Ensono, a Top 250 Public Cloud MSP backed by KKR, has acquired ExperSolve, a mainframe application migration company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. martinwolf acted as advisor to ExperSolve.
This is technology M&A deal number 44 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022. See more than 1,000 technology M&A deals for 2022, 2021, and 2020 listed here.
In addition to IT consulting expertise, ExperSolve has proprietary software that converts COBOL and other mainframe programming languages to modern languages such as Java and C#. The automation tools simplify mainframe migrations to privatre and public clouds, the seller indicated.
ExperSolve will be branded as “ExperSolve, an Ensono company,” retaining all current employees. The acquired business tucks into Ensono’s Advisory and Consulting Practice under Mainframe and Security Consulting. ExperSolve Founder and President Noah Ross shifts to managing principal at Ensono.
Ensono Acquires Mainframe Modernization Expertise: Executive Statements
In a prepared statement about the deal, Ross said:
“A key focus for Ensono is its clients’ digital preparedness and long-term success, which is why ExperSolve aligns well with Ensono. Both companies are dedicated to innovation that will help our clients meet their business outcomes and stay relevant in today’s enterprise. We look forward to supporting Ensono clients by expanding its mainframe modernization services and capabilities.”
Added Ensono Senior Vice President, Advisory and Consulting, Larry Goldberg:
“Ensono is committed to being a relentless ally to our clients and meeting their needs for today while helping them prepare for the future. Our clients’ needs are evolving at an ever-growing pace and therefore our client sponsors want additional reliable choices that our Advisory and Consulting services can provide. Whether its modernizing applications so they can continue to be supported on existing infrastructure, or migrating them to a cloud platform, our goal is to have a robust set of end-to-end or lifecycle solutions that help our clients meet their business outcomes. ExperSolve’s proficiency in modernizing legacy applications is an impactful addition as we continue to provide our clients with lifecycle managed services, grow our mainframe modernization services and help clients get the right workloads on the right platform.”
Ensono now employs more than 2,700 associates, and the multi-cloud MSP is headquartered in greater Chicago.
Ensono: MSP Business Background, Ownership & Previous Acquisitions
KKR acquired Ensono for an estimated $1.7 billion valuation from private equity firms Charlesbank Capital and M/C Partners in April 2021.
Charlesbank Capital and M/C Partners had acquired Ensono — the former Axciom IT business — in May 2015 for $190 million in cash. The MSP re-emerged as Ensono, backed by a new management team, in January 2016.
Ensono has grown organically and through additional acquisitions. Key deals included acquiring:
- Amido, a cloud-native consultancy in the United Kingdom, in 2021.
- Wipro’s data center services business in 2018.
- Inframon, a UK-based Microsoft Azure cloud partner, in June 2017.
- Attenda, a UK-based provider of hybrid IT managed services, in September 2016.
