It's official: Vista Equity Partners, an American venture capital and private equity firm, has acquired backup and data recovery (BDR) solutions provider Datto and will merge the company with IT business management software company Autotask.
ChannelE2E reported the news exclusively yesterday. The companies confirmed the deal today. Our coverage ahead of the deal announcement included:
Official Announcement
Datto and Autotask together will provide business continuity, file sync and share, professional services automation (PSA) and remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions to MSPs around the world, according to a prepared statement released today.
A combined management team will lead the merged entity, with Datto founder and CEO Austin McChord serving as CEO, Vista stated. In addition, Autotask CEO Mark Cattini will work with McChord and the combined team as a strategic advisor to the board of directors.
Moreover, both Datto and Autotask will continue to operate under their respective brands for the time being. The companies also are working together to develop a joint roadmap "to provide seamless solutions that meet the evolving needs and drive value for all ... customers and partners," Vista indicated.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. Datto was advised by Morgan Stanley on the sale; the company previously hired Morgan Stanley to pursue potential suitors, two sources told ChannelE2E earlier this month.
What Does the Transaction Mean for MSPs?
The combination of Autotask's IT management solutions and Datto's data protection solutions creates a single provider to meet the needs of MSPs from operations through service delivery, according to Vista. It also may provide significant growth opportunities for MSPs in a variety of areas.
Datto and Autotask together possess a unique combination of talent and expertise, McChord said. As such, the combined organizations will deliver an "unprecedented set of capabilities" to help MSPs serve millions of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the future, McChord stated.
Furthermore, Datto and Autotask boast a combined 13,000 customers who support more than 500,000 SMBs across 125 countries, Vista said, and the combined organizations could develop solutions to help MSPs increase their revenues and extend their reach. On a side note: SolarWinds MSP, without necessarily referring to the Autotask-Datto deal, this morning said SolarWinds' offerings currently serve 20,000 MSPs, making it the largest player in the ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Vista is crowing about the the Autotask-Datto business combination. "Bringing Autotask together with Datto's impressive talent and deep expertise in backup and networking solutions will take us to the next level and deliver extraordinary tools and services to MSPs worldwide," Vista co-founder Brian Sheth said in a prepared statement.
Datto offers BDR services, including cloud-to-cloud backup services for software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. All Datto services are delivered via MSPs, which help safeguard data for thousands of companies globally.
Meanwhile, Autotask provides an IT business management solution that combines RMM, service desk, customer relationship management (CRM), projects, time and billing and reporting into a unified platform.
