Latest M&A: Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint, Mitel, More
Plus, Intelisys and Vendasta might soon be in the market. That, plus the rumor mill swirls around T-Mobile and Frontier.
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It's a significant price tag in the security realm, as Palo Alto Networks is spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 million-$400 million for Dig Security, an Israel-based cyber startup. The security giant wouldn't confirm the value, but several outlets are reporting it in that range.
Dig's data security posture management (DSPM) solution proved attractive to Palo Alto because it allows businesses to discover, classify, monitor and protect sensitive data across all cloud data stores.
After closing, Palo Alto Networks will integrate Dig's DSMP with its own Prisma Cloud platform.
Read more about the deal here.
Proofpoint buying Tessian means partners get more cyber defense products and services to add to their portfolios.
Tessian's specialty is in artificial intelligence that automatically detects and guards against accidental data loss and evolving email threats. Tessian will help Proofpoint add layers of AI-powered defense that address risky user behaviors, including misdirected email and data exfiltration.
Get the full scoop on the deal, scheduled to close later this year or early in 2024, here.
As of this writing, Nov. 10, the second-largest acquisition in the history of tech, Broadcom's pending $61 billion purchase of VMware, remains on hold.
That's because, at the end of October, we learned that China was withholding its regulatory approval, perhaps in retaliation for the Biden administration's newly imposed strict controls on exports of advanced computer chips and the equipment to make them, much of which is produced in China.
The companies still express confidence that the deal will close before their merger agreement expires on Nov. 26.
Read about the latest in the ongoing Broadcom-VMware saga.
Bluewave Technology Group, the national tech advisory company that's been busy on the M&A front, is buying Resource Communications Group (RCG), a company that's become well-known for offering telecom department as a service (TDaaS) to customers.
This is just the latest acquisition by Bluewave, which is backed by Columbia Capital.
RCG, based in Tennessee, says it's the only provider of TDaaS in the world. RCG earns a significant portion of its revenue through a monthly service fee it bills to clients, in addition to residual commissions from referring vendor solutions.
Learn much more about TDaaS and this acquisition here.
Amplix, the tech advisory firm formed last year when three companies came together under the new brand, is getting a sister company.
Gemspring Capital Management, a private-equity company, is buying InflowCX and merging it with Amplix. InflowCX, as the name implies, is a customer experience and CCaaS partner.
The deal brings together InflowCX's consulting, professional and managed services around CX technology into Amplix's fold.
The companies didn't disclose financial information, but there's a lot more to be learned about what this deal brings to the channel. That's here.
Intelisys, the tech services distributor and agency business that's part of ScanSource, could benefit from "free cash flow" the distributor has in its coffers.
That's what execs told our James Anderson at ScanSource Channel Connect in Nashville last month. Pouring more resources, including "substantial M&A," according to chief financial officer Steve Jones, could be in the offing.
The company acquired commissions platform RPM Telco in 2017 and cloud distributor intY in 2019.
Read more about what could be in store for ScanSource and Intelisys.
Sometimes it's the merger rumors that get more attention than the deals themselves.
In this case, you wanted to learn about the speculation that wireless giant T-Mobile might buy Frontier Communications.
Reuters reported on Oct. 18 that investment firm Jana Partners had "built a new position" in Frontier, which is the third-largest fiber broadband provider in the U.S.
Wells Fargo analysts speculated that T-Mobile would be the most likely buyer, but mum's mostly been the word since that news broke nearly four weeks ago.
This is where to find the full story.
Upstack made it an even 30 acquisitions over the past two years with the purchase of Network One Solutions, which consults on cloud, communications and technology solutions.
The channel partner's founder and CEO, Michael Stevens, is joining the Upstack team as partner.
Stevens founded Network One after 10 years in sales with AT&T and Mpower Communications, which TPx bought in 2006.
Find out everything you wanted to know about the acquisition.
Security provider Arctic Wolf found an attractive acquiree in Revelstoke, which provides a security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) platform built on a united data layer.
The former says the latter's technology will enhance the connective fiber between threat detection and response within the Arctic Wolf Security Operations Cloud. That will enable not only faster detections across an organizations’ entire attack surface, but also accelerate the execution of real-time and automated response actions at scale.
The two companies' AI technologies will mesh to deliver these outcomes to customers.
Find out more about this team-up.
