Huge Channel M&A: Avaya, Cisco, Check Point, Comcast, Lumen, Microsoft
Vendors and partners both made acquisitions last month.
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Comcast Business captured the channel’s attention with its agreement to acquire Masergy.
Private equity firm Berkshire sold Masergy approximately five years after buying it for around $1 billion. Now Comcast will use Masergy to bolster its SD-WAN/SASE capabilities and reach the enterprise.
Read about the purchase and the partner reaction.
Avaya bolstered its contact center practice with a purchase.
CTIntegrations provides specialized contact center software development and system integration. The company has been working in the Avaya DevConnect partner ecosystem for multiple years and more recently has been an OEM partner.
Avaya’s CEO said the deal will “super-charge” the Avaya OneCloud CCaaS solution.
Learn about the CTIntegrations acquisition.
Lumen sold a large portion of its ILEC business in a move that carries major channel implications.
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management will buy ILEC assets in 20 states. It will combine the Lumen assets with other fiber assets it has bought to make a new company. Three former Verizon executives have signed up to lead “NewCo,” which will serve Midwest and Southeast households and businesses.
Read about how the divestiture will change Lumen.
Illinois-based MSP NetGain Technologies acquired a Florida-based peer.
NetGain bought TruTechnology in its third acquisition of the year. First, the deal gives NetGain a presence in Florida. It also includes TruTechnology’s cloud-based and infrastructure-based IT services practices.
Check out Allison Francis’ story.
Check Point Software is buying Avanan to upgrade its email security game.
Check Point had already been operating in an OEM partnerhip with Avanan, but now Avanan will officially join the Cheeck Point family. It will go into the Check Point Infinity consolidated security architecture.
Read more about Check Point’s strategy.
Extreme Networks purchased Infovista’s SD-WAN business.
On one hand, the deal represents Extreme’s first major investment in SD-WAN, not including its acquisition of Aerohive. Infovista’s Ipanema solution provides a cloud-native approach to SD-WAN.
On the other hand, Infovista is reprioritizing on telco service assurance practice and moving on from a unit it acquired 2015.
See what analyst Zeus Kerravala said about the deal.
Cybersecurity provider NortonLifeLock is buying Avast for more than $8.6 billion.
Although the companies are hailing their alliance as a major force in the consumer security software market, the combined company will also sell to businesses.
Executives say the two sides of the business will cross-sell one another.
Get details on the acquisition.
Asset management software provider Ivanti announced a couple of acquisitions.
First, Ivanti bought risk-based vulnerability management and prioritization provider RiskSense. Product integration has already occurred between both companies.
Then Ivanti bought an industrial IoT platform from WIIO Group. Ivanti, which helps companies manage endpoints, is moving into IoT devices as a result.
Read about the RiskSense purchase.
Sophos is bringing DevOps and cybersecurity closer together with the acquisition of Refractr.
Sophos will integrate advanced Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) features into its Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem.
Refractr automates the “DevSecOps” process to help DevOps and cybersecurity teams work together more collaboratively.
Check out Allison Francis’ story.
Rapidly expanding New York-based agency Upstack bought another technology broker.
Phoenix-based LanYap Networks has joined the Upstack team, taking advantage of the buyers’ back office and operations support.
“Partnering with Upstack allows us the autonomy to focus on the aspects of the business we each find most fulfilling,” co-founder Angie Tocco said.
Get the latest update from Upstack.
Cisco premier partner Light Networks is joining the Anexinet fold.
Anexinet, the VAR and MSP, bought its second company in a year. Light Networks gives Anexinet new unified communication features as well as Cisco engineering expertise.
Learn more about Anexinet in the story from Edward Gately.
Cisco premier partner Light Networks is joining the Anexinet fold.
Anexinet, the VAR and MSP, bought its second company in a year. Light Networks gives Anexinet new unified communication features as well as Cisco engineering expertise.
Learn more about Anexinet in the story from Edward Gately.
Comcast Business and several of its peers in the IT/telecommunications industry made an acquisition in the last month.
Our latest consolidation roundup features some of the biggest vendors in the industry. The Comcast acquisition of Masergy sent ripples through the traditional telecom channel and put pressure on rival cablecos, as did Lumen‘s decision to sell its ILEC business. Security providers Check Point and Ivanti both acquired technology partners, and other cybersecurity vendors made acquisitions.
We also saw consolidation on the partner side as Upstack bought another agent and NetGain bought a fellow MSP.
Not every story made the cut, but you can still read about them on our website. For example, ServiceNow bought an indoor mapping and wayfinding provider to improve its hybrid work strategy.
Go through the 13 images above to see the latest channel-impacting transactions.
Did you miss our previous M&A gallery? Check that out here.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email James Anderson or connect with him on LinkedIn. |
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