Top IT, MSP M&A, Private Investment Deals of Q2 2022 So Far
M&A activity is still at an all-time high, and gaining momentum. Here are some deals that have occurred in Q2 2022.
May 5, 2022
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cBEYONData completed the acquisition of Alta Via Consulting. Founded in 1998, Alta Via Consulting is a provider of ERP consulting services centered around improving clients’ operations by maximizing value from existing business processes and information systems. As an SAP development partner since its inception, Alta Via is a blend of SAP, process, industry, and design knowledge.
The combined firm will have more than 240 employees delivering ERP architecture and design, business intelligence, financial management, cloud migration and robotic process automation solutions. The firm’s clients include the U.S. Army, the Department of Justice, and the General Services Administration and others. cBEYONData is a portfolio company of Bluestone Investment Partners.
“We see a huge opportunity for the firm to help our collective customers transform how they do business,” Dyson Richards, CEO of cBEYONData, said. “The synergies in our talent, culture and technology expertise will enable us to expand our offerings and deliver immediate value to current and future customers.”
Krish Compusoft Services has acquired Biarca, a cloud security and compliance specialist. This acquisition is designed to strengthen KCS’s digital transformation portfolio with security operations as a service, DevSecOps and continuous compliance.
“KCS has always been at the forefront of technology, accelerating innovation in the cloud for our customers. We recognize the expanding attack surface and ever-evolving threat vectors in the cloud-first world. This integration with Biarca empowers us to secure all combinations of hybrid, multicloud environments of our customers,” said Vishal Shukla, CEO, KCS.
KCS has grown rapidly over the last 20 years, steadily expanding operations in multiple countries, adding new customer and partner logos, onboarding business leaders and tech experts, building competencies and expanding the services portfolio. It is now ready to move into the next orbit and give an exponential boost to its business with an inorganic growth strategy.
With this strategic acquisition, the company is upbeat about opening doors to new markets, adding cloud security and compliance solutions to its portfolio, extending its delivery team and locations. With Biarca’s experience in security operations, posture management and threat analytics, KCS will roll out a set of specialized cloud security services.
Perception Point acquired Hysolate, a next-gen web isolation platform operating at the endpoint level. The acquisition is designed to deliver protection against all content-based attacks by leveraging three necessary layers of cybersecurity technology: isolation, detection and remediation.
The deal adds web security to Perception Point’s suite of advanced threat protection solutions, and is expected to increase the company’s total available market (TAM) by $7 billion. The joint offering includes complete coverage of all main communication channels, including email, cloud storage platforms, cloud apps and CRM apps, in addition to content and DLP protection in the web domain.
“Web security is undergoing a dramatic evolution, and we believe this is only the beginning,” said Yoram Salinger, CEO of Perception Point. “Organizations across all industries and sizes are exposed to an onslaught of threats stemming from the internet via email or simple web browsing on a daily basis. Coupling Hysolate’s innovative isolation technology and endpoint management capabilities with Perception Point’s prevention and remediation solution transforms Perception Point into a one-stop-shop for all content-based attacks, delivering significant added value to our rapidly growing customer base.”
Founded in 2016, Hysolate has developed a technology which balances between cybersecurity requirements and user experience. The SaaS-based solution allows users to safely browse the web seamlessly and quickly, with no delay, eliminating security risk to the organization’s assets from potentially malicious actors, the company said. Additionally, users can leverage the same environment to protect the company’s sensitive enterprise apps from insider threats and accidental data loss. As a cloud-native solution, the company says it is deployed easily and is geared toward Fortune 500 enterprises as well as SMBs.
Scantron Technology Solutions (STS), a division of Scantron Corp., completed an acquisition of ServRight. ServRight is a technical service and support solutions company based in Alexandria, Virginia, that provides businesses with various support services for hardware ranging from complex electromechanical devices to digital signage, kiosks, lockers, document scanners, printers, servers and more.
