Private equity firm Great Hill Partners has hired a former software executive who has extensive MSP software, service provider and IT automation market experience.
Indeed, Suaad Sait -- a former SolarWinds and Rackspace executive, and former Auvik Networks board member -- has joined Great Hill Partners as growth partner.
Sait will work "collaboratively with Great Hill investment teams to explore new investment opportunities and portfolio company management teams to help design and execute their growth strategies," the private equity firm said.
Sait previously was:
- President of SharpSpring, a SaaS-based revenue growth platform that was acquired and taken private by Constant Contact.
- President of growth at InsideSales.
- Executive VP of products and markets at SolarWinds.
- Chief marketing officer of Rackspace, the multi-cloud MSP.
Great Hill Partners: Private Equity for MSPs, Cloud Services
Great Hill, based in Boston, typically invests $25 million to $500 million in target companies. Key areas of focus include software, digital commerce, financial technology, healthcare, and digital infrastructure sectors.
Great Hill Partners has extensive experience in and around the MSP software and service provider markets. Key investments include:
- Auvik Networks, a provider of network management software for MSPs and corporate IT professionals.
- Evolve IP, a cloud MSP that offers unified communications, Microsoft Teams, Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and contact center solutions
- Mission, a Top 250 Public Cloud MSP, according to ChannelE2E research.
MSP and IT Automation Software Expert Joins Great Hill: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about Sait, Great Hill Managing Director Chris Busby said:
“We’re excited to deepen the capabilities of our Growth Partner program with the addition of an executive of Suaad’s caliber. With decades of experience implementing successful growth and business improvement strategies across the technology industry, Suaad has a wealth of industry expertise that will help drive value across our portfolio.”
Drew Loucks, a managing director at Great Hill, added:
“We’re thrilled to welcome Suaad to Great Hill during this dynamic, exciting time for the technology sector at large. Suaad will be a fantastic resource for our investment teams as well as the management teams we partner with as we help our portfolio companies enhance their strategic value and achieve their full potential.”
Concluded Sait:
“I’m honored to join the Great Hill team, who are trusted partners driving transformational results for their portfolio companies. Having the unique and fortunate opportunity to serve as a Board member of a Great Hill-backed company, I saw first-hand the firm’s differentiated approach to identifying and executing compelling investments supported by its value-add resources. I have been impressed by the array of disruptive companies and high-caliber management teams that Great Hill has backed to-date and am thrilled to work with the firm to continue enhancing strategic value for industry insurgents.”
Private Equity in the MSP Market
Dozens of private equity firms now focus on the MSP market. The attraction involves monthly recurring revenues (MRR), generally predictable profits, aging business owners, and a highly fragmented market that’s primed for rollups and tuck-in deals.
Some of the new or recently formed funds to watch include:
- Alpine Investors raised $2.25 billion, and a portion of that money has been earmarked for more MSP investments and acquisitions.
- Trinity Hunt Partners Fund VI, which raised $460 million. Trinity is well-known for IT services investments.
- Summit Partners Growth Equity Fund XI, which raised $8.35 billion. The firm’s existing investments include NinjaRMM and Red Canary.
- Thoma Bravo raised $22.8 billion in October 2020, and was preparing more funds as of mid-2021. Thoma Bravo already owns and/or backs multiple companies in the MSP-centric technology businesses. The investments span Barracuda, ConnectWise, N-able, Sophos and more.
Track all private equity firms acquiring MSPs here.
