CarrierSales, CMS Merge

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting mergers in Q3 2014.**

Two of the industry’s oldest master agencies are merging.

CarrierSales and Communication Management Services (CMS) announced on Wednesday that they are joining forces, bringing a significant portion of CMS’ assets and operations into CarrierSales. 

The companies began mulling the deal over the summer and it came to fruition quickly, Richard Murray, president and CEO of CarrierSales, told Channel Partners. Benefits include geographic overlap – CarrierSales is based in Utah and CMS is headquartered in San Diego – and compatible back-office systems. Most of all, CarrierSales was looking for head count to support its growth, Murray said. Adding CMS to its portfolio achieves that goal.

Murray will remain in his current role while Gene Foster, head of CMS, will focus on mobility management.

For partners, the merger promises access to even more services.

“Whether they are looking for cloud design, converged solutions, deployment of a WAN or even traditional telco services, this merger is going to be transformational for CarrierSales and CMS agents,” Foster said in a prepared statement.

Murray agreed, adding the transaction “will encourage agents to consider new revenue opportunities that may have been overlooked in the past.”

Financial terms were not disclosed, as both CarrierSales and CMS are privately held. CarrierSales was founded in 1992; CMS got its start in 1990. Both companies are members of The Alliance; Murray serves as board chairman and Foster is a director.