Managed Services Merger Creates $60 Million Company

Written by Joe Panettieri 1
February 3, 2010

Merger mania continues in the managed services market. The latest example involves PEQ Services + Solutions of Miamisburg, Ohio, merging with Buchanan Technologies of Dallas, Texas. The resulting MSP will have $60 million in annual revenue and 500 employees worldwide. Here's a closer look.

managed services mergers Merger mania continues in the managed services market. The latest example involves PEQ Services + Solutions of Miamisburg, Ohio, merging with Buchanan Technologies of Dallas, Texas. The resulting MSP will have $60 million in annual revenue and 500 employees worldwide. Here’s a closer look.

PEQ was ranked No. 12 in the 2009 MSPmentor 100 list, which tracks recurring revenue, devices managed and other MSP-centric metrics. (Note: The 2010 edition will be unveiled February 10, 2010). Also of note: The combined PEQ-Buchanan operations would have been large enough to rank around No. 375 on the 2009 VAR500 list. Financial terms of the PEQ-Buchanan deal were not disclosed.

According to a press statement, PEQ and Buchanan will have six customer-facing global offices (Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Kansas, Ontario and Mumbai, India). Two additional offices (Mumbai, India and Manila, Philippines) will manage application development and call center operations. PEQ says the company will offer customer support across seven global time zones.

As part of the merger, I believe PEQ will be running a combination of Kaseya and ConnectWise for managed services. I’m speaking with the PEQ executive team later this week for more insights.

The Daily Deal

M&A activity has seemingly become a daily event in the managed services and solution provider markets. Recent business combinations include:

FusionStorm, a 2009 MSPmentor 100 company, swallowing CentriServ, a consulting company that specializes in client-side virtualization. It was FusionStorm’s second acquisition in recent months.
Presidio Inc. and Coleman Technologies Inc. — two VAR500 companies.
World Wide Technology (yet another VAR500 firm) snapping up Performance Technology Group.

Informed Advice?

Recent M&A activity has created a cottage industry of advisors, including angel investors and consultants that specialize in MSP buyouts.

Apparently, more deals are coming. During our next MSPmentor Live webcast (February 10), two CEOs representing MSPmentor 100 companies will discuss their ongoing M&A strategies, among other business trends.