“The addition of ServRight technology experts creates an expansive hardware support delivery model to evolve customer experiences, modernize legacy workspaces and deliver long-term success,” said Cathy Pickoski, Scantron CEO. “This acquisition also benefits ServRight customers by providing them enhanced managed services solutions.”
“ServRight has delivered high-quality products and services for more than 25 years with a strong customer base and is a key strategic investment for STS,” said James Oh, partner at Transom and owner of Scantron Corp. “Managed services is the core of STS, and this acquisition strengthens their position in the market.”
The combination of STS and ServRight resources provides a single-source technology outsourcing opportunity for businesses of any size, vertical or geographic footprint to address IT staffing challenges, mitigate supply chain issues and provide a greater return on technology investments, the companies said.
Sourcepass announced that it added Suite3 to its portfolio of innovative IT companies focused on serving small to midsize businesses (SMBs). The deal is Sourcepass’ second acquisition in 30 days and will not only boost the company’s solutions targeting the financial service industry, but also grow the company’s reach in the Northeast, expanding its footprint into 43 states.
“According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, SMBs made up 99.9% of U.S. businesses in 2020 and their employees account for almost half of the U.S. workforce. However, they often have difficulty accessing the capabilities and resources that would help them grow,” said Chuck Canton, chairman and founder of Sourcepass. “That is why Sourcepass looks for the best IT companies serving this market – like Suite3 – to give SMBs tools to be competitive. It is good for the companies, good for the IT partners we select, and ultimately good for the U.S. economy.”
Suite3 provides managed network, cloud migration and management, cybersecurity and IT support services to more than 6,000 managed customer endpoints. Its clients span more than eight industries, with a strong focus on financial services.
ICS acquired Unified Networking Solutions (UNS), a provider of IT products and services in southeastern Massachusetts.
Headquartered in Raynham, Massachusetts, UNS was founded in 2010 and has grown by helping local government, education and commercial clients throughout New England achieve success by providing technology solutions and support. UNS offers managed IT services, hardware and software procurement and implementation services.
Kevin Blake, CEO of ICS, said: “We are thrilled to have the Unified staff join the ICS Family. ICS’ mission is to make a difference in our employees’ lives, our customers’ businesses, and the communities we serve. It was clear that Unified’s culture and core values fit right in with ours. We are looking forward to growing our northeastern footprint through future acquisitions.”
Pixel Group, the parent company of the cloud-centric IT services and data analytics specialist Perfect Image, acquired Technique, a Berkshire-based MSP. The addition of Technique further evidences Pixel Group’s accelerated growth strategy, following the acquisition of cybersecurity specialist Cyphra in 2021.
Greg Baker, the newly appointed general manager of Technique, will work closely with the founders, who will remain in role and part of the management team to ensure the transaction is smooth and seamless for Technique’s employees, customers and partners. Operating within the Pixel Group’s group strategy, the acquisition will create a specialist MSP focused on providing secure end-to-end IT solutions to midmarket organizations and SMEs across the UK.
The acquisition will allow the group to establish a foothold in the South of England (Thatcham), to complement the existing operations in the North of England (Newcastle), Scotland (Glasgow) and Northern Ireland (Belfast), giving greater geographical reach, broader market penetration and increased sales momentum across the UK. Furthermore, the move provides significant cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to accelerate growth and drive new and incremental revenues across the Perfect Image, Cyphra and Technique customer bases, the company said.
Luxembourg-based Sword Group recently bought Scottish MSP Ping Network Solutions.
Sword Group described Ping as “an award-winning network and security systems integrator and managed service provider.” The company has a revenue forecast of about €13 million for 2022.
Ping is based at Bellshill in Lanarkshire and also has offices in Glasgow and Aberdeen. Certified to Cisco CCIE level, it provides networking solutions to the energy, financial services, education, public sector, manufacturing and construction markets. It has a bespoke, 24×7 network operations center (NOC).
