Managed service provider and IT consultancy Xceptional this week unveiled the acquisition of fellow MSP Altitude Integrations in a move that will help expand its geographic reach.
Xceptional, founded in 2009 as an IT consulting company, moved into managed services between 2012 and 2016, and knows that the key to future growth is via mergers and acquisitions, said Danielle Carpenter, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of the San Diego-based company.
“M&A is big in the MSP industry,” Carpenter told CRN. “It’s acquire or be acquired.”
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Niwot, Colorado-based Altitude Integrations is Xceptional’s first acquisition, Carpenter said. The company’s board of directors early last year charged Xceptional to grow by acquisition, and by early this year it started talking with Altitude, she said.ADVERTISEMENT
Altitude was recommended as a potential acquisition by an advisor who reached out to Xceptional, Carpenter said.
“I think we’re on the lists now of several advisors out there,” she said.
Altitude met several factors important to Xceptional in a potential acquisition, Carpenter said.
“Altitude had a similar portfolio of offerings,” she said. “We wanted a company on the same path to maturity as us. And it was important that the core values of both companies match. Both have great chemistry. I love their staff. And they have a great clientele.”
Carpenter declined to say how much Xceptional paid for Altitude. She did say that Altitude was a profitable company, which was formerly known as iSupportU. iSupportU was acquired by Ramberg Group in 2017 and rebranded as Altitude Integrations in 2019.
While the bulk of Altitude Integration’s staff will join Xceptional, the previous owners, Toby Yoder and Brett Ramberg, will not, Carpenter said.
“They will be leaving,” she said. “That was their plan. We are retaining the internal leadership team. But the previous owners have formed a new company, ElephantHop, which is an identity and access management consulting company. It will have relationships with both Xceptional and Altitude. We expect to have a good working relationship with ElephantHop.”
Xceptional worked with a local bank to fund the acquisition of Altitude but is open to working with private equity in the future, Carpenter said.
“We’re open to options,” she said. “We want to grow. We will acquire at least one company next year. But this year, we’re enjoying our first integration experience.”LEARN MORE: Mergers and Acquisitions | Cybersecurity
Joseph F. Kovar is a senior editor and reporter for the storage and the non-tech-focused channel beats for CRN. He keeps readers abreast of the latest issues related to such areas as data life-cycle, business continuity and disaster recovery, and data centers, along with related services and software, while highlighting some of the key trends that impact the IT channel overall. He can be reached at [email protected].
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