Latest M&A: IBM, Cisco, AppSmart, Intel, Juniper Networks, Thrive, Upstack, More
Cisco would have become “the overpowering giant” in the security industry had this deal gone through, according to one expert.
March 14, 2022
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Check Point Software Technologies has acquired Spectral, an Israeli developer security startup, to extend its CloudGuard cloud security solution.
Check Point will integrate Spectral tools into its Infinity security platform as part of its CloudGuard offering. The security provider isn’t saying how much it’s paying for Spectral; its security tools support a wide range of automated code security use cases.
Read about the new opportunities this acquisition provides for Check Point.
Juniper Networks has acquired WiteSand, the provider of cloud-native zero trust network access control (NAC) solutions. This deal brings a highly experienced engineering team and exceptional technology to Juniper, the company said. The acquisition accelerates Juniper’s ongoing efforts to deliver a next-generation NAC solution as a key piece of its AI-driven enterprise portfolio.
Read more from the experts about this deal here.
Xerox is buying Powerland, an IT services provider with offices in western Canada. The acquisition aims to strengthen Xerox’s IT service offerings – cloud, cybersecurity, end-user computing and managed services – in North America. This acquisition continues Xerox’s commitment to expand its IT services business.
See more about Xerox’s goal to remain competitive.
Bridgepointe Technologies is using its $100-plus million investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners to invest in another company.
It will provide funding to Double Tap Networks, a Seattle-based technology advisory firm. Double Tap has partnered with Bridgepointe for several years. It will use the investment for “further growth of existing and new services,” the company said.
Click here to read more about this deal.
AppDirect has bought Canadian cloud distributor ITCloud.ca in a deal that expands AppSmart‘s geographical footprint and Microsoft capabilities.
San Francisco-based AppDirect isn’t saying how much it’s paying for Quebec-based ITCloud. AppDirect will integrate the distributor’s partner portal with the AppSmart Marketplace, giving sales partners a more extensive product portfolio.
“We’ll have very solid end-to-end Microsoft capabilities available to our partners, plus an expanded catalog, which will help partners really become that trusted adviser and earn a bigger share of their end customers’ wallet,” said Renee Bergeron, senior vice president and general manager at AppSmart.
Discover more about the three reasons behind the acquisition.
IBM acquired Microsoft cloud partner Neudesic. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
But like many companies Big Blue has acquired to add hybrid and multicloud skills, Neudesic is part of IBM Consulting. Many of Neudesic’s 1,500 Microsoft cloud experts operate in India. Neudesic offers various Azure infrastructure and application development, modernization and integration services. Among them: migration, DevOps, data engineering and AI.
Read more about the IBM-Neudesic deal here.
SecurityScorecard partners will get new capabilities from the cybersecurity ratings provider’s acquisition of Lifars, which offers digital forensics, incident response and cyber resiliency services.
The Lifars cybersecurity team will operate as a new digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) practice. It will operate within SecurityScorecard’s professional services group. This will complement SecurityScorecard’s capabilities in cybersecurity ratings, data and assessments.
How many security issues per week does SecurityScorecard uncover? Read Edward Gately’s piece to find out.
Linode has agreed to sell to Akamai Technologies. Akamai will pay $900 million in cash for the 19-year-old independent cloud computing provider.
Akamai CEO’s Tom Leighton said: “The net of all this is that we believe that Akamai and Linode can solve customers’ needs in ways that are not addressed in the market today, forming a powerful winning combination that will enable customers to build, deliver and secure their apps on the platform that powers and protects life online.”
To that end, Akamai will use Linode to go beyond security and content delivery and add cloud computing.
Find more from Kelly Teal’s reporting here.
Upstack has garnered several new acquisitions, including two new technology sales agencies. Subsidium Technologies and DVP Technologies have joined forces with the New York City-based agency, which has inorganically grown to be the largest one in the technology advisory channel.
As for Subsidium, the company went on to garner multiple awards, including reaching platinum status with Intelisys for $1 million in recurring monthly billings. It was the first sales partner to do so with the technology services brokerage. For DVP Technologies, joining Upstack means opening a new suite of products and services that customers can source.
To learn more about the acquisition, read James Anderson’s piece.
Upstack- RDS Solutions
RDS Solutions is joining Upstack.
They did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, which Upstack described as a merger. Upstack is scaling using a $50 million growth investment from private equity firm Berkshire Hathaway and $100 million in financing led by two other firms. Upstack has acquired more than a dozen technology advisory firms.