Sword Group, which has 430 staff and more than 100 contractors in its UK business, said Ping’s 80 employees will transfer over to its operation.
Netrix’s acquisition of Edrans brings substantial scale to Netrix’s cloud solutions portfolio and adds advanced technical capabilities to better serve the company’s growing global customer base. Joining Netrix’s international team based in the United States, India, Bulgaria and the Philippines, Edrans’ accredited consultants and developers serve customers from near- and off-shore delivery centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Barcelona, Spain, with additional personnel in the United States, Mexico, and Uruguay. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The cloud is a foundational component of digital transformation. Sophisticated cloud capabilities and a global delivery model are critical to Netrix’s strategy of supporting clients as they seek to transform and optimize their businesses and leave behind siloed, inflexible, and expensive IT infrastructure,” said Russell Reeder, CEO of Netrix. “The acquisition of Edrans is a continuation of our strategy to bolster our core pillars of security, cloud and IT solutions while also expanding our team of highly talented personnel across the globe. We are thrilled to welcome our new team members from Argentina, Spain, Uruguay, Mexico, and the United States to Netrix and look forward to partnering together to support our clients and foster a culture of growth across our global team.”
Edrans provides a wide range of enterprise cloud solutions, including strategy, migration, application modernization, development, recurring cloud managed services, DevOps as a service, and cloud cost optimization solutions. Edrans builds and supports advanced cloud capabilities, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, and advanced data engineering and analytics. Edrans supports customers in the United States and globally with a team of over 130 employees, including nearly 120 certified and accredited cloud consultants and developers with experience across AWS and Microsoft Azure.
New Charter Technologies recently announced a partnership with Systems Solutions. Systems Solutions is a provider of commercial network consulting, design, implementation management, and network support in the region.
New Charter Technologies CEO Mitch Morgan is excited to welcome Systems Solutions to the growing roster of North American MSPs. According to Morgan, “The team at Systems Solutions has a long history of great client service and has established a strong presence in the Kentucky market. Tim Farmer’s reputation in the industry as an exceptional entrepreneur solidifies Systems Solutions as a perfect fit for New Charter.”
By partnering with New Charter, Systems Solutions is ready to accelerate its growth and bring an enhanced level of products and service offerings to their clients, including advanced security offerings.
Ascend Technologies recently announced its strategic growth acquisition of fellow Chicago-based IT leader, Peters & Associates.
Ascend Technologies launched two years ago with a commitment to using innovation and technology to enable business growth. The addition of Peters & Associates expands on that commitment and marks the sixth acquisition for Ascend in partnership with M/C Partners, a private equity firm.
The combined companies bring decades of IT services expertise including cybersecurity, cloud and infrastructure, service desk, and Salesforce solutions prowess.
Service Express recently acquired third-party maintenance provider Trident Computer Resources based in New Jersey.
Founded in 1993, Trident provides data center maintenance and technical support to enterprise and Fortune 500 customers from gaming to health care, higher education and financial institutions. Trident supports a wide variety of OEM server, storage and network hardware in over 65 countries.
The acquisition of Trident aligns well with Service Express’ broader strategy to provide the best experience for IT professionals in the data center worldwide. Solutions delivered by Service Express offer long-term Trident customers additional options for their IT infrastructure needs beyond multivendor support, including cloud, managed services, hardware solutions and more. In the coming months, Trident customers will have the right parts locally stocked before placing a service ticket with the help of OnDeck Predictive Sparing, the company said.
Meriplex recently announced its asset acquisition of Indiana-based managed services provider, Cyberian Technologies. For more than 15 years, Cyberian has been focused on providing custom managed IT, cloud, consulting and security solutions for businesses in the Indiana market.
“We are excited to have Cyberian Technologies joining the Meriplex team and allowing us to have a physical presence in the Midwest,” said David Henley, CEO of Meriplex. “Their technical expertise and excellent customer support will make us successful in moving up-market in Indiana as we continue to expand our presence nation-wide.”
