Private equity, MSP, Content

Private Equity Firm Backs Cloud MSP, Government Software Consultant

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OceanSound Partners has recapitalized Smartronix and Trident Technologies, the private equity firm says. Financial terms of the recapitalizations were not disclosed.

These are M&A and Investment Deals Number 62 and 63 that ChannelE2E has covered in 2020. See the complete M&A deal list here.

Smartronix of Hollywood, Maryland, is a Top 200 Public Cloud MSP (ranked Number 5 for 2019). The company provides IT and cloud solutions to government and commercial customers, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Trident of Huntsville, Alabama, is a provider of IT, engineering, and programmatic solutions to the United States federal government.

OceanSound Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about both deals, OceanSound Co-Founder and Partner Joe Benavides, said:

"The Smartronix and Trident transactions are exciting and meaningful milestones for OceanSound that validate our investment strategy, our team’s capabilities and the strong support we have received from investors, especially considering the collective magnitude of the transactions in our first year. We have assembled an exceptional team with significant prior experience investing together within our focus markets. We are united in the conviction that we can apply our collective expertise and experience to identify, acquire, and drive value creation within attractive middle-market companies operating in both government and commercial markets."

Added Ted Coons, co-founder and partner at OceanSound:

"Given our long history of working together, launching OceanSound has been a seamless transition. These initial transactions fit squarely within our investment strategy and leverage our differentiated perspective of companies operating at the intersection of government and technology. Smartronix and Trident provide mission-critical digital transformation and cloud computing solutions, particularly to government customers, and their collective expertise in multi-cloud, data analytics, and cybersecurity ideally positions the businesses to compete and win in the growing markets for mission-critical IT, cloud, and defense services and solutions."

OceanSound Co-Founder and Partner Jeff Kelly offered:

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with Smartronix and Trident. Each have distinguished employee bases and impressive track records delivering mission critical services and solutions to their customers. Both companies will gain access to additional resources, a diverse portfolio of capabilities and contract vehicles, as well as enhanced geographic reach to better serve the needs of customers. We look forward to supporting their continued growth with additional investments in corporate infrastructure, including human capital and technology, and strategic acquisitions."

Smartronix Company Background

Smartronix has managed public cloud services since 2009 when it delivered Recovery.gov -- the first Federal web property hosted on the Cloud.

Smartronix CEO John Parris
Smartronix CEO John Parris

Fast forward to present day, and the Smartronix Cloud Assured platform provides public and private sector organizations with MSP and MSSP services. Also, the Smartronix Cloud Migration Factory helps large organizations strategize, plan, design, deploy, and operate multi-cloud and hybrid infrastructure services.

In a prepared statement about the OceanSound deal, Smartronix CEO John Parris said:

"The Smartronix team is thrilled to partner with OceanSound given their deep experience in our core markets and a shared vision on how we can continue to grow our company. This partnership will allow us to further build our brand, broaden our portfolio of capabilities and expand into new customer segments by investing in the business, both organically and with strategic acquisitions."

Trident Company Background

Trident launched in 2006 as a software development company in Birmingham, Alabama. The company moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 2010, and won its first IT contracts outside of the state in 2011.

Big government wins arrived in 2014 and 2015,  when Trident won contracts with Scott Air Force Base and AMCOM Express, respectively, the company's website indicates.

Referring to the OceanSound deal, Trident CEO Mike Williams said:

"We are excited to embark on the next phase of Trident’s growth in partnership with OceanSound. Their strategic guidance and experience in our industry will be invaluable to us as we expand our business to provide new solutions to customers and pursue growth opportunities that were unavailable to us as a founder-owned business."

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.