Venture Technologies’ recent acquisition of WhiteLight Group signals its determination to push deeper into ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies.
Contrary to some reports, FlatWorld Capital didn’t invest in the deal. Rather, the company acted as a financial management advisor by assisting Venture with securing funding. Financial terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed.
“WhiteLight Group diversifies the Venture platform,” Gerard R. Gibert, CEO of Venture Technologies, told ChannelE2E. Both companies expect the acquisition will enable Venture to push deeper into ERPoriented services by spanning onpremises, managed services, hosting and cloud.
“Business development resources and account managers from both companies are identifying opportunities and working those jointly,” he said. “WhiteLight Group has numerous customers that are candidates for Venture’s core premise infrastructure, but more importantly, our cloud services.”
Talented Team
Within the Venture platform, WhiteLight will be established as a new business applications business unit. Technical architects and software consultants from both businesses will collaborate to "design truly turnkey solutions” and “deliver bestinclass solutions from a single partner,” Gibert noted.
Going forward, the transition will stay "as nondisruptive as possible," Gibert said. Operations will, for the most part, remain the same. WhiteLight has not yet tapped a president of the newlycreated business unit.
“The true value is in crossselling and increasing the size of the pie, as opposed to slicing it up and micromanaging it,” he said.
Venture has offices in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Wyoming. It also owns and operates certified data centers (known as VTCloud) in Jackson, Mississippi, Englewood Colorado and Casper, Wyoming.
M&A, Headcount and Future Acquisitions
The deal itself has come a long way. Discussions between the two companies began in late 2014. “This was a natural fit, and for the past few years, I’ve sensed a convergence of infrastructure and application software — driven by IoT, SDN, cloud and other market dynamics,” said Gibert, who has a background in enterprise business process and applications.
Venture’s headcount went from 100 to 210 after it merged with Information Systems Consulting (ISC) and acquired Strategic Allied Technologies (SAT) in late 2014. Its latest deal with WhiteLight brings its total headcount to about 260.
The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based IT solution provider’s acquisition strategy focuses on expanding its three core practices: premise infrastructure solutions, cloud solutions and business application services. Several investment firms will provide capital for future investments.
Funding is provided via senior debt financing from Wells Fargo Commercial Distribution Finance and White Oak Global Advisors, and mezzanine debt financing from Spring Capital Partners, Bay Capital Investment Partners and Harbert Mezzanine Partners, he said.
The IoT Play
Venture not only made a move to take on a new array of ERP implementations and managed services; it additionally added IoT connectivity to it portfolio by sweeping up WhiteLight’s focus on technology consulting for the manufacturing industry. “Manufacturers are early adopters of IoT technologies, such as sensors incorporated into process manufacturing,” Gibert said.
He also mentioned that WhiteGroup's core business model will help clients with leveraging these “new technologies, and Venture will design and implement secure, reliable network solutions that connect these ‘things’ to applications.”
We’ll be sure to check in on Venture Technologies' progress in the months ahead.
Contributing Editor CJ Arlotta tracks reseller, VAR and MSP transformations for ChannelE2E. Read his contributions here.
