"All progress takes place outside of the comfort zone."
-Michael John Bobak
April 12,2019
Platinum Equity and the Gores Group Sell Data Blue to Court Square Capital
martinwolf Transaction Analysis
Financial Information
- Not disclosed
Transaction Facts
- Global Private Equity firms Platinum Equity and the Gores Group yesterday announced the sale of Data Blue, a provider of customized infrastructure, cloud architecture and virtualized solutions in North America.
- The solution provider was sold to Court Square Capital Partners, growth investors focused on the U.S. middle market.
- Data Blue was originally acquired through Gores Small Capitalization Partners fund in 2016, and since the acquisition the company increased revenue 50 percent, developed additional technology and acquired two other add-on companies.
- Through their acquisitions, Data Blue has evolved from only offering data storage business solutions to providing comprehensive infrastructure solutions.
martinwolf Analysis
Eight-year Historic Evolution: Since its founding in 2011, Data Blue’s revenues, employee numbers and funding have grown significantly. Data from 2014-2018 reveals a three-year revenue growth of 129 percent and the addition of more than 100 employees–earning it industry recognition as one of the nation’s fastest-growing companies.- Strategic Partnerships: Platinum Equity and Gores Group have a demonstrated history of smart partnerships, building credibility and helping drive funds higher. Platinum’s latest fund was heavily oversubscribed, exceeding its hard cap and marking a significant increase over its previous fund at $3.75 billion.
- Aggressive with Acquisitions: Data Blue’s success comes in part through smart M&A – it acquired LPS Integration, a Nashville-based Value Added Reseller in early 2017, and quickly added Williams & Garcia, an Atlanta-based cloud platform and consulting firm.These add-ons expanded capabilities and customers, strengthening the company for its eventual sale.
- Later in Court: Court Square Capital’s extensive experience with portfolio companies in the middle market, including cloud services provider Ahead, will help take Data Blue’s capabilities to the next level. With Court’s support and Data Blue’s management, the company is poised for continued aggressive growth across the IT middle market space.
For more information about this transaction, click here to read the press release.
martinwolf was not the advisor in this transaction.
