Latest Channel-Impacting M&A: T-Mobile, Windstream, Insight, More

Arizona-based value-added reseller (VAR) and managed services provider (MSP) Insight Enterprises bought Infocenter. The acquisition aims to provide Insight access to Infocenter's intelligent enterprise automation and incorporate it into Insight's Solution Integrator Framework.

“Workflow automation has become a necessity,” said Joyce Mullen, Insight president and CEO. “Our clients expect unified cross-enterprise experiences, and with Infocenter’s deep ServiceNow expertise, we will be better positioned than ever to deliver industry-leading intelligent workflow automation solutions fueled by AI to create unified experiences and deliver valuable insights.”

Learn more about Insight's acquisition of Infocenter.

Colorado-based managed services provider New Charter Technologies announced that BNMC had agreed to a financially undisclosed partnership. The partnership will provide BNMC with additional resources and service offerings and deepen New Charter's market reach.

"We believe that the future of the managed services industry lies in collaboration and leveraging collective expertise. This partnership allows us to not only continue our growth trajectory but also enhance our ability to provide exceptional services, such as cybersecurity and risk management, to our clients," Michelson said. "With New Charter's resources and support, we are confident in our capacity to stay ahead of industry trends and deliver top value to our clients and employees."

Learn more about New Charter's deal with BNMC here.

Cloud computing company Akamai acquired API security provider Noname, a deal worth $450 million. Akamai hopes to combine NoName's API security options with its own in order to meet customer demand better.

“Applications run our world, but as applications and users proliferate, so do security risks,” said Mani Sundaram, executive vice president and general manager of security technology at Akamai Technologies. “Akamai has seen a growing need for API protection with our own data showing 109% year-over-year growth in API attacks. With the addition of Noname, Akamai believes it will have the breadth of integrations and deployment choices needed to deliver comprehensive API protection for customers across all environments.”

Learn more about Akamai's acquisition of NoName.

Business communications giant Windstream and Uniti Group merged under the Uniti brand. The merger occurred nearly 10 years after Winmdstream divested from Uniti Group. The two companies will operate under a deal that some outlets are valuing at $13.4 billion.

"The demand for fiber broadband has never been greater, and Uniti is now expanding its reach into FTTH with an attractive scaled platform," said Uniti president and CEO Kenny Gunderman. "The combination of Uniti and Windstream also removes several dis-synergies that exist in the current landlord-tenant relationship and greatly enhances Uniti’s optionality for strategic initiatives. We look forward to working with Windstream to create a national fiber powerhouse that will continue to bridge the digital divide for our customers."

Learn more about Windstream's acquisition.

Virginia-based IT services provider Ntiva bought fellow IT provider The Purple Guys (TPG). The acquisition ended up as one of the "largest pure-play MSP acquisitions" in the industry.

“We are excited to welcome TPG into the Ntiva family. Together, we will harness our combined strengths to redefine what it means to be an industry leader, providing unparalleled value to our clients and meaningful jobs to communities throughout the U.S.,” said Steven Freidkin, CEO of Ntiva. “Our joint commitment and purpose of growing each other remains stronger than ever as we set new benchmarks in the MSP sector.”

Get the full scoop on Ntiva's purchase of The Purple Guys.

IT-focused MSP Cantey Tech Consulting said it was acquiring Network Computing Group, a Roanoke, Virginia-based provider of IT services. The acquisition will expand Cantey Tech's presence in New England.

“From the beginning, we knew this was a good cultural fit and we are excited to work with the remarkable team at NCG.” said Cantey Tech CEO Willis Cantey. “We are committed to taking great care of NCG clients and employees with our integrated team approach.”

“We are proud of supporting our Roanoke clients for more than 25 years and I wanted to make sure that I found a partner would take care of those clients and our people," added NCG founder Mark Bowles. "We made the right choice with Cantey Tech."

Read about Cantey Tech's acqusition.

Boomi, which specializes in infrastructure as a service, announced that it had acquired APIIDA and Mashery's API management business from Cloud Software Group. The two acquisitions were picked up as part of an effort to expand its Boomi Enterprise Platform.

“Throughout this year and next year we’ll introduce capabilities that allow you to move data seamlessly at high scale, at high volume, in and out of your data lakes and warehouses,” Boomi CEO Steve Lucas said. “We've acquired two companies today to expand our API management capability. And that’s just the beginning. We haven’t really gotten to AI yet.”

Learn more about Boom's purchase.

AppDirect acquired BuiltFirst to offer companies the option of expediently launching their own marketplace. The subscription commerce provider announced that it had closed a deal with the three-year-old solution provider that would allow companies a no-code marketplace for selling B2B products.

