Crayon is acquiring cloud distributor Rhipe, which manages subscription-based licenses for more than 3,000 IT resellers. The deal is expected to be finalized on November 3, 2021. Financial terms were not disclosed.
This is technology M&A deal number 645 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.
In some ways, Rhipe's Australia-based business sounds similar to that of North America's Pax8, Sherweb and Zix -- three firms that have cloud dashboards for MSPs to source third-party products.
Crayon Buys Rhipe: Business Backgrounds
Rhipe, based in Sydney, Australia, allows resellers to access third-party cloud infrastructure, productivity, security, business continuity and business applications. Key partners include Access4, Acronis, Microsoft, Nerdio, Octopus Cloud, SmartEncrypt, Veeam, Wiise, VMware and Zoom, according to Rhipe's website.
Rhipe, founded in 2003, also offers IT support, marketing, migration, implementation and managed services to assist resellers with various cloud services.
Rhipe has 600 employees and M&A experience. Indeed, Rhipe acquired Microsoft Azure partner Parallo in September 2020 and cybersecurity distributor emt in April 2021.
Meanwhile, Crayon of Oslo, Norway, opened its first Australia offices in August 2019. Key Crayon acquisitions have included Oracle specialist Navicle, and Winc’s software licensing operations. Also, Crayon invested in Cloud Direct -- a Microsoft Azure Expert MSP -- in September 2021.
Crayon Buys Cloud Services Business That Supports Resellers: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the Crayon-Rhipe deal, Crayon CEO Melissa Mulholland said:
“We are incredibly excited to welcome rhipe to the Crayon family as part of our global expansion strategy. Rhipe is a leading distributor of cloud solutions and services in the Asia Pacific region and through our combined business models, we will help more customers and partners solve their business needs with a greater portfolio of solutions.”
Added Rhipe Chairman Gary Cox:
“The shareholders of rhipe and the rhipe Board have both overwhelmingly concluded the Scheme represents an attractive outcome for our shareholders, partners, customers, and staff. rhipe’s partners and customers will benefit from the broader global service capability from a combined Crayon and rhipe. In addition, Crayon’s offer is positive news for rhipe’s staff, as we believe there will be increased career opportunities in a larger and more diverse, combined company.”
