decade history, TransUnion has 20 acquisitions to boast. The recent purchase of Neustar for $3.1 billion is another one.
Charlie Gottdiener, president and CEO of Neustar, said this is an exciting milestone for the company.
“The combination of TransUnion’s powerful digital identity assets and Neustar’s distinctive data and identity resolution capabilities presents enormous opportunities ahead,” he said.
Find out which Neustar division was excluded from the transaction.
Africa is becoming more of a hotspot for channel activity. This is the case for cybersecurity firm Exclusive Networks which acquired Networks Unlimited, a major regional value-added distributor serving 38 national markets in Africa with cybersecurity and infrastructure solutions. This is Exclusive Networks’ first presence in sub-Saharan Africa.
Networks Unlimited will operate under the Exclusive Networks brand once integration work has completed which is expected in early 2022. The company will form part of an enlarged Middle East and Africa region.
Networks Unlimited has been a consistent and influential presence in the African IT distribution landscape for over 27 years, with deep partner links and established cybersecurity expertise. Headquartered in South Africa with further operations in Kenya and Mauritius, it transacts with partners throughout a total of 38 African countries including Nigeria and Ghana.
The Sage Group, which provides accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for SMBs, is shelling out $300 million for the remainder of Brightpearl, a cloud-native multichannel retail management system for retailers and wholesalers. Sage isn’t new to Brightpearl, already owning a 17% minority stake in the company.
With operations in the U.S. and the U.K., Brightpearl provides a SaaS-based retail operating system, enabling real-time business insights and helping customers automate workflows to save time and money. The combination of Sage and Brightpearl will integrate financial management, inventory planning, sales order management, purchasing and supplier management, CRM, fulfilment, warehousing and logistics management for retailers and wholesalers.
DCC Technology, known as Exertis, acquired Almo Corp., making it the biggest deal in the history of Irish parent company DCC plc. The company says the move will create the largest specialist Pro AV business in North America, ramping up Exertis’ expansion in the North American market. The company’s expanded North American operation has become a $2.4 billion business.
Get details about the acquisition.
Managed service provider ATSG expanded its portfolio in 2021 by acquiring Optanix, a technology and managed services firm. Optanix provides standardized and automated managed network services for SD-WAN, LAN, and WAN networks. This acquisition should bolster ATSG’s enterprise capabilities in unified communications infrastructure.
Read more about the acquisition to learn how it affects the channel community.
At the end of 2021, there were several last-minute channel acquisitions. Wipro acquired Edgile, a cybersecurity consulting provider, for $230 million. Together, Wipro and Edgile will develop Wipro CyberTransform, an integrated suite that will help enterprises enhance boardroom governance of cybersecurity risk and invest in cyber strategies.
11:11 Systems was another firm able to squeeze in a deal before the holidays. The managed infrastructure solutions provider acquired iland, a global cloud service provider. iland’s cloud services include hosting for infrastructure (IaaS), disaster recovery (DRaaS) and backup as a service (BaaS).
Brian Ussher, iland‘s president and co-founder, said:
“Aligning iland and 11:11 Systems’ visions will address our customers’ need to simplify the management of their infrastructure into the hands of a few trusted vendors, so they can focus on more pressing initiatives like their mission-critical applications, edge computing and artificial intelligence (AI).”
And Brillio entered into one of the last deals of the year by acquiring Cedrus Digital, a digital transformation and cloud consulting firm. The move increases Brillio’s proximity to its strategic relationships in North America.
Read more from Edward Gately.
It’s California dreaming for CloudScale365. The provider of managed IT services bought Vivify Group, a boutique IT services and support firm located in Sacramento. The acquisition expands CloudScale365’s reach into Northern California.
CloudScale365 is a worldwide provider of hosting, network and desktop support, serving 4,000 corporations, nonprofits and government agencies in 21 countries. The company currently has over 200 customers in the North Bay and Sacramento region.
“As we looked to expand into Northern California, we found great synergy between CloudScale365 and Vivify Group,” said Jose Maldonado, vice president of operations for CloudScale365. “Confident in our expertise in cloud architecture and network cohesiveness, CloudScale365 clients of all sizes trust us to manage, secure and support their entire IT ecosystems. We’re excited to partner with Vivify clients to help solve their complex IT challenges.”
More and more U.S. channel companies are expanding their operations south of the border, including Cerberus Cyber Sentinel Corporation. The Arizona-based cybersecurity security firm bought Arkavia Networks SPA, a cybersecurity services provider based in Chile.
“Arkavia is an excellent cultural fit with the Cerberus family of companies,” said David Jemmett, CEO and founder of Cerberus Sentinel. “They bring tremendous cybersecurity experience and a dynamic executive team that will help us execute our growth strategy throughout Latin America which has a strong demand for cybersecurity services.”
Jemmett added that cybersecurity is a global problem, not just a U.S. concern. It requires global capabilities to address customers’ security demands. There are 3.8 million job openings worldwide in cybersecurity, and the resources to combat the bad actors are needed globally.
Health care acquisitions were prominent in December. This was the case for Claroty, which raised $400 million in Series E funding to buy Medigate, a health care IoT security platform provider. Claroty’s CEO, Yaniv Vardi, said the company plans to use a portion of the funding to better “go-to-market efforts” with channel partners.
Understand the deal further here.
Email security providers are going private. That’s what Mimecast did when it accepted a $5.6 billion all-cash offer from private equity firm Permira.
Experts say that vendors withdrawing from the public scrutiny of being traded on the stock market allows them to be able to focus more intensely on product and market development.
Learn why private equity firms are heavily investing in cybersecurity.
Email security providers are going private. That’s what Mimecast did when it accepted a $5.6 billion all-cash offer from private equity firm Permira.
Experts say that vendors withdrawing from the public scrutiny of being traded on the stock market allows them to be able to focus more intensely on product and market development.
Learn why private equity firms are heavily investing in cybersecurity.
M&A news continues to dominate the channel in recent months, and December was no exception. There were some enormous deals, including the much talked about 8×8 acquisition of competitor Fuze. Although that deal was among Channel Futures’ most-read stories, the transaction didn’t have the biggest price tag. At least five of the companies we feature in the slideshow above are deals worth more than $1 billion dollars. And one is valued at close to $30 billion.
However, some channel companies were less about acquisition and more about shedding assets. Ingram Micro sold a division of its company to one of France’s largest companies. The sale is worth billions as well.
Speaking of bllions, CDW closed on its purchase of Sirius, a deal with huge MSP ramifications.
Scroll through the images above to see the latest deals in the channel. Then check out what we thought were the biggest mergers and acquisitions of 2021!
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