The deal is intended to help customers move into commerce.

“[That's] the natural progression for any marketplace. Bringing Builtfirst into the AppDirect team is not only beneficial for its customers, AppDirect will also gain a new line of business that helps our goal of making technology accessible for any sized organization," vice president of corporate development and chief of staff Andy Ellerhorst said.

Learn more about the AppDirect deal.

Network Elites bought fellow Dallas-based managed service provider 1CallService. The MSP plans to incorporate 1CallService's team with its own in hopes of building a more diverse workforce and to provide better IT solutions.

"We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and integration process,” said Muhammad Anwar, COO of Network Elites. “Our focus will remain on delivering high-quality services without disruption, while we work to bring together the best of both companies. We believe that the synergies between our teams and technologies will bring about superior solutions and added value to our clients.”

Read about Network Elite's acquisition.

Exabeam and LogRhythm agreed to merge with the intent of constructing a single security information and event management (SIEM) platform, and user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) with strong records for consumers. The merger is still going through the legal process but is expected to finalize some time in the third quarter.

“As a combined organization, we will continue to push the envelope of security operations innovation with solutions that bring AI, automation, SIEM, security analytics and UEBA together to deliver a holistic approach to combating cyber threats,” said Adam Geller, Exabeam’s CEO. “With AI and cloud as driving forces that can’t be ignored in the market, we look forward to collectively addressing the needs of our joint prospects and customers to further enhance their cybersecurity TDIR capabilities."

Learn more about the Exabeam and LogRhythm merger.

Palo Alto Networks said it would buy assets from IBM that included its QRadar intellectual property rights as part of a new partnership between the two companies. The partnership will allow Palo Alto to provide AI-powered security offerings.

"The security industry is at an inflection point where AI will transform businesses and deliver outcomes not seen before,” said Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks’ chairman and CEO. “It's a moment to accelerate growth and innovation. Together with IBM, we will capitalize on this trend, combining our leading security solutions with IBM's pioneering watsonx AI platform and premier services to drive the future of security platformization with complete, AI-powered, secure-by-design offerings."

Learn more about the Palo Alto Networks acquisition.

The 20 MSP, a conglomerate of companies that has expanded several times in the last few years, brought three additional MSPs into its rolls as it expanded. Tech Junkies MSP, Matrix Solutions and Level 10 Technology were each acquired by The 20 on May 1, allowing the company to continue building its presence in the United States. The purchase of the three MSPs brings The 20's acquisitions up to 33 in the last two years.

"While it's true we're acquiring MSPs at a fast clip, there's absolutely nothing rushed about our process," The 20 MSP CEO Tim Conkle said. "That's because we prioritize alignment in our selection of acquisition targets. This is essential to the end game, which is of course building a truly national MSP with uniformly excellent service."

Read more about the acquisitions.

IT consulting firm Perficient was acquired by global investment firm EQT Asia. The firm paid more than $3 billion for Perficient, after it was approved unanimously by the company's board. The decision delisted Perficient from the Nasdaq.

"We are proud of the role Perficient plays in delivering big thinking and innovative ideas, along with a practical approach to help the world's largest enterprises and biggest brands succeed," said Jeffrey Davis, chairman of the Perficient board of directors. "With this agreement with EQT, we will provide our shareholders with compelling, certain cash value for their shares while continuing to support our clients in exceeding expectations, outpacing the competition, and growing their businesses."

Learn more about the acquisition of Perficient.

Private-equity firm Thoma Bravo decided to sell machine identity management provider Venafi to CyberArk. The deal, valued at $1.54 billion, will allow CyberArk to pair its secrets management and private public key infrastructure with Venafi's certificate life-cycle management and identity focused technology.

“Over the course of our investment, Venafi has accelerated SaaS growth, expanded margins, and successfully created a best-in-class SaaS offering, setting the stage for continued innovation," Thoma Bravo partner Chip Virnig said. "We believe CyberArk is a great partner for Venafi and that the scaled end-to-end machine identity security platform created by this strategic combination will deliver significant value to shareholders.”

Learn more about CyberArk and Venafi.

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Information management provider OpenText bought managed detection and response (MDR) platform Pillr from Novacoast in hopes of improving its business done with MSPs.

“Cyber threats continue to rise fast and are growing more sophisticated. Organizations need advanced managed detection and response solutions to prevent attackers from gaining the foothold needed to launch an attack," OpenText CEO Mark Barrenechea said. "The combination of Pillr’s platform with our existing threat detection offerings strengthens OpenText’s position in the cybersecurity market and reinforces our commitment to our SMB partners and customers.”

