Mergers and Acquisitions, Mergers and Acquisitions, Content, Security Staff Acquisition & Development

Futuris Acquires Two Staffing Firms: Fortek and Soft2001

Credit: Getty Images

Futuris Company has acquired two Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based staffing companies, Fourth Technologies (Fortek) and Soft2001. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The two acquired companies generate a total annual revenue of approximately $7.25 million, according to Futuris.

These are M&A deals number 365 and 366 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2020. See the full M&A deal list here.

Futuris Acquires Fortek and Soft2001: More Details

Among the company details to note:

  • Fortek has over 30 years of experience working in the IT, Engineering, and IT Management business sectors. Clients include both SMBs and Fortune 1000 companies. The company provides a range of services from finding contract and permanent hire workers to fixed-price and project-based staffing contracts. Fortek is largely focused on cloud services, test and robotic process automation, cybersecurity, object-oriented programming, and machine learning/AI.
  • Soft2001, founded in 1996, initially focused on financial and accounting software, systems, and best practices. They now also provide services to customers in software architecture, design, programming, systems integration, quality assurance, and testing.
  • Futuris is a Human Capital Management (HCM) company. The business was founded 20 years ago and is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia. Futuris provides staffing solutions in 48 states and its clients include businesses in the Fortune 500 and Fortune 100, as well as SMB clients. In September 2020, Futuris received a large private investment from John Bernard, an entrepreneur and investor with a history of putting money into internet start-ups and engineering, pharmaceutical, e-commerce, and manufacturing firms. Bernard invested $10 million in Futuris in exchange for a 15 percent post-money ownership stake in the company.

Kalyan Pathuri, president of Futuris Company, commented on the acquisitions:

"The addition of these businesses will complement our growth strategy with operational synergies and proprietary technology. Located in a key northeast region of the United States, New Jersey is a large job market with many established companies operating in the staffing and recruiting space. We believe that Fortek and Soft2001 will benefit from the Futuris platform and in turn, offer great opportunities for Futuris to access valuable client relationships with IT companies and the local job market."

The State of Staffing Firm M&A

Staffing and workforce solutions firms have proven attractive targets for M&A plays over the years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a downturn in recent activity, according to recent a report from Duff & Phelps.

The report shows that there were 58 staffing industry transactions reported in the first half of 2020, which was down 17 percent from the 70 transactions announced in the first six months of 2019.

However, the report’s authors say that M&A activity may recover fairly quickly once the pandemic is over as there is “no shortage of active buyers in many segments of the staffing industry,” they wrote.

Staffing and workforce solutions firm deals that ChannelE2E has tracked include: