**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting mergers in Nov.-Dec. 2015 or here to see which channel people were on the move in December.**

TierPoint, the cloud, colocation and managed-services provider, says it is acquiring Cosentry, gaining additional data centers and markets.

Cosentry, also a provider of cloud, colocation and managed services based in Omaha, Nebraska, operates nine data centers in several Midwest markets, including: Omaha; St. Louis; Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Milwaukee. Upon closing, Cosentry will become a subsidiary of TierPoint and operate under the TierPoint brand. At that time, private equity firm TA Associates, which acquired Cosentry in 2011, will become a significant investor in TierPoint, joining RedBird Capital Partners, Cequel III, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the Stephens Group, JZ Advisers and Thompson Street Capital Partners.

Patrick Baczenas, TierPoint’s marketing manager, tells Channel Partners that until the acquisition closes in March, “it’s premature to speculate or comment on what this may mean for partners.”{ad}

TierPoint recently purchased Windstream Hosted Solutions (WHS) for $575 million in cash.

“Cosentry is an excellent company with great people and this acquisition gives us a significant, strategic advantage in key Midwest markets, where there is an increasing demand for data center services,” said Jerry Kent, TierPoint’s chairman and CEO. “The combination of TierPoint and Cosentry will bring economies of scale, which benefits our customers, and the addition of TA Associates to an already strong investor group brings additional financial firepower.”

When the acquisition is final, TierPoint will operate 38 data centers nationally in 24 markets and serve more than 6,000 customers. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“TierPoint can offer our customers an even more robust portfolio of cloud and managed services than we currently have available,” said Brad Hokamp, Cosentry’s CEO. “TierPoint’s expanded data center footprint, which spans 19 markets coast to coast, will also give our customers additional geographic options to meet their growing business needs.”

Also making news, TierPoint announced the appointment of four former Windstream Hosted Solutions (WHS) executives – Jeff Bertocci, Kevin Farnham, Rob Carter and Rob Fewkes – to key leadership roles.

Bertocci has been named senior vice president, service delivery, while Farnham joins John Holland as senior vice presidents of sales. Carter has been named senior vice president, solutions engineering, and Fewkes has been named VP, cloud technology.

“One of the most important benefits of our acquisition of Windstream Hosted Solutions is the team of tremendous people who helped make the organization so successful … ” said Tom McMillin, TierPoint’s president and chief operating officer. “We are extremely pleased and excited to welcome these seasoned executives as part of the TierPoint senior leadership team.”