Latest M&A: AT&T, HPE, Lumen, Microsoft, Pax8, Zoom, More
Zoom's massive contact center acquisition drew eyeballs, but other big purchases captured the channel's attention.
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Data center and colocation provider Cyxtera went public.
Cyxtera merged with incorporated blank check company Starboard Value Acquisition Corp., otherwise known as SVAC. The companies announced the merger in February, but their combined organization is now trending on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Edward Gately has the scoop.
HPE acquired cloud data protection and management provider Zerto for $374 million.
Zerto’s emphasis on cloud-delivered data protection fits well with HPE’s plan to offer its entire portfolio as a service by next year. HPE will attach Zerto’s tools to its GreenLake services in order to give partners protection and insights “from edge to cloud.”
Check out Kelly Teal’s analysis of the transaction.
Barracuda Networks bought an extended detection and response (XDR) platform.
The company bought Skout Cybersecurity, which gives MSPs a 24×7 SOC in addition to an XDR platform. A Barracuda executive said the acquisition gives partners more flexibility and insurance when it comes to their security posture. About ten months ago Barracuda acquired the zero-trust network access provider Fyde.
Edward Gately wrote about the deal.
Ma Bell teamed up with Microsoft in a shocking announcement around 5G.
Microsoft will acquire AT&T’s Network Cloud platform, its employees and the 5G network it runs. The network will ultimately migrate to Microsoft Azure. The companies say no other Tier 1 operator has handed over its entire consumer subscriber base to a hyperscaler.
Read analysis of the deal.
Cloud distributor Pax8 bolstered its European presence with the acquisition of Resello.
Resello touches more than 40 European countries with its cloud services, cybersecurity and data protection offerings. Pax8 executives said the transaction gives it global Microsoft authorization and gives partners the opportunity to benefit from “worldwide incentives.”
Kelly Teal wrote about Pax8’s global expansion.
French distributor Exclusive Networks bought a cybersecurity-focused value-added distributor.
Buying Ignition Technology should give Exclusive more access to up-and-coming vendors who are looking for a localized touch. On the other hand, Ignition can better promise its vendor partners a means of scaling.
See Craig Galbraith’s reporting.
Sophos added a couple of companies to its cybersecurity portfolio.
First Sophos bought Capsule8, which provides Linux server and cloud container security. Then Sophos bought network detection and response (NDR) technology provider Braintrace.
Last year private equity firm Thoma Bravo bought Sophos.
Edward Gately wrote about the Capsule8 and Braintrace acquisitions.
MSP and IT consulting firm Netrix moved eastward by acquiring Contegix.
Specifically, Netwrix bought Contegix’ managed IT services business unit of Contegix.
Chicago-based network is gaining a footprint in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through the acquisition, while Contegix is going to focus more on application platform services.
Learn more about Netrix’ strategy by reading Allison Francis’ article.
Telesystem purchased improved its managed security portfolio with the purchase of VoxNet.
Telesystem gained VoxNet’s managed security, unified communications and internet access services. It also acquired a customer base that relied very little on legacy voice. Those customers can benefit from increased UC functionality and geographic redundancy.
Get details about the purchase.
Microsoft improved its security posture with its purchase of threat management and attack surface management provider RiskIQ.
Microsoft already offers security in its Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Azure Defender and Microsoft Azure Sentinel offerings. However, a spokesperson said combining those services with RiskIQ will create an impressive level of visibility for hybrid workers.
Check out analysis from Omdia’s Rik Turner.
IT services and consulting provider Atos announced three – count ‘em – acquisitions in one day.
First Atos bought high-performance computing (HPC) cloud platform provider Nimbix. Then it bought Visual BI, which provides cloud data analytics and business intelligence and partners with Snowflake, Microsoft and SAP. Lastly Atos bought product life cycle management (PLM) system integrator IDEAL GRP.
Check out Christine Horton’s article
BCM One expanded its global presence with the acquisition of Wholesale Carrier Services (WCS).
WCS provides an IP-enabled voice and data network touching more than 500 cities. It gives BCM One expanded voice and managed network services, but more importantly WCS gives BCM One a network operations center in Asia Pacific.