Learn more about OpenText's purchase.

U.K.-based AI-powered security platform Bugcrowd made its first acquisition. The acquiree was Informer, the provider of external attack surface management (ASM) and continuous pen testing.

“This acquisition illustrates the investment that Bugcrowd is committed to drive innovation for our customers and, in turn, provide more opportunities for our customers to grow their own revenue,” Bugcrowd CEO Dave Gerry said. “Bugcrowd continues to build the most complete platform in the crowdsourced intelligence market, empowering customers to achieve their cybersecurity outcomes and program goals.”

Learn more about Bugcrowd's purchase.

IT services company HCLTech Ltd announced that it was buying Communication Technology Group for an estimated $225 million. The deal will provide HCLTech with industry-leading intellectual property (IP), engineering and R&D talent and client relationships. It is also expected to strengthen HCLTech's presence in the telecom industry.

"With this transaction and our planned strategic partnership with HPE, we are strengthening our telecom practice to address the rapidly expanding and transforming global telecom market. With the incoming top engineering talent and industry-leading IP from the CTG group of HPE, we are adding significant capabilities and direct relationships with global CSPs," HCLTech CEO and managing director C Vijayakumar said.

Learn more about HCLTech's deal.

Managed IT service provider Fifosys, No. 103 on the 2024 Channel Futures MSP 501, announced it would acquire Technology Means Business (TMB). The purchase will be the third acquisition for Fifosys in the last five years and has significantly expanded its presence in the United Kingdom.

"We're delighted to welcome TMB into the Fifosys family," Mitesh Patel, founder and managing director at Fifosys said. "With over 30 years of experience, we believe this is our perfect next step, and we can't wait to get going. TMB is a profit-making business with a proven track record in areas such as managed services, disaster recovery, and software development, whilst the Pegasus support option provides us with something we didn't have at Fifosys before this acquisition."

Learn more about this acquisition.

T-Mobile confirmed that it would buy "substantially all" wireless operations from US Cellular in an effort to acquire a number of its spectrum licenses as well as its stores. The deal is valued at $4.4 billion in assets, but will leave the "un-carrier" with its cell towers.

“As customers from both companies will get more coverage and more capacity from our combined footprint, our competitors will be forced to keep up — and even more consumers will benefit," T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said. "The 'un-carrier' is all about shaking up wireless for the good of consumers and this deal is another way for us to continue doing even more of that.”

You can read more about T-Mobile's deal.

Bluewave Technology Group has continued its acquisition of technology advisory companies with the purchase of ForesTel. The West Linn, Oregon-based ForesTel and owner Dennis Allen entered into a financially undisclosed transaction with New Jersey-based Bluewave.

“With 35 years of strategic advisory expertise and a strong reputation in the Portland area for client care, ForesTel not only extends our reach in the U.S. but also enhances our dedication to client advocacy,” said Bluewave CEO Seth Penland.

Learn more about Bluewave's acquisition.

N-able's leadership appears intent on making 2024 a year of transformation for its company. This could include taking acquisition offers.

“We’re looking to transform the company – and if we do it right, the industry – on a couple of different pillars,” N-able CEO John Pagliuca said earlier this year.

One of those methods for transformation could feature the company being purchased by cybersecurity vendor Barracuda Networks. The acquisition is still in discussion, but those discussions were confirmed to Reuters.

Learn more about the deal and its implications.

Cloudflare acquired BastionZero in an attempt to get its zero trust access platform to beef up its own Cloudflare One SASE platform.

“Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud already positions our partners for growth when it comes to helping companies benefit from a faster, safer and more reliable internet,” Nitin Rao, Cloudflare’s interim chief product officer said. “A big part of that is our position as the world’s largest SASE network. The addition of BastionZero takes our zero-trust approach beyond apps and networks, and into infrastructure. This is something we regularly hear as a pain point for our customers and we’re happy to help them solve it in collaboration with our partners.”

Learn more about the deal.

Cloudflare acquired BastionZero in an attempt to get its zero trust access platform to beef up its own Cloudflare One SASE platform.

“Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud already positions our partners for growth when it comes to helping companies benefit from a faster, safer and more reliable internet,” Nitin Rao, Cloudflare’s interim chief product officer said. “A big part of that is our position as the world’s largest SASE network. The addition of BastionZero takes our zero-trust approach beyond apps and networks, and into infrastructure. This is something we regularly hear as a pain point for our customers and we’re happy to help them solve it in collaboration with our partners.”

Learn more about the deal.