ASGN is acquiring GlideFast Consulting, a ServiceNow IT consulting partner, for $350 million in cash. The seller is private equity firm BV Investment Partners. which has owned GlideFast since September 2020. The deal is expected to close in July 2022.
This is technology M&A deal number 523 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022.
ASGN Acquires ServiceNow IT Consulting Partner: About the Buyer and Seller
GlideFast, founded in 2015, is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. GlideFast has 350 ServiceNow consultants who support implementations, integrations, managed support and application development. The consulting team -- carrying 1,800 certifications -- has completed 1,500 ServiceNow projects, the seller indicated.
ASGN, founded in 1985, is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia. The company provides IT services and solutions, including technology and creative digital marketing, across the commercial and government sectors. ASGN has 16,720 employees listed on LinkedIn.
IT Consulting M&A Deal Valuation - Rough Estimates: Poke around the M&A announcement and you can get a rough feel for the deal's valuation. For instance:
- GlideFast expects to generate $95 million in revenue for the full year 2022 and EBITDA margins in the mid-teens.
- Let's assume "mid-teens" EBITDA margins means roughly 15%.
- At $95 million in revenue, that equates to $14.25 million in EBITDA.
- The $350 million M&A deal is therefore valued at roughly 25X annual EBITDA for 2022. The math: $350 million divided by $14.25 million = 24.56.
- Admittedly, that's a rough estimate since we don't known actual EBTIDA margins or actual EBITDA results for 2022.
ASGN Acquires GlideFast: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the deal, ASGN CEO Ted Hanson said:
“Consistent with our three-year strategic growth plan, our acquisition of GlideFast supports ASGN’s commitment to acquire in-demand commercial consulting companies whose growth, combined with anticipated revenue synergies and the organic growth of our underlying business, will bring ASGN closer to our goal of $6 billion in revenues by 2024. By aligning our current IT consulting offerings with that of GlideFast’s expertise, we will jumpstart our ServiceNow business within Apex Consulting Services and immediately gain access to an industry-leading salesforce and consulting team. Together, we will ensure that ASGN’s commercial client base has the right talent to push forward the next generation of enterprise business process modernization.”
Added ASGN President Rand Blazer:
“We look forward to welcoming GlideFast to ASGN and together building a world-class ServiceNow consulting team. With significant client synergies along with the cultural similarities amongst our two businesses, we will quickly and strategically scale GlideFast’s operations within our current customer base, while at the same time leverage their value-added services and proven track record to build upon our growing new business pipeline.”
Noted GlideFast CEO Michael Lombardo:
“GlideFast is the 2022 Global Elite Partner of the year. We are excited to continue to expand our ServiceNow practice by delivering top notch implementation services to ASGN’s Fortune 1000 customers. This investment from ASGN will greatly enhance our ability to serve the ServiceNow marketplace."
Concluded Matt Kinsey, managing partner at BV Investment Partners:
"We partnered with the founders of GlideFast because we shared their vision that the company could build upon its presence in the ServiceNow ecosystem and help companies optimize their investments in the ServiceNow platform. We're extremely proud of what the team, led by Mike Lombardo, has accomplished over such a short time horizon and look forward to seeing the business continue to expand and innovate in partnership with ASGN."
BV invested in GlideFast in 2020 and merged it with sister company Pharicode in 2021.
ASGN, GlideFast: Previous IT Consulting Acquisitions
ASGN has M&A experience. The company previously acquired:
- ServiceNow partner Integrated Solutions Management (ISM) in December 2020.
- LeapFrog Systems in September 202o.
- Intersys Consulting in October 2019.
Meanwhile, GlideFast also has M&A experience. The company acquired ServiceNow partner CloudPires in April 2021, and also merged with Pharicode that year.
