IT management, Mergers and Acquisitions, MSP, Private equity

LANDESK Acquired Again, Merges With HEAT Software

Steve Daly
Steve Daly

Clearlake Capital Group is acquiring LANDESK from Thoma Bravo, and merging the IT management business with HEAT Software, the companies just confirmed. The combined company will operate under a new corporate name, which will be announced at a later date. Financial terms were not disclosed.

LANDESK has had multiple owners since the 1990s. The business was owned by Intel in the 1990s, sold in 2002, acquired in 2006 and sold again in 2010. Thoma Bravo, however, provided steady ownership in recent years and invested heavily in LANDESK. Indeed, LANDESK made at least seven acquisitions in recent years, including the AppSense deal of 2016.

Under terms of the latest deal, LANDESK CEO Steve Daly will lead the combined company, which will be headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.  John Ferron, a Clearlake Operating Advisor and the current CEO of HEAT, will serve as Executive Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.

LANDESK and HEAT Software: IT Management, MSP Capabilities

Together, LANDESK and HEAT specialize in IT management, cloud-based service management (CSM) and unified endpoint management (UEM) software solutions. The combined company will grow organically and through acquisition, Daly said in a prepared statement.  

The deal is expected to close in January 2017. The combined company will have over 1,600 employees in 23 countries; 22,000 customers; and 40 million endpoints under management.

Some MSPs leverage LANDESK to manage customer environments. We're checking with LANDESK to learn how the MSP and channel ecosystem will evolve once the HEAT merger is completed.

Private Equity and IT Management Software

Private equity firms own a range of IT management software companies -- including multiple MSP-focused businesses. Key private equity-backed players include Autotask, Continuum, Kaseya, Quest Software and SolarWinds MSP.

Complete M&A Coverage: Track all VAR, MSP and CSP mergers and acquisitions by visiting the ChannelE2E Milestones section daily.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.