11 Massive M&A Deals Reshaping The Channel: July 2016

The Channel Goes Vertical

The channel was hungry for vertical expertise last month, with five of the 11 acquired firms specializing in solutions for such industries as health care, retail, legal, industrial or automotive.

Digital and design services were also in high demand, with thee of the 11 having carved out niches in such areas as user behavior, the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and social sciences-based IT development.

Meanwhile, five of the 11 acquiring companies can be found in CRN's Solution Provider 500.

Among the acquisition targets, five are based abroad, two are in the Midwest, two in the South, one on the West Coast and another based in the Northeast. They employ a combined 26,400.

Acquisitions are ranked based on the total number of employees at the firms being acquired.

11. Datavail

Company acquired: Art of BI

Headcount: 1-10 employees

Annual Revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase Price: Not disclosed

Date of Announcement: July 25

Oracle partner and database services provider Datavail acquired Oracle analytics consulting company Art of BI to bolster its offerings around OBIEE and Hyperion.

The Broomfield, Colo.-based services provider said the acquisition will give Datavail increased consulting expertise and a range of software products that will extend its capabilities around OBIEE and accelerates the implementation of Hyperion.

Following the acquisition, Christian Screen, founder and CEO of Fort Mill, S.C.-based Art of BI, will become the leader of Datavail’s Oracle BI practice.

10. Champion Solutions Group

Company acquired: Midrange Support & Service, Inc.

Head count: 1-10 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: July 26

Champion Solutions Group bought a specialist around the IBM i and Power solutions to enhance its IBM technical skill sets.

The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company – No. 224 on CRN's Solution Provider 500 – said its purchase will capitalize on Midrange Support & Service's 20-year heritage and intellectual property around IBM i to meet an ever-growing demand from clients.

As a result of the acquisition, Champion can now assist with migration, disaster recovery, remote support and project management around IBM i. The deal will also give clients of Midrange, based in Delray Beach, Fla., access to additional vendors such as Cisco, Microsoft, Net App, Red Hat and VMware.

9. Delta Risk LLC

Company acquired: Allied InfoSecurity

Head count: 11-50 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: July 14

Cybersecurity and risk management company Delta Risk LLC bought a security partner specializing in the mid-market space and plans to go after more health care customers.

The San Antonio-based company's purchase of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Allied InfoSecurity will strengthen the combined company in security exercise training and evaluation as well as managed security services.

The threats facing mid-market companies have multiplied as an increase in bad actors has resulted in small and mid-sized enterprises being targeted for cyberattacks more frequently. This puts mid-size businesses in a tough position since they lack the security resources of a large organization, but still face the same threats.

8. Unitas Global

Company acquired: AOS Cloud

Head count: 28 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: July 29

Enterprise-facing cloud services provider Unitas Global acquired the cloud services arm of Alexander Open Systems, adding several services to its portfolio and bolstering its engineering capabilities.

The acquisition of Overland Park, Kan.-based AOS Cloud, which brings with it the expertise of operations engineers, is important for the growing Unitas, based in Los Angeles.

Unitas will integrate a number of AOS’ cloud backup and monitoring solutions, bolstering Unitas’ current provisioning and monitoring solutions and its managed hosting and services portfolio.

With the acquisition, Unitas will pick up all 80 AOS Cloud clients in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Missouri, more than tripling Unitas' client roster.

7. Accenture

Company acquired: Tecnilógica

Head count: 70 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: July 28

Accenture – No. 2 on CRN's Solution Provider 500 – bought Madrid-based open-source technology specialist Tecnilógica to bolster the systems integrator's capabilities around developing omni-channel retail platforms for mobile, web, touchscreens, wearables and IoT-enabled devices.

Tecnilógica will be folded into Accenture's digital arm and will improve its capabilities in Europe thanks to an increased number of resources in Spain.

6. Cal Net Technology Group

Company acquired: inhouseIT

Head count: 51-200 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: July 29

Cal Net Technology Group bought a fellow Southern California MSP to boost its scale and grow its portfolio of solutions.

The Chatsworth, Calif.-based company, No. 454 on CRN's Solution Provider 500, said its purchase of Costa Mesa, Calif.-based inhouseIT – Orange County's largest MSP – will provide the company with more depth and breadth of technical expertise.

This is Cal Net's third acquisition in the past two years, as the CRN MSP 150 Elite list member looks to build expertise around everything from managed services and disaster recovery to document management and infrastructure implementation.

5. Accenture

Company acquired: Mobgen

Head count: 160 employees

Annual revenue: $10.7 million

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: July 19

End-to-end digital services company Mobgen was acquired by Dublin-based consulting giant Accenture and has been folded into the company’s digital arm to improve Accenture’s mobility services in Europe.

Mobgen is headquartered in The Netherlands, and also has offices in Spain. The company employs more than 160 people and develops solutions for both mobile devices and Internet of Things (IoT) products.

According to a statement from Accenture – No. 2 on CRN's Solution Provider 500 - Mobgen integrates its digital solutions into existing systems and maintains them as a service, providing big-data analytics insights about user behavior and solution performance.

4. Cognizant

Company acquired: Idea Couture

Head count: 170 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of Announcement: July 28

Cognizant purchased Toronto-based design firm Idea Couture to increase its investment in social science-based IT development.

The Teaneck, N.J.-based company - No. 7 on CRN's Solution Provider 500 - gained social scientists, strategists, anthropologists, user-experience experts, designers and product developers in the acquisition, which the company says will help it connect social sciences research with the design and creation of real-life solutions focused on solving real-world problems.

The acquisition builds on the investment Cognizant made in April when it acquired a 49-percent stake in Copenhagen-based human sciences consultancy ReD Associates.

3. OMERS Private Equity

Company acquired: Epiq Systems

Head count: 1,300 employees

Annual revenue: $505.9 million

Purchase price: $1 billion

Date of announcement: July 27

OMERS Private Equity plans to buy legal IT specialist Epiq Systems and combine it with legal process outsourcing powerhouse DTI.

Shareholders of the Kansas City, Kan.-based company, No. 165 on the 2010 CRN VAR 500, will receive $16.50 in cash per share of stock, a 42-percent premium above the value before media rumors of an acquisition began to circulate.

The combination of Epiq and DTI is expected to deliver significant benefits to clients, including a broadened range of products and services, an expanded geographic footprint, a deeper bench of expertise, and bolstered data security protocols.

2. Avnet

Company acquired: Premier Farnell

Head count: 3,600 employees

Annual revenue: $1.19 billion

Purchase price: $908 million

Date of announcement: July 28

Avnet struck a deal to purchase an electronics components distributor to better target the industrial Internet of Things market with edge-to-enterprise products and solutions.

The Phoenix-based distributor said its offer for Leeds, U.K.-based Premier Farnell and its online services would dramatically accelerate Avnet's digital capabilities, providing the company with stronger pure-play offerings in both the broad-line and high-value spaces.

Avnet's all-cash offer of $2.43 per share represented a 12.1 percent premium over Datwyler Technical Components' June 14 offer of $2.17. Avnet approached Premier Farnell about a possible competing bid after the Datwyler offer was announced.

1. Synnex

Company acquired: Minacs Group

Head count: 21,000 employees

Annual revenue: $400 million

Purchase price: $420 million

Date of announcement: July 11

Synnex acquired business process outsourcing company Minacs Group for $420 million last month to build up its Concentrix global services division.

This is the first acquisition the Fremont, Calif.-based distributor has made in the last two years and is intended to increase Concentrix’s capabilities in the automotive industry while boosting its marketing and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.

Minacs, based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, has U.S. operations based in Farmington Hills, Mich.