Ingentive to continue acquisition spree for 'skills' after Software Solved buyout
Company CEO, Andrea Bright, confirmed for CRN that the outfit would look to acquire for strategic capabilities
Ingentive has successfully acquired the business and key assets of Software Solved, a similarly sized digital transformation specialist based in the UK.
Software Solved was an attractive buyout target due to its expertise in pro code and big data solutions, primarily leveraging Microsoft technology.
Speaking to CRN, CEO Andrea Bright (pictured) expressed her enthusiasm, stating: "This deal brings together Ingentive's strengths in low code, modern work, security, AI, and cloud capabilities with Software Solved's specialised pro code, big data, and AI expertise.
"This synergy is pivotal in fortifying our position as a comprehensive digital transformation partner."
The acquisition comes on the heels of Bright's business partner, Stuart Fenton, teasing further business growth for Ingentive, which Fenton acquired under its previous brand, Akari, in February.
Glasgow-based Akari has sold up to Woolf Partners, which former Insight UK and Quantiq CEO Fenton founded in 2021.
Acquisition brings capability for 'very large DevOps projects'
"The business has 31 heads currently, and when merged, we will be between 60-70 as we are currently recruiting for both organisations," Bright revealed, emphasising the significant growth anticipated as a result of the merger.
"Our plan is to build a broad digital transformation business, and we were missing the ability to do very large DevOps projects entirely in-house.
"So Software Solved brings that capability to deliver multi-thousand day digital transformation projects using Microsoft technologies," she added.
As part of the acquisition, Software Solved's chairman and founder, Thomas Coles, CFO Matt Portt, and NED Chris Rhodes will step down.
Gareth Mapp, the acting CEO and CRO of Software Solved, will join Ingentive's leadership team, spearheading the pro code and big data sales division.
Planned growth through buyouts
Andrea Bright provided insight into Ingentive's future plans, stating, "Our next acquisitions will be very small tuck-in acquisitions that bring certain skills to the business.
"At the moment, we are looking for managed services capability to add to our small team. We won't dismiss larger acquisitions, but our focus is to invest in organic growth atop the capabilities that we have.
"Our investments into sales and marketing over the coming months will be our most important activities and be significantly more than M&A costs.
"We recently hired Jo Feldman, formerly from UBDS and ANS, and he brings a wealth of knowledge to the business. Combine that with Gareth Mapp from Software Solved, and I think we have the best sales leadership in our sector," she emphasised.
The acquisition process was facilitated by IT ExchangeNet, a global leader in mid-market mergers and acquisitions, specializing in DevOps, MSPs, MSSPs, and key channel partners, including Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, and ServiceNow.