M&A NEWS: Five Star Franchising, Executech, and ZAACT Consulting
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Over the past several weeks, Five Star Franchising and Executech, two Utah-based companies, acquired firms based outside of Utah. ZAACT Consulting was purchased by a firm outside of Utah. However, financial terms were not disclosed in any of these transactions.
Brief highlights of these three separate transactions are found below.
Five Star Franchising Acquires Two Companies: 1-800-Packouts AND Mosquito Shield And Unpacks a Third Franchise To Launch
Five Star Franchising, a Springville, Utah-based company, recently acquired two more companies for its growing collection of innovative home services platforms and launched a new franchise. These announcements mark the company's eighth acquisition since launching in June 2021.
1-800 Packouts, a Ball Ground, Georgia-based company, is a leading franchisor of residential contents restoration, packing, cleaning, and climate-controlled storage services, and 1-800-Textiles was launched as an additional service for customers who need cleaning, restoration, and storage solutions for textiles damaged from water, smoke, or fire.
Kevin Loner, CEO, founded the company in 2015 and will join Five Star Franchising in its ongoing campaign to develop the leading home services franchise system.
In the company's press release, Scott Abbott, CEO of Five Star, said:
"We are thrilled to partner with Kevin Loner and his team as they join the Five Star family of brands. Kevin has built a superb business with a strong track record of significant growth, operational excellence, and customer service. Packouts will have an immediate, positive impact as a dynamic addition to the Five Star platform, and the launch of Textiles is a game-changer. The synergies between the two brands are immense and will allow us to better serve customers and franchisees."
Mosquito Shield, based in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and one of Entrepreneur's Top Franchise 500 brands, is a leading franchisor of residential mosquito and tick control services.
Founder David Briggs will act as an advisor to Five Star throughout what is their eighth acquisition, and Michael Moorhouse and Brad Maher, two long-time team members, will join Five Star as brand president.
"Five Star's capabilities, management team, and vision made them a natural fit as a partner to Mosquito Shield," said David Briggs.
"We look forward to leveraging Five Star's extensive development and operational capabilities to continue to aggressively expand our franchise system while also delivering best-in-class support to our franchisees," added Michael Moorhouse.
Five Star is backed by Princeton Equity Group, a leading private equity firm singularly focused on acquiring franchisor and multi-unit companies.
No financial terms were disclosed for either transaction.
Written by J'Nel Wright
Executech Continues Acquisitions with Arizona-based Flagstaff Information Technology & Communications
Executech, based in South Jordan, Utah, announced it was acquiring Flag Staff Information Technology & Communications, LLC. The acquisition complements Executech’s information technology and cybersecurity services and extends its footprint into Northern Arizona.
Executech began as a computer consulting company with its founder as the sole employee in 1999. Since its inception, the company grew to over 100 employees when Evergreen Services Group invested in Executech in 2018. The investment was intended to help Executech grow from a regional organization into more of a national presence. Later in 2018, Evergreen Services Group replaced Executech’s CEO with DJ Dorff. Dorff brought with him two years of mergers and acquisitions experience from working with Adobe in Lehi, Utah.
Following Evergreen Services Group’s 2018 investment, Executech has engaged in a succession of acquisitions broadening its roots far beyond Utah. Before acquiring Flag Staff IT & Communications, Executech acquired Nucleus in 2021. This IT service provider is based out of Vancouver, British Colombia. At the time, that was the third acquisition in the previous twelve months for Executech. Nucleus’s management team was left in place to operate the company independently.
The recent March 2022 announcement of acquiring Flag Staff IT & Communications falls on the heels of a series of other acquisitions. These acquisitions involved Richland, Washington-based Elevate in November 2021 and Redlands, California-based Computer Options in February 2022. Clearly, Executech and its 2018 investor Evergreen Services Group have made use of their CEO's mergers and acquisitions experience to increase the national footprint of Executech. They currently have locations listed in 20 different cities in five states.
Written by Robert Snyder
Sandy-based ZAACT Consulting to be Acquired by California-based Altigen
Sandy, Utah-based ZAACT Consulting, a firm designed to provide solutions and expertise for Microsoft applications, signed a definitive acquisition agreement with Silicon Valley-based Altigen Communications Inc. (OTCQB:ATGN), a provider of cloud-based customer experience solutions.
According to a press release, in addition to acquiring a substantial amount of assets from the Intermountain Technology Group, who do business as ZAACT Consulting, upon the closing of said agreement, Altigen Communications will also absorb ZAACT's management team and employees. The closing is expected to take place later this month. Financial terms were not disclosed.
ZAACT has achieved Microsoft Gold Partner status in multiple areas, including,
- Independent Software Vendor,
- Collaboration and Content,
- Cloud Productivity, and
- Datacenter and Application Development.
Jeremy Fleming, Chairman and CEO of Altigen stated,
"This strategic acquisition is an integral component of Altigen's strategy to deliver the industry's most complete suite of integrated solutions and services for Microsoft Teams. The capabilities offered by ZAACT are an absolute requirement for any mid-size or enterprise customer engagement."
Written by Macy Reamer