Read more about BCM One and WCS.
Cybersecurity provider Rapid7 bought contextualized external threat intelligence and proactive threat remediation provider IntSights.
Rapid7 expanded its extended detection and response (XDR) offering as a result of the acquisition. IntSights brings attack surface monitoring, relevant insights and proactive threat mitigation to the table.
The transaction cost $335 million.
Read Edward Gately’s article
Lumen Technologies sold its Latin American business to an investment firm.
Stonepeak will officially take over the business in the first half of 2022 while retaining Lumen’s Latin American leadership team. Lumen agents can still sell services in Latin America thanks to a close partnership between Lumen and the new company.
The divestment continued a week later when Lumen sold a large portion of its ILEC assets to Apollo Global Management.
Read about the divestment.
Professional services provider Deloitte bought its fourth and fifth IT-related purchase of 2021.
TransientX and Sentek Global both provide cybersecurity services. TransientX provides zero-trust network access, while Sentek also provides systems engineering.
A Deloitte executive teased that more acquisitions will follow.
Edward Gately covered the acquisition.
Broadvoice’s largest acquisition yet takes it into the world of CCaaS.
Broadvoice bought Portugal-based CCaaS platform provider GoContact. 100 GoContact employees will join Broadvoice as a result.
GoContact does not sell through the agent channel, however.
Get details about the purchase.
MSP-focused software provider ScalePad took a private equity investment.
Integrity Growth Partners gave ScalePad its first outside investment in six years. ScalePad will expand its team as well as invest in its product and partners.
You may remember ScalePad as Warranty Master, a moniker it dropped last year.
Read Kelly Teal’s article.
You can’t talk about channel-impacting acquisitions without talking about Zoom’s gigantic purchase of Five9.
The $14.7 billion all-stock transaction combines the world’s most well-known video conferencing provider with a successful contact center as a service (CCaaS) provider. Analysts and partners agreed that the deal made sense for Zoom.
“This is a complementary acquisition for Zoom, allowing them to further build out the UCaaS/CCaaS platform,” Forrester’s Jay McBain said.
See all various industry reactions to the acquisition.
MSP Thrive bought an IT services provider that focuses on the financial industry.
S7 Technology Group is a Microsoft Azure partner that provides IT support to private equity firms and other financial companies. Thrive bolstered its financial services practice while S7 gained access to Thrive’s SOC and other cybersecurity capabilities.
Read Allison Francis’ story to get a better sense of Thrive’s strategy.
The world’s top partner beefed up its cloud practice again.
Accenture announced the acquisition of Wabion, a Google Cloud services provider.
As a result, Accenture gains 60 employees and an improved specialization in Google Cloud.
It’s one of many cloud-related acquisitions for the massive professional services provider. The company has embarked on a $3 billion “Cloud First” initiative.
Read more about Accenture and Wabion.
Upstack‘s M&A spree continued.
The partner acquired consulting firm DataCenterAndColocation.com. As you might expect, the acquiree focuses on data center and colocation services for midmarket enterprises.
Upstack also purchased Arizona-based consultancy LanYap Networks.
Check out Edward Gately’s story.
Upstack‘s M&A spree continued.
The partner acquired consulting firm DataCenterAndColocation.com. As you might expect, the acquiree focuses on data center and colocation services for midmarket enterprises.
Upstack also purchased Arizona-based consultancy LanYap Networks.
Check out Edward Gately’s story.
The world’s biggest B2B tech companies announced acquisitions that could impact partners.
A wide variety of IT and telecom companies drew eyeballs with consolidation last month. AT&T announced a surprising partnership around 5G. Microsoft added a security provider to its portfolio. And Zoom took the cloud communications world by storm (again) with its acquisition of Five9.
Our M&A roundup also features partners, including a couple MSPs and an agent.
Our well of M&A news overflowed so much that we couldn’t possibly cover everything. For example, Platinum Equity finalized its Ingram Micro acquisition. And Broadcom’s potential acquisition of analytics software provider SAS Institute sputtered out. Check out the images above to see channel-impacting M&A from the last month.
Did you miss our previous slide show? Check out our coverage of June tech M&A.
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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