Meriplex focuses on strategically acquiring managed service providers in growing markets to establish a local presence in the region and acquire top talent.
Quatrro Business Support Services announced the acquisition of California-based USWired, a technology service provider with a strong presence in Silicon Valley and throughout California, with Quatrro’s investment partners, VSS and Trivest Partners. With this acquisition, Quatrro is quickly solidifying its position as a major player in the technology-as-a-service (TaaS) market.
This acquisition is part of Quatrro’s strategy of providing clients with a one-stop solution for an array of offerings including managed IT services, cloud services, cybersecurity, business enablement and mobility services, in addition to its accounting and finance, and human resources services, the company said.
“This acquisition is a vital part of our strategy to continue growing Quatrro’s TaaS services globally. I am confident this will be a pivotal point for our company in building our presence and delivery capabilities in technology services including cloud support, IT helpdesk, cybersecurity and professional services that our current, and future clients, will greatly benefit from. We welcome Robin Hau, CEO and Founder of USWired, along with his highly driven team to the Quatrro family. Robin has an impressive background and experience and will play a key role at the leadership level with Quatrro as we continue to grow,” said C M Sharma, chairman and CEO of Quatrro.
Tequity, an M&A advisory firm specializing in global enterprise B2B cloud, SaaS and IT company transactions, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to full-service technology provider, Triella, in its acquisition by Miii MSP.
Triella is a managed service provider in Toronto with in-depth knowledge in the legal sector. Triella helps its clients to maintain and enhance their underlying technology through consulting, assessments, and managed services and solutions. The firm helps to facilitate technology transformations that drive and support business success with their legal clients, and professional services firms, private schools and charitable organizations.
On working with Tequity, Charles Bennett, founder of Triella said, “When the going got tough, we could always count on Wilf to pave a way through the issue by finding a path that would work for all parties. Tequity knows the MSP market in North America really well. Their team ran an efficient process and were able to achieve what we were looking for.”
Miii MSP are long-term growth investors in the MSP market with a mission to become North America’s leading network of innovative, interactive, and integrated managed service providers.
Accenture completed its acquisition of AFD.TECH, an independent network services company specializing in network engineering, operations and services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
AFD.TECH’s team of more than 1,600 highly skilled professionals joins Accenture, bringing multidisciplinary expertise across engineering, design, deployment and operation of next generation networks, such as 5G and fiber.
The expertise of AFD.TECH’s team combined with Accenture’s Cloud First capabilities provides a broad spectrum of proven practices, operational excellence and human ingenuity to help clients drive comprehensive transformation across their various networks, the companies said.
Accenture completed its acquisition of AFD.TECH, an independent network services company specializing in network engineering, operations and services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
AFD.TECH’s team of more than 1,600 highly skilled professionals joins Accenture, bringing multidisciplinary expertise across engineering, design, deployment and operation of next generation networks, such as 5G and fiber.
The expertise of AFD.TECH’s team combined with Accenture’s Cloud First capabilities provides a broad spectrum of proven practices, operational excellence and human ingenuity to help clients drive comprehensive transformation across their various networks, the companies said.
We are now well into the second quarter of 2022, and M&A activity is as white-hot as ever. It’s the new gold rush, with money pouring into and out of pockets everywhere you look.
The growing number of MSP mergers and acquisitions most certainly reflects the interests of private equity in the channel. Put simply, managed services are good business, and we are starting to see larger organizations and investment firms take an interest. Take the recent Kaseya/Datto acquisition, for example. No small exchange there, one might say.
We combed through and pulled together some of the big deals over the last few months. Deals have spanned the gamut, from names like cBEYONData and Krish Compusoft Services to players such as Perception Point and Scantron Technology Solutions.
Scroll through the images above to see a sampling of the latest and greatest M&A and investment deals in the IT/MSP channel this quarter.
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