Network Depot has acquired Evolve Technologies, MSPmentor has confirmed. The New Year deal combines two well-known managed services providers (MSPs) that support SMB customers in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Here are the initial details.
Under terms of the deal, Network Depot takes on Evolve Technologies’ staff and will continue to serve Evolve Technologies’ customers. Evolve Technologies CEO Dave Sobel and Network Depot CEO Rich Forsen have indicated that the deal was finalized on December 31, 2011. Chatter about the potential deal emerged about a week or two ago, when Evolve Technologies informed its staff and customers about Network Depot acquiring Evolve.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it sounds like the agreement involves a potential earn out tied to long-term revenues, profits and/or customer retention. Sobel and Forsen declined to describe specifics, but they said the deal has built-in variables that will keep Sobel and the veteran Evolve Technologies team focused on a successful M&A execution.
Behind the Scenes
It sounds like Network Depot and Evolve Technologies have had off-and-on discussions about a potential business combination multiple times — with the latest discussions heating up at ConnectWise‘s IT Nation conference in November 2011. The two companies are located less than 10 miles away from each other. And their respective staff members run in similar circles.
- Forsen and his team have built both Network Depot and Virtual Administrator, a master MSP that gives VARs and resellers an on-ramp into the managed services market.
- Sobel, in addition to building Evolve Technologies, is active on the MSP speaker circuit and helped HTG Peer Groups to organize an MSP peer group in Europe. Sobel also works closely with CompTIA to educate resellers, VARs and MSPs.
Going forward, it sounds like Sobel will pursue new opportunities in the IT channel even as he works to help ensure the Network Depot-Evolve Technologies deal executes against its business plan.
More MSP Mergers, Acquisitions Coming
The Network Depot-Evolve Technologies deal kicks off the 2012 MSP merger and acquisition season — which will certainly include a mix of small, midsize and large deals. MSPmentor is aware of a cloud-centric MSP deal that should be announced within weeks. Plus, Best Buy is expected to complete its buyout of mindSHIFT within days.
Still, not all MSPs are selling. For instance, ETG, an MSP focused on the health care vertical, recently declined multiple buyout bids in order to focus on continued growth.
Read More About This Topic
Share This Post
Posted In: Acquisitions | Finance | Mergers & Acquisions | MSP Mergers and Acquisitions | North America
Tags: CompTIA | Dave Sobel | evolve technologies | HTG Peer Groups | managed services acquisitions | Managed Services Mergers | MSP acquisitions | MSP Mergers | Network Depot | Rich Forsen | Virtual Administrator
Interact: Add a Comment | Trackback Link | Permalink
Subscribe: RSS Feed
Take a look at our 
As usual, Joe, you’re the first on the scene with industry news, and even on New Year’s Day you’re still working!
We’re thrilled to have the Evolve team on board and look forward to providing our new clients with the level of concern, respect and dedication that our own clients have come to expect.
Rich Forsen
CEO
Network Depot, LLC
Congrats to you and Dave, Rich. Best wishes for continued success!
Lynette Bohanan
Principal
CommCentric Solutions
Congrats to you and Dave, Rich. Best wishes for continued success! — Lynette Bohanan, Principal, CommCentric Solutions
Congratulations Rich and everyone at Network Depot!
Are you having a party to celebrate? Need some entertainment???
Operators on duty now to take your call!
Cheers for a great 2012!
Jan
Rich@1: Please keep MSPmentor and its readers posted as you march forward. And thanks for confirming the deal.
-jp
Congrats Dave and Rich on the transaction! I am confident big things are ahead for both of you in the year ahead!
Arlin Sorensen
CEO – HTG Peer Groups
Big congratulations to both teams. Wishing you much success in 2012!
Couldn’t have found a better home for Evolve’s team and customers. 2012 will bring lots of new adventures for everyone!
Dave
Congratulations Dave and Rich. Dave, I’m excited to see what’s next for you!
Rick Bahl
Quality Systems Solutions, Inc.
Congratulations Dave! Wishing you and Rich the best in the future.
Mike Mazan
SolutionWorx, Inc.
Congratulations, Dave and team. I wish you the very best as you move forward!
Erik Thorsell
Success Computer Consulting
Evolve’s employees and customers couldn’t be in better hands than Rich and Chris at ND/VA. Congratulations to all!
Kevin Krusiewicz
http://about.me/kevinkru
I know the owners of both of these companies and they are good people. This should help make the integration and transition go smoothly. I expect great things from this new venture.
All the best,
Max
Congratulations Dave. All the best for 2012.
Mark Williams
CEO Pensar
London, UK
Congratulations Rich! It excites me to see you continue in your success and watch your company grow. Best of luck!
Congrats to Rich, Chris & Dave. What a beautiful thing for the Va & DC area customers. Chris sounds like youre going to have your hands full.
Spam Soap Team
It’s a darn shame Dave Sobel and Rich Forsen (and their respective companies) don’t know how to build lasting relationships in the MSP market… Kidding aside, good to see the MSP community applauding the Network Depot and Evolve Tech efforts.
Best
-jp
Yeah, Joe – 17 comments (18 if you count this one). It’s a nice acknowledgement for sure. There are a lot of great folks in the channel, and we’ve been fortunate to break bread with many of them… or in our case… soup.
Rich
Rich: I’m glad we agreed… “Soup was the meal.”
-jp
What a way to start out the New Year, congrats to Rich and Chris – great team and with the Sobel factor – watch out.
Jerry
President
The ASCII Group
As always, humbled by the community of peers out there. A great group of people — one I hope to stay involved with as the next great adventure is on the horizon.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes — it will be a great opportunity for Evolve’s team and customers, and I’m excited about the future for everyone.
Dave
Great work Rich and Chris. All the best to you and Dave.
Neil.
President
Live Virtual Help Desk.
WOW! What a combo!
Network Depot has always been a great model of an MSP. All the best to Rich and Chris. Through Network Depot and again through Virtual Administrator they’ve made a significant contribution to the MSP channel. Once again, they’re out in front leading the pack.
To boot, they’re really great guys to! Congrats!
Rob
Surely a win for all! Congrats to you both! (Dave, looks like it is your turn to buy…)