Channel M&A Roundup: 5 Big Solution Provider Deals

Autumn Acquisitions

It's been a busy fall season so far for channel mergers and acquisitions, many of which are focused on expanding into the cloud services market. Here's a look at five notable deals in recent weeks.

CSC Acquires ServiceMesh

Systems integration giant CSC accelerated its move to the cloud last week with the acquisition of ServiceMesh, an enterprise cloud management company founded in 2008. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ServiceMesh's Agility cloud management platform will be integrated into CSC's existing cloud services portfolio and allow CSC to better manage hybrid cloud environments. CSC said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter of next year.

The ServiceMesh deal follows CSC's acquisition of big data firm Infochimps for an undisclosed price in August.

NTT Buys Virtela Technology Services And RagingWire

Dimension Data parent company NTT Communications made not one but two big acquisitions last week for a total investment of $875 million. First up, NTT purchased Virtela Technology Services, a cloud and managed services firm based in Denver, for $525 million. NTT also acquired an 80 percent stake in RagingWire, a data center co-location service provider based in Sacramento, Calif., for $350 million.

NTT said the deals will help expand the company's cloud and data center services in North America.

Perficient Picks Up CoreMatrix Systems

Perficient made yet another acquisition two weeks ago with its $21.5 million deal for CoreMatrix Systems, an IT consulting firm based in Red Bank, N.J.

Perficient said the addition of CoreMatrix, which specializes in Salesforce.com services, will further strengthen its presence in the Software-as-a-Service and Salesforce markets. Earlier this year, Perficient added another Salesforce-focused solution provider -- San Francisco-based Clear Task -- for $7.9 million. In addition to those two acquisitions, Perficient also bought IT consultant TriTek Solutions in May for $18.5 million.

FishNet Security Buys TorreyPoint

Two top Juniper Networks partners have joined forces as FishNet Security acquired TorreyPoint, a networking consultancy based in Sunnyvale, Calif. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TorreyPoint was named Juniper's 2012 Partner of the Year for the Americas, while FishNet won the same honor in 2010. Both companies also have exhibited rapid growth in recent years. FishNet said the addition of TorreyPoint's staff will strengthen its network infrastructure practice.

Signature Technology Group Grabs GlassHouse Technologies' CSS Division

Signature Technology Group (STG) last week acquired GlassHouse Technologies' Customer Support Services (CSS) division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. STG, which specializes in data center services, said the deal will enhance its global support and delivery services. Phoenix-based STG was featured on CRN's Fast Growth list in both 2012 and 2013. GlassHouse, meanwhile, is a longtime member of CRN's Solution Provider 500 list and filed for an IPO in 2010 but backed off its plan to go public the following year.