Momentum, the managed service and managed network solutions provider, announced the acquisition of G12 Communications, which offers voice-enabled Operator Connect solutions for Microsoft Teams.
Momentum already supports a full range of Microsoft Teams capabilities, such as Direct Routing. Now it adds Operator Connect with this purchase.
Get all of the details on this deal.
A shake-up in the contact center world as NICE, known best for its contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) offering, said it would buy LiveVox, which has spent years honing its skills in data analytics, AI, automation and customer experience (CX) tools.
Expect the $350 million deal to form a contact center powerhouse also focused on knowledge, data, channels and advanced CX capabilities.
Read why one partner we talked to says NICE is one of the "more engaged vendors" in the channel.
2nd Watch, the managed cloud provider, is rolling up into Ollion, a new cloud-native consultancy.
Ollion now consists of four companies that aim to deliver professional services that clients will end up using to become cloud experts. Ollion says this supports businesses' digital transformation efforts and will make the professional services sector stronger.
Learn exactly what each of the four companies plans to bring to the table.
Security provider Forcepoint wrapped the sale of its public sector unit, G2CI, to asset management firm TPG. The deal separates Forcepoint's G2CI and commercial business.
As a result, Forcepoint plans to focus more on its secure access service edge (SASE) platform. Look for more investment and innovation in that technology, the company told Channel Futures.
Read more about the sale and the new focus here.
Mitel says its acquisition of Unify creates a "global powerhouse" that is now No. 2 in the world in enterprise unified communications (UC) share. And the company is No. 1 if you only count Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Mitel says with Unify its customer base is up to 75 million in 100 countries. It has an expanded community of 5,500 resellers, service providers, and technology and strategic alliance partners.
Get the full scoop on this game-changing M&A.
Global data center and networking optimization company Park Place Technologies acquired Xuper Ltd., an IT solutions provider in Derby, U.K.
Xuper is a 40-year-old company with offices in the U.K., U.S. and Germany. It offers third-party maintenance and professional services.
Park Place says Xuper's team of engineers average more than 20 years of experience in the field.
Scalepad, which provides MSPs with solutions to managed their clients' infrastructure and improve their internal operations, is the new owner of Quoter, a quote-to-cash and contract management solution it says it "tailor-made" for MSPs.
Quoter's platform helps MSPs, VARs and ISVs with a quote-to-cash process that empowers partners to produce quotes quickly. Its recently announced contract management functionality helps MSPs simply agreement workflows, capture lost revenue and maximize the value of their business, ScalePad said.
Canada's Vendasta Technologies, the e-commerce platform for business solutions, might be making some purchases of its own in the near future.
The company announced that it has raised CAD $20 million for future acquisitions.
"Vendasta is the industry-leading platform for channel partners to market, sell, bill, fulfill and deliver digital solutions to SMBs," said Brendan King, Vendasta's CEO. "... These new funds are earmarked for strategic acquisitions to achieve our mission. We won't stop until our channel partners can provide everything their SMB customers need to run their business from a single login."
The 20 has made yet another strategic purchase in its long line of MSP acquisitions.
This one is 3i International, a "prominent player" in the managed IT services industry that serves customers in Houston and Dallas.
The 20 knows 3i International well as a member of its peer group, previously leveraging The 20's growth platform to evolve into a highly regarded IT firm in Texas.
The 20 has made yet another strategic purchase in its long line of MSP acquisitions.
This one is 3i International, a "prominent player" in the managed IT services industry that serves customers in Houston and Dallas.
The 20 knows 3i International well as a member of its peer group, previously leveraging The 20's growth platform to evolve into a highly regarded IT firm in Texas.
October was a busy month for wheeling and dealing in the channel. The latest M&A features newly announced deals, a few that closed, fresh investments that could lead to new acquisitions, and as always, a big rumor.
Let's start with Mitel and Unify, the combination of which creates what the companies are calling a global UC powerhouse.
Two big names in security − Palo Alto Networks and Proofpoint − made moves of note.
ScanSource told Channel Futures that it now has free cash flow to help its tech service distributor, Intelisys, with new acquisitions. And Vendasta said it just raised $20 million to make some buys of its own.
Furthermore, the rumor mill is spinning around Frontier Communications. If it's for sale soon, T-Mobile could be the leading candidate to buy it, analysts said.
See our slideshow above for the latest M&A that could have a long-lasting impact on the channel. If you missed last month's wrap of mergers and acquisitions, it's here.
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