Multiple sources have told CDN that Compugen, the No. 3 solution provider on CDN’s Top 100 list has acquired No. 8 player Metafore.
This deal initially began when Patrick Waid, the president and COO of Hartco/Metafore left his post in early August. From there Hartco founder and chairman Harry Hart and Compugen CEO Harry Zarek worked out the details of the acquisition, according to a highly reliable source.
Together Compugen and Metafore have combined revenues of $650 to $700 million just in the Canadian market, which would easily place them in the No. 1 spot on CDN’s Top 100 list.
Harry Hart
In April of this year Harry Hart, acting through a special committee of independent Hartco board members, make a take-over bid to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Hartco. Hart and his family own a little more than 63 per cent of Hartco shares. The take-over bid price was offered at $3.40 in cash per share for a total of $18.3 million.
The company three-weeks later suggested that shareholders reject the $3.40 offer after reviewing the proposal. The rejection of the offer was followed up by Hartco posting a first quarter loss of $1.7 million.
This move by Hartco/Metafore is just one of many moves made by the company to divest assets in the last two years.
Last year Hartco sold its franchise network MicroAge to TMN Systems in order to concentrate its efforts on the commercial segment of its business.
Late in 2013, Hartco, through an outsourcing partnership with Mississauga, Ont.-based Tech Data Canada, handed over its distribution business after 35 years of operation.
That divestiture came a few years after creating the mega-merger between Metafore and Microserv.
Another source close to the deal said regulatory requirements still need to be followed before the transaction can be closed.
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White the Compugen/Metafore deal is the biggest so far this year in the channel. It’s far from the only merger or acquisition made in the channel in 2015. In fact, 2015 has been an unprecedented year for mergers and acquisitions with solution providers. Below is a recap of most of the deals.
As spring turned into summer Toronto-based Scalar Decisions Inc. and Calgary’s Mainland Information Systems Ltd., confirmed a merger agreement. This deal could possibly place the new company near the Top 5 of the CDN solution provider rankings.
Currently Scalar is No. 11 on the CDN Top 100 list up from 15 last year with revenues between $150 million to $175 million. Mainland has been growing rapidly in the last five years and has risen to No. 16 on the list with revenues between $100 million to $125 million.
In June Winnipeg-based solution provider Powerland took a major step to achieving its goal of expanding its service coverage across the Prairie Provinces with the acquisition of FACT Computers in Saskatchewan.
WBM Office Systems, a Top 100 solution provider announced the acquisition of Agilisys, an F5 solutions and infrastructure management services provider in western Canada.
IT Weapons Inc. announced its acquisition of fellow solution provider Collins IT.The two companies, both based in Brampton, Ont.
Internet service provider TeraGo Networks Inc. purchased of Kelowna, B.C.-based cloud provider RackForce for $33 million.
Another merger happened with Insite Computer Group Inc. and Edmonton-based F12 Networks Inc.
CompuCom sold off its software licensing business to SoftwareOne.
Markham-based IT provider BDO Solutions merged with Systemgroup Inc.
And, it all got started in February when CDN Top 100 Solution Provider Quartet Service Inc. of Toronto acquired En Vogue Computers also of Toronto.