Check out the reporting of this deal.
Upstack-Lunada Partners
Upstack is buying Lunada Partners as part of its ongoing agent acquisition strategy.
Upstack didn’t say how much it’s paying for California-based Lunada. The deal makes Lunada founder Monica Sanchez a partner and equity stakeholder in the company. She will continue to help business customers with their technology decisions.
Sanchez was a civil rights attorney before founding Lunada in 2010. She said she turned to Upstack to support her customers better.
Learn about the company’s new hires here.
Anexinet and Veristor Systems have completed what they’re calling a strategic merger. The merger will create a service portfolio that addresses the increasing need for diverse, secure scalable skills and solutions. This is hyper-relevant as companies are focusing on better enabling their hybrid workforces. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Read Allison Francis’ story here.
Strategic Capital Fund Management’s data center real estate division, Strategic Data Center Fund Manager, has completed its acquisition of a triple-net leased center from Chirisa Investments for approximately $13.5 million. The center is in the Denver metropolitan area.
Link here to learn more about its colocation and cloud service infrastructure platform.
In its latest effort to expand its manufacturing capacity, Intel said it will acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion. Israel-based Tower accepted Intel’s $53 per share offer, representing a 60% premium over a $33.13 closing price. Intel said it expects to close the deal within 12 months, pending regulatory approvals.
Tower Semiconductor promises to accelerate the goal of making Intel Foundry Services competitive with TSMC, the world’s largest chip manufacturer.
Jeffrey Schwartz’s story can be found here.
It was a deal that wasn’t a deal. Cisco Systems’ rumored acquisition offer for Splunk would have created one of the largest cybersecurity vendors in the world. It’s suspected that Cisco offered the data observability and security information and event management (SIEM) provider $20 billion.
“As a policy, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation,” a Splunk spokesperson told Channel Futures.
Chris Ichelson, CEO at managed security services provider 360 SOC, said such a deal would make Cisco “the overpowering giant” in the security industry.
Read more about other Cisco acquisitions here.
Park Place Technologies, the global data center and networking optimization firm, has strengthened its software portfolio with the purchase of Congruity360’s Storfirst software platform. Storfirst is a secure, OEM- and platform-agnostic (cloud, hybrid cloud and on-prem) file system migration and information management software. Storfirst allows customers to manage the movement of their data from production servers to disaster recovery servers, on-prem and to the cloud; the software enables customers to control the movement of all file data.
“Park Place Technologies has been using Storfirst, which launched nearly 20 years ago, for data migration file storage replication,” said Brian Davidson, CEO of Congruity360. “By officially owning Storfirst, Park Place can enhance its data migration services and expand its software portfolio.”
AMD’s acquisition of Xilinx has closed, nearly 16 months after announcing the deal. The $49 billion transaction makes it the largest ever in the semiconductor industry. Xilinx is a provider of field programable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programable system on chips (SOCs). AMD believes Xilinx with its AI capabilities will be able to create intelligent edge devices, networking and software-defined infrastructure.
This article explores expanding data center capabilities due to the deal.
Radware bought SecurityDAM for $30 million as part of a strategic initiative to accelerate the growth of its cloud security services business. SecurityDAM is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) network operator. It supplied Radware with scrubbing center services for the provision of Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Service.
Learn more about new partner opportunities because of the deal.
Cloudflare acquired Area 1 Security for $162 million in cash and stock to bolster its zero-trust platform.
Cloudflare entered the email security market in 2021 with the launch of its Advanced Email Security Suite and additional tools to create custom email addresses, manage incoming email routing, and prevent email spoofing and phishing on outgoing emails. Area 1 Security’s cloud-native platform works with any email offering. It stops phishing attacks by preemptively discovering and eliminating them before they can inflict damage in a corporate environment.
To understand how Cloudflare is becoming a leader in zero trust, click here.
Snyk, the cloud-native application security provider, has entered the cloud security market by acquiring Fugue, a cloud security and compliance company. Snyk didn’t say how much it paid for Fugue.
By joining forces with Snyk, Fugue’s capabilities will soon extend the Snyk developer security platform. That will provide a cloud security posture management (CSPM) tool designed by and for developers.
Discover why this is a unique solution for partners.
Matrix Networks has acquired LANtelligence to create a new business after a decade of sharing resources with the company.
