AHEAD, an enterprise and cloud MSP backed by private equity firms Centerbridge Partners LP and Berkshire Partners, has acquired vCORE Technology Partners -- an IT solutions provider in Scottsdale, Arizona. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is technology M&A deal number 240 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022. See more than 1,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.
AHEAD Acquires vCORE: MSP and IT Professional Services Details
vCORE, founded in 2010, has 129 employees listed on LinkedIn, and the company had at least $100 million in annual revenue as of 2019, according to that year's Inc. 5000 list. Moreover, vCORE had a 61% three-year growth rate from 2018 through 2020, according to the Inc. 5000 listing for 2021.
vCORE's key areas of focus include cloud automation, modern infrastructure, networking data protection and security. Key vCORE partners include Cisco Systems, Dell Technologies, Nutanix and VMware, among other technology companies listed on the IT solutions provider's website. The company's reach extends across Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, California, and Hawaii.
AHEAD, armed with vCORE, says its business KPIs (key performance indicators) for 2022 include:
- gross annual revenues that will approach $2.5 billion -- up from $2.1 billion in 2020;
- $240 million in professional and managed services revenues; and
- more than 1,300 employees—800 of which are in engineering or client service roles.
AHEAD Acquires vCORE: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the deal, AHEAD founder and CEO Daniel Adamany said:
“The addition of vCORE to the AHEAD family solidifies our position as a premier provider of digital business platforms in the U.S. Together, we’ll better meet the end-to-end needs of our enterprise clients and help them accelerate their transformations to more agile and innovative cloud-native businesses.”
Added Steve Leavitt, vCORE founder and CEO:
“From its inception, vCORE has been all about leveraging the right technology to deliver tremendous business value to our clients, and our capability to succeed in that mission will only grow as we join the AHEAD team. Our two organizations already share a similar culture – built upon a commitment to deliver excellent customer service while giving back to the communities in which we work and live. I’m excited for the new opportunities that the AHEAD platform, a larger portfolio of digital solutions, will bring to our colleagues and our clients.”
AHEAD: Previous MSP and IT Consulting Acquisitions
AHEAD, owned by private equity firms Centerbridge and Berkshire since 2020, has M&A experience. Previous mergers and acquisitions have included:
- Acquiring Vertical Trail in 20221;
- acquiring Platform Consulting Group in early 2020;
- acquiring RoundTower Technologies and Kovarus in September 2020.
- merging with Data Blue while acquiring Sovereign Systems in late 2019; and
- acquiring Link Solutions in July 2019.