Instant Reaction to Blockbuster Avant-PlanetOne Deal: 'A New Monster in the Channel'
"I've turned down multiple offers. I get approached almost daily and have been for the last three or four years," Ted Schuman said.
![Surprised Businessman Surprised Businessman](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt32223cff86d281ca/65242b66cbc83146803ad278/Surprised-Businessman.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Shutterstock
Matthew Toth is the founder and lead consultant of C3 Technology Advisors. He has won multiple sales and revenue awards from Avant. He has also partnered with PlanetOne.
“The move makes total sense,” Toth told Channel Futures. “TSBs are M&A’ing like crazy. Avant just got Pamlico funding, and they have a light presence out West. The acquisition of PlanetOne makes total sense. Based on firsthand experience, I think their cultures match as well.”
Lucas Salvage is the co-founder and chief revenue officer at Kairos Data Communications. He has sold through both Avant and PlanetOne.
“I think this merger/acquisition makes a ton of sense,” Salvage said. “Avant has always looked to strengthen its position west of Chicago. With the consolidation of so many agencies around the country, I feel Avant was ‘looking to get into the action.’ Finding the right TSB that had a similar culture, exceptional back office, and suppliers and technology that Avant didn’t have makes this a no-brainer in my opinion.”
Peter Radizeski is the founder and president of Rad-Info.
He pointed to cultural similarities and wished partners well.
“On one hand I didn’t see that coming. On the other hand, they have similar beer pong culture, so it makes sense. I hope that the partners at PlanetOne don’t experience all the hiccups I have been dealing with as three of my brokers were acquired. They keep getting bigger, but never better.”
Jay Morris is the founder and chief aggregation officer of MOReCOMM Data Solutions. He called the transaction a good move.
“Avant’s model was originally fewer IT advisory partners with more enterprise clients. Either (a) they realized they can’t scale at a pace they’d like by being purely focused on bigger deals and/or (b), their PE partner informed them of the same.
“I do like the fact that TCG and TBI remain free of [private equity money]. I know many IT advisers agree that being so [free of PE] provides them additional comfort and protection, as they are not pushing tools directed at the client’s desktop. No doubt, sourcing and procurement apps are headed there regardless. What’s not clear yet are the account protection mechanisms each are deploying, standing by, and then backing up with SLAs.
“As I have written about for years, in my humble opinion, PEs could give a hoot about investing money in companies to grow their agent bases and TSB topline revenue. It’s all about getting closer to the customer. That’s where the multiple is. That is the brass ring.
“No matter who, everyone has a price to dance with Big PE. The good news for those taking their time, the offers will continue and the multiple is increasing.
“Finally, all will one day have to fend off Amazon Marketplace, which wants it piece of this $4.4 trillion annual IT spend.”
Dave Dyson is the founder, CEO and chief strategist at Eclipse.
“This is a huge announcement and certainly not the last. I wonder how many TSBs will be left standing when the dust settles? My guess is no more than three to five, and I suspect one or more of the combined ‘super’ TSBs is starting to look very interesting to traditional distributors like Tech Data, Ingram Micro, etc.”
Scott Levy is the founder and CEO of Indiana-based Bridlewood Consulting. He has gained acclaim for sharing his insights on customer advocacy.
“There are no longer any surprises in this industry. Acquisitions, mergers, wagon-hitching in some cases to grow, in others, to survive,” Levy said. “Congratulations, Ian [Kieinger, CEO of Avant]. You are a dynamo who makes some pretty spectacular leaps. You should look into picking up a nice big red cape to wear around the office.”
The Avant leadership team visited the PlanetOne office in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Wednesday.
Harry House (left), director of sales for PlanetOne, poses with Shane McNamara (center), Avant’s executive vice president of engineering and operations, and Ross Thompson (right), PlanetOne’s director of sales for the Americas.
The leaders of the two companies (Avant’s Ian Kieninger, left, and PlanetOne’s Ted Schuman, right) celebrated the transaction on Wednesday.
Kieninger and Schuman jointly fielded an interview with Channel Futures on Wednesday.
Kieninger and Schuman jointly fielded an interview with Channel Futures on Wednesday.
Social media is on fire with reaction to Avant‘s acquisition of PlanetOne.
Avant announced the deal on Wednesday in a move that brings longtime channel fixture Ted Schuman and the PlanetOne team to Avant. The two sides didn’t reveal terms of the transaction.
“We’re dropping a nuke. This isn’t one-plus-one-equals-three; this is one-plus-one-equals-ten. Today, the channel has changed. We just created a new monster in the channel,” said Schuman, who will serve as chief experience officer (CXO).
PlanetOne’s Ted Schuman
Partners have praised the deal for the geographical and project management gaps Arizona-based PlanetOne helps fill for Chicago-based Avant. Executives from both companies say their respective Sentient and Pathfinder platforms are complementary to one another.
Moreover, the transaction brings together one of the oldest sourcing firms in the industry with a 12-year-old upstart.
Avant’s Ian Kieninger
“It’s really cool to see 30 years of institutional knowledge and success combined with one of the younger firms to create a really special organization, which can cover anything from the front end of pre-sales support to the backend of project management,” Avant CEO Ian Kieninger told Channel Futures. “There are zero gaps here. This is undeniably the most valuable organization to work with, because the amount of value we offer from soup to nuts. There are no gaps in the strategy. There are no gaps in the value chain.”
A New Value Proposition
Schuman said he has turned down multiple acquisition offers. He said Avant brought a value proposition that he had not yet seen.
“I’ve turned down multiple offers. I get approached almost daily and have been for the last three or four years. And it’s just the nature of the world we live in. The [private equity] community has descended onto our channel, validating what we’ve known for years. We have something very special here; it only gets stronger month over month,” Schuman said. “But for me, I never had found the right fit culturally, for employees and for partners.”
At the same time, partners expressed curiosity about how private equity investment in the agent channel and TSB consolidation will look three years from now. More eyes are turning to the remaining independent brokerages and distributors, including TBI, TCG and Sandler Partners. Others questioned if any traditional IT distributors will get into the action or if they already have.
Scroll through the images above to see instant reactions from partners, as well as pictures of the Avant and PlanetOne teams together.
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. |
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like