Scott Putnam, President, Apex Technology Management

“The right PE partner makes a lot of sense because the MSP business is a profitable one. However, they are also cash-intensive, and so it allows owners to free up millions of dollars of asset values that they have tied up in their business without selling out their company. In our case, we were able to take some chips off the table and free up personal wealth and liquidity, all while remaining “in the game” and with all of the upside potential we see coming.

“It makes a lot of sense for PE firms because they have a lot of money on the sidelines. They need to snap up places to get a good return. The consistent MRR model creates a very reliable/consistent cash flow that provides a good return on that money. There are many factors involved, but overall I think this is positive for our industry. As with anything like this, there are good partners and bad partners and many have done a disservice to the industry and created a lot of problems and a bad reputation for both PE firms and for MSPs. However, the right equity partners can help a business owner accelerate their vision, and have more fun doing it.”