BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--M/C Partners today announced that it has closed on the acquisitions of Tewksbury, MA-based Thrive Networks, a subsidiary of Manhattan Telecommunications Corporation, and Norwood, MA-based Corporate IT Solutions. The merger of these two companies will form one of the largest managed IT services providers in the Northeast United States under the Thrive brand.
“M/C Partners is excited to acquire these two well respected entities and merge them together to create an exceptional technology services platform,” said Gillis Cashman, Managing Partner at M/C Partners. “These organizations will complement one another perfectly, thus enhancing their mid-market and enterprise customer experiences with additional resources, engineering depth and a new product portfolio. We expect this transaction to be the first in a series of acquisitions that enable Thrive to penetrate additional geographic markets on the East Coast.”
Thrive Networks was previously owned by parent company, Manhattan Telecommunications Corporation (“MetTel”), and Corporate IT Solutions was privately held by President & CEO, Michael Cook, who will be staying onboard Thrive as a Managing Partner and Board Member. Both MetTel and Mr. Cook will be investors in Thrive, with MetTel’s Board seat held by Steven Tunney, Executive Vice President of Strategy at MetTel, and Corporate IT Solution’s Board seat held by Mr. Cook. MetTel will remain as a wholesale partner for Thrive, continuing to leverage Thrive’s technology products for MetTel’s customer base. Thrive will be run by CEO Rob Stephenson, former executive at Access Northeast and Xand, who has been consulting at Thrive under MetTel’s direction for the past year. Mr. Stephenson will also be an investor and a Board Member.
In developing this new technology services platform, Thrive will be uniquely positioned to offer compliance-based solutions to its financial services, healthcare, insurance, technology and education customer base.
As Thrive’s primary financial investor, M/C Partners will contribute its extensive experience in the technology and communications services markets. M/C has been a leading investor in this sector for more than two decades, having previously invested in Lightower, Zayo, Involta, Ensono, Fusepoint, Attenda, Denovo and others. Pacific Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ, PMBC) has been selected as an additional financing partner for this transaction. Legal counsel for M/C Partners was provided by Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP.
About Thrive Networks
Thrive Networks, a leading New England-based managed services provider, delivers a portfolio of outsourced technology services that included cloud, hosting, security, disaster recovery, backup, replication, network management, device management, storage, virtualization and more. For nearly two decades, Thrive has leveraged leading vendor technologies, its vast technical engineering talent and a fanatical dedication to client support to service hundreds of mid-market customers across the United States. For more information, please visit www.thrivenetworks.com.
About Corporate IT Solutions
Corporate IT Solutions, Inc. delivers a customized comprehensive portfolio addressing the complete technology lifecycle — planning, designing, integrating, operating and optimizing networking and system solutions. The company also works closely with customers throughout implementation and post-implementation, offering management expertise and support. Corporate IT Solutions has a focus on service delivery through three primary lines of business including Managed Services, Hosted Services and Professional Services. Corporate IT Solutions’ expertise in each of the above areas allow it to provide clients with reduced operational and capital expenditures in technology while providing quality services and stability. For more information, please visit www.corpitsol.com.
About M/C Partners
M/C Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on the communications, media, and information technology sectors. The firm has invested over $2.2 billion of capital into nearly 100 companies in those sectors. Companies M/C has backed include Cavalier Telephone, Ensono, Everstream, Fusepoint, ICG Communications, Involta, Legendary Pictures, Lightower, MetroPCS, NuVox, and Zayo Group. The firm has strong institutional backing from the nation's leading pension funds and endowments as well as a long track record of success. M/C Partners has offices in Boston and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.mcpartners.com.
About MetTel
MetTel is a leading global provider of customized, integrated and managed communications solutions for enterprise customers. By converging all communications over a proprietary network, MetTel enables enterprise companies to easily deploy and manage technology-driven voice, data, wireless and cloud solutions globally. Combining customized and managed communication solutions with a powerful platform of cloud-based software, the company's MetTel Portal® enables customers to manage their inventory, usage, spend and repairs from one simple, user friendly interface. MetTel was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in New York City. For more information, please visit www.mettel.net.
