Latest Channel M&A: ReliaQuest, IBM, Broadcom, Amplix, More
Absolute Software, Procure IT and Qlik were among other companies wheeling and dealing in May.
June 9, 2023
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IBM partners will benefit from the company’s recently announced acquisition of Polar Security. It helps companies discover, continuously monitor and secure cloud and SaaS application data, and addresses the growing shadow data problem.
That’s according to Eric Maass, director of data security product management at IBM Security. Polar Security marks IBM’s fifth acquisition in 2023. Since Arvind Krishna became CEO in April 2020, IBM has acquired more than 30 companies, bolstering its hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
Founded in January 2021, Polar Security is a pioneer of data security posture management (DSPM). That’s an emerging cybersecurity segment that reveals where sensitive data is stored, who has access to it, how it’s used, and identifies vulnerabilities with the underlying security posture, including with policies, configurations or data usage.
How will IBM partners make a big play for visibility, control? Find out more here.
Private equity firm Crosspoint Capital Partners is acquiring Absolute Software for $657 million, taking the Canada-based company private.
Under the terms of the deal, Absolute Software shareholders will get $11.50 per share. That equals an enterprise value of about $870 million, including debt.
The acquisition, which should close in the second half of the year, is subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals, as well as other customary closing conditions.
“This is good news for our shareholders, employees, customers and partners, as it delivers immediate cash value to all parties — and better positions Absolute to continue building on our strategic goal of becoming the leading cybersecurity provider of intelligent, self-healing security solutions for organizations worldwide,’” said Karen Reynolds, Absolute Software’s chief communications officer.
How does this position Absolute Software? Read more from Edward Gately’s reporting.
Amplix, the technology advisory company founded through the merger of multiple New England-based companies, has made another acquisition through a deal with Intervale Technologies.
Amplix is buying Intervale’s technology advisory practice. Intervale will continue its core business of providing structured cabling and audio-visual services, and Amplix will turn to Intervale as a preferred supplier partner for those services. In the meantime, Amplix is taking on the customer accounts associated with Intervale’s technology advisor (agent) business.
Amplix came into existence through the merger of three decorated technology advisor firms: ROI Communications, Blue Front Technology Group and allConnex. Private equity investor Gemspring Capital is fueling the combined company, helping it acquire Net7 and more recently, Intervale’s agent business.
Discover what this means for Amplix’s New England presence.
The leaders of Procure IT are looking to form a new type of technology advisor that centers the sourcing model around data.
Four companies have merged to create Procure IT, which seeks to bring together data-focused partner firms with its own proprietary platforms. Four former RapidScale executives – Randy Jeter, Andrew Laughter, William Hiatt and Dylan Bouterse – are leading the company as managing partners, in addition to Jordan Solender.
The company is targeting a future midmarket private equity group for an event in the next 12-24 months. In the meantime, Procure IT is building a platform for management of the customer life cycle, as well as the management of vendor spend and risk. In addition, the partner is building a customer-facing education platform, with the stated intent of coaching IT leaders and IT buyers.
Learn why the company is increasing its headcount.
Qlik has acquired Talend, expanding the company’s capabilities for modern enterprises to access, transform, trust, analyze and take action with data.
The combined entity is led by CEO Mike Capone, completing the latest chapter in the company’s strategic vision to deliver integration, data quality and analytics solutions.
“Qlik, together with Talend, will bring significant benefits to customers, including expanded product offerings, enhanced support and services, and increased investments in innovation and R&D,” said Mike Capone, CEO. “Qlik’s broad expertise in data integration, analytics, AI and machine learning combined with Talend’s data integration and data quality solutions, will provide customers the most comprehensive solution in the industry.”
As data fragmentation, driven by thousands of sources and targets, has increased, organizations have had to choose from incomplete legacy solutions, cloud lock-in, or multiple disparate point solutions – all of which come with cost and innovation risks. With Talend, Qlik brings a new approach, offering a full range of offerings, helping customers eliminate technical debt and cost while increasing enterprise confidence that trusted data is available for decision making when it matters most, the company said.
Park Place Technologies, the global data center and networking optimization firm, has recently acquired Protec IT-Solutions, an IT services provider based in Limburg, Germany. Established in 2016, Protec IT-Solutions supports some of the largest businesses in Germany, and has earned a strong reputation for providing comprehensive and customer-oriented TPM services to thousands of end-user clients, the company said.
The demand for these offerings is growing globally, driven by economic conditions and skills gaps. Park Place’s professional services offerings include: IMAC (installation, move, add, change), ITAD (IT asset disposition), remote hands and deployment services (cablling, Wi-Fi surveys, data center installs and network installations). Park Place’s Managed Services include automated monitoring, asset discovery and event detection.