While each provided communication solutions and customer service and support, they had different focal points. LANtelligence focuses on driving automation with a CX practice. The company most recently took strides in the Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) space, revolutionizing contact center environments, it said.
Read the full article here.
The sale between SoftBank Group and Nvidia, at the time the largest chip deal in history, is no longer in the works. In a joint statement, the companies said the slated acquisition was rocked by “significant regulatory challenges.”
U.S. graphics chip giant Nvidia planned to buy British processor designer Arm from SoftBank in an acquisition projected to be worth $66 billion. The companies announced the takeover in September 2020. However, critics early on said it would be a “disaster” if Nvidia bought the company.
Learn why the FTC said the deal would have created a monopoly.
Private equity firm CenterGate Capital made a big investment in DecisionOne Corp. Expect the cash influx to expand the U.S.-based operations and capabilities of Soroc Technology, a CenterGate-owned company.
DecisionOne is the one of the largest independent providers of IT infrastructure services in North America. A provider of technology infrastructure management, its focus areas include field services, remote managed services and IT asset management. DecisionOne serves enterprises in retail, health care, transportation, financial services and government.
Read more about the prevalence of private equity in this deal here.
Thrive has acquired Preemo IT Support, a responsive IT support company based in Miami, Florida. The acquisition will provide businesses in South Florida with cybersecurity, cloud and digital transformation services to increase the return on investment for their clients’ technology, Thrive said.
Preemo has been providing IT services and solutions to South Florida companies for nearly a decade. The company currently serves more than 200 businesses across many different industries.
Catch more about Thrive’s Florida expansion here.
Bluewave Technology Group is harnessing $75 million in capital to buy agents and build a technology advisory and life cycle management company. The transaction is one of the largest the traditional channel partner space has seen, and it sets up Bluewave as an alternative to Upstack and other investment vehicles.
Review Bluewave’s employee model here.
Bluewave-Telapprise
San Jose, California-based Telapprise agreed to a deal with Parsippany, New Jersey-based Bluewave. They did not disclose financial terms of the deal. The deal marks Bluewave’s sixth purchase.
Learn how Telapprise brought a “a lot of skill set to the table” in James Anderson’s piece.
Clearlake Capital Group completed its acquisition of Quest Software, a global cybersecurity, data intelligence, and IT operations management software provider, from Francisco Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Quest has built a reputation over three decades as a critical software solution provider for security-sensitive customers and an innovator in addressing rapidly evolving risks and security threats, the company said. Quest enables today’s edgeless IT ecosystem, across people, applications, and data to endpoints, allowing customers to maintain controls, mitigate and contain security threats proactively, and achieve operational up-time while decreasing costs.
Telus, the second largest Canadian telecommunications company, has purchased Fully Managed, an MSP that focuses on ServiceNow managed services. Fully Managed handles managed IT and security for SMBs, as well as digital health solutions for senior care communities.
Mark Scott is CEO of Fully Managed.
“The managed services market has exploded over the past few years, particularly with the acceleration to a digital-first work world brought on by the pandemic. We believe as a modern MSP focused on enhanced customer experience, unparalleled expertise, and strong partnerships and platforms with innovators such as ServiceNow, we have the ability to continue to grow the business.”
Telus, the second largest Canadian telecommunications company, has purchased Fully Managed, an MSP that focuses on ServiceNow managed services. Fully Managed handles managed IT and security for SMBs, as well as digital health solutions for senior care communities.
Mark Scott is CEO of Fully Managed.
“The managed services market has exploded over the past few years, particularly with the acceleration to a digital-first work world brought on by the pandemic. We believe as a modern MSP focused on enhanced customer experience, unparalleled expertise, and strong partnerships and platforms with innovators such as ServiceNow, we have the ability to continue to grow the business.”
In February we reported on more than two dozen deals in the channel, including those that involved IBM, Intel, Juniper Networks, Thrive and Upstack. There were some commonalities with these mergers and acquisitions.
Security was big – a handful involved companies focused on zero trust while others emphasized cloud security.
When it came to sheer number of acquisitions, one company engaged in three deals in a matter of weeks. For some organizations, acquisitions were a matter of regional expansion.
Take Thrive, for example. Its most recent purchase will grow the firm’s cybersecurity presence in South Florida. Finally, not only do we cover the biggest M&A but we also report on the deals that didn’t happen. In the slideshow above, find out which company walked away from what was at the time the largest chip deal in history.
To review the M&A we featured last month, go here.
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