ReliaQuest has acquired agent software assets and the associated engineering team from EclecticIQ. This acquisition will add both speed and capability to GreyMatter’s rapidly growing list of bilateral integrations for greater automation of detection, investigation and response. With more than 80 integrations today, this will not only enhance the capability of the current integrations but allow ReliaQuest to rapidly grow new integrations, quickly responding to new and emerging technologies, the company said.
“We know how important it is that security teams can access actionable data quickly so they can help drive outcomes for their business,” said Brian Murphy, ReliaQuest founder and CEO. “When combined with our recently announced generative AI capability within GreyMatter Intelligent Analysis, these new agent assets will allow ReliaQuest customers to drastically reduce their mean time to resolve security incidents from hours to minutes.”
Founded in 2014 with headquarters in the Netherlands, privately held EclecticIQ is a European cybersecurity vendor operating globally.
Alfar Capital and Walter Capital Partners have acquired MSP Corp for more than $100 million. MSP Corp will merge with Groupe Access, an MSP with a focus on cybersecurity. The new MSP Corp targets digital transformation, cloud computing and cybersecurity.
MSP Corp will be majority-owned by Alfar Capital and Walter Capital Partners, while BDC Capital retains a minority stake in the new company. Habib Malik, former Groupe Access CEO, and Ravi Ramharak, CEO and cofounder of MSP Corp, will retain ownership stakes. Malik will lead MSP Corp, while Ramharak will serve as chief mergers and acquisitions officer. Jason Dacosta, president and cofounder of MSP Corp, will leave the company. MSP Corp plans to grow organically and through acquisitions in Canada and the U.S.
MSP Corp now has more than 400 IT employees and will serve as the parent of 15 companies in Canada. Find out more here.
For the second time this year, Broadcom and VMware have pushed back the outside date on their pending $61 billion combination. To be clear, the “outside date” doesn’t mean a closing date, it means the date by which either company can walk away from the deal.
If the new date, Aug. 26, comes and Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware still has not closed, the two can again extend the outside date to Nov. 26, a date in effect since the original merger agreement was filed. That would depend on whether “all of the closing conditions except those relating to regulatory approvals have been satisfied or waived,” VMware told the SEC.
Learn why bringing the two companies together has so far been a difficult affair.
For the second time this year, Broadcom and VMware have pushed back the outside date on their pending $61 billion combination. To be clear, the “outside date” doesn’t mean a closing date, it means the date by which either company can walk away from the deal.
If the new date, Aug. 26, comes and Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware still has not closed, the two can again extend the outside date to Nov. 26, a date in effect since the original merger agreement was filed. That would depend on whether “all of the closing conditions except those relating to regulatory approvals have been satisfied or waived,” VMware told the SEC.
Learn why bringing the two companies together has so far been a difficult affair.
ReliaQuest, IBM, Broadcom, Amplix, among others (see slideshow above), are companies whose latest channel M&A was either announced, stalled or completed in May.
As we rounded out our list, we noticed that a good portion of deals involved cybersecurity organizations. That shouldn’t be a surprise, said Rich Snipes, managing director of technology at digital transformation firm West Monroe. Although there was a slowdown of M&A activity by the second half of 2022 – due to rising interest rates, inflation and recession fears – the cybersecurity world has been a bit more insulated from those things, Snipes said.
West Monroe’s Rich Snipes
“There are lots of companies out there that are trying to transform themselves to become more digital,” Snipes said. “As you do that, you inevitably end up in a position where you suddenly have all these digital assets that now need to be protected. Advancing and maturing your cybersecurity program and strategy and capability is super important. Also, the geopolitical instability … contributes to this larger slowdown, but it’s also a tailwind on the cybersecurity side.”
Moreover, IoT and AI are what he calls “fast-moving trains” that have many more endpoints that are important and that need to be protected. Additionally, bad actors can use AI to expand the scope and complexity of some threats. These are all opportunities for cybersecurity companies.
In addition, legacy players are trying to evolve their product offering capabilities and their business models to respond to the shifts and demand.
All of that growth doesn’t mean cybersecurity organizations have the easiest path.
“While there are lots of opportunities for investors, there’s also lots of competition,” Snipes said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a foolproof industry. There’s definitely competition out there, too.”
Sky-high valuation also exists. There’s some pause from investors who don’t want to overpay for an asset. However, investors understand that cybersecurity is still a good business decision.
“You’ve got all these startups in the space that end up being ripe acquisition targets, which can … help if you have a good platform on which to build,” Snipes said. “It’s a really exciting time for sure.”
If you didn’t catch our previous roundup, you can find it here.
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