September Channel M&A: GTIA, Softcat Lead Deal Activity

September delivered another wave of consolidation across the IT channel, with GTIA acquiring The ASCII Group, Softcat striking a $1.05 billion deal for General Datatech, and MSP, cybersecurity and AI providers expanding through acquisitions.

The deals spanned managed services, security, cloud infrastructure and AI, underscoring continued pressure on channel companies to add scale, geographic reach and specialized capabilities heading into the final quarter of 2026.

GTIA acquires The ASCII Group

Arguably the biggest M&A news for the channel in September came when GTIA acquired The ASCII Group, expanding its global member community.

The acquisition increases GTIA’s investment in the programs, resources, and experiences that support IT service providers (ITSPs).

ASCII will become a GTIA community and mark another step in a relationship that has been built over years of shared commitment to the channel.

“We’ve been in the room at ASCII Edge events, collaborating on world-class, vendor-agnostic research and working side by side with this community because we believe in the same things,” said Dan Wensley, CEO, GTIA. “This is a relationship that’s been building and strengthening for years. This acquisition lets us go further together, and we do it with deep respect for the legacy Alan Weinberger built and the community that legacy created.”

Cloud5 makes interTouch CALA acquisition

Cloud5 Communications, an IT solutions provider for more than 5,000 hotels across North America, has acquired interTouch CALA, expanding Cloud5’s regional presence across South and Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

“Many of our largest customers are making significant investments in CALA, expanding their portfolios and committing infrastructure resources to the region,” said Mark Holzberg, President and CEO, Cloud5. “Establishing a stronger local presence with experienced teams and deep market knowledge positions us to support existing customers more fully while building the foundation for Cloud5’s continued growth across the Americas.”

Cloud5 will extend its full suite of hospitality technology and communications services to interTouch CALA customers as a result of this acquisition.

“interTouch has operated in the CALA region for over two decades, servicing the finest hotels, as it does all over the world. With our primary focus now in Asia Pacific, we were looking for the right company to acquire interTouch CALA and evolve its next phase of growth,” said Ted Helvey, Executive Chairman of interTouch.

CyberFOX acquires Timus Networks

CyberFOX has acquired Timus Networks, a cybersecurity vendor delivering SASE with Zero Trust Network Access.

CyberFOX will add secure access, secure web browsing, and adaptive policy enforcement to its platform.

“Our customers are increasingly asking us to help them work with fewer vendors they can trust to deploy more and better security solutions that actually protect and enhance their businesses versus sitting on the shelf,” said David Bellini, CEO, CyberFOX. “Acquiring Timus allows us to immediately give our customers the secure network access they need with a tested best-in-class product. SASE, which includes ZTNA, is an obvious solution to add to our portfolio.”

“Timus has built exactly the platform we would have built ourselves. Now it’s part of CyberFOX, and our customers get the benefit on day one,” added Bellini. 

Timus SASE will add to the CyberFOX platform: Secure Access, always-on VPN, Adaptive Zero Trust, actionable insights, granular policy control, and fast deployment and high-speed performance.

Pine Services Group Expands with EBS acquisition

Evergreen’s Pine Services Group announced it will acquire Evolution Business Systems (EBS), an Australian Microsoft business applications solutions partner.

The acquisition will expand Pine’s presence in Australia and deepen the Microsoft expertise available across its global portfolio of ERP and technology-enabled services businesses.

“EBS brings two and a half decades of customer trust, true Microsoft depth, and a leadership team we are proud to work alongside,” said Joel Johnson, CFO of Pine Services Group. “What made them the right fit is how that team has grown the business: strong customer relationships, technical credibility, and clear market-centered values. The consistency of EBS’ growth tells you everything about how a business is run. Our job at Pine is to give them the resources to keep executing.”

EBS has been a Microsoft solutions partner for 20 years, supporting customers with EBS-Plus, Jet Reports, Continia Document Capture, Continia Expense Management, Eftsure Marketplace extension, and related solutions.

EBS will continue to operate independently under the EBS name, led by CEO Jonathan Martin and its existing leadership team.

CBTS acquires Recovery Point Systems

CBTS, a provider of AI-ready infrastructure, cloud, and security services, has acquired Recovery Point Systems, a provider of fully managed and orchestrated Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and cyber resiliency solutions. 

Recovery Point will bring its DRaaS capabilities to the CBTS portfolio, backed by Tier III, fiber-dense data centers that are owned, operated, and expansion-ready.

“Resilience is now a board-level obligation, not an IT project. With Recovery Point, CBTS delivers what enterprises increasingly demand: a trusted partner who can modernize their infrastructure, secure it, and recover it end-to-end, under pressure, with measurable outcomes,” said CBTS CEO Kristin Russell.

“We didn’t acquire Recovery Point to add a service line. We acquired them because the future of enterprise technology requires it,” Russell continued.

The combined organization will create an enterprise-ready solution that spans cloud, infrastructure, AI, security, and, now, disaster recovery and resiliency services.

“Recovery Point was built to deliver fully managed and orchestrated recovery for the environments enterprises depend on most,” said Jack Dziak, CEO, Recovery Point Systems. “With CBTS, our clients gain access to a full range of enterprise technology platforms, and CBTS gains a proven partner in cyber resilience. Together, we set a new standard for what clients can expect from a single trusted provider.”

Quorum Cyber to acquire Ontinue

Quorum Cyber, a Microsoft-centric cybersecurity services provider, has announced it will acquire Ontinue, a managed extended detection and response (MXDR) provider.

Together, the organization will unlock the broader value of AI innovation: intelligent, agentic security systems that continuously perceive risk, reason across contexts, and defend at machine speed.

The move also extends the organization’s reach across North America, the UK, and the DACH region. 

“AI has changed the speed, scale, and economics of cyber defense. The future is not security teams managing more tools; it is experienced defenders directing AI-powered systems that can work continuously and act at machine speed, with humans firmly in control,” said Kevin Hanes, CEO, Quorum Cyber.

“The union of Quorum Cyber and Ontinue is a major step forward in evolving our portfolio for that future and bringing to market the largest Microsoft-first MXDR combining machine intelligence with the judgement, expertise, and accountability customers need to move forward with confidence,” Hanes adds.

Niobrara Capital acquires MSP Corp

MSP Corp, a scaled Canadian managed ITSP, has been acquired by U.S.-based private equity firm Niobrara Capital.

“MSP has built a scaled national platform with impressive customer retention and a proven acquisition track record – giving it an established foundation to accelerate growth,” said Otavio Birman, Managing Director at Niobrara Capital.

“The Canadian managed IT services market remains fragmented, and AI adoption is creating new demand and expanding the scope of what providers can deliver. MSP has demonstrated its ability to integrate acquisitions and build a cohesive national business, and Canada offers a compelling entry point into the North American managed services market,” Birman continued.

AppDirect acquires Soul Machines, CCI Network Services

AppDirect, a B2B subscription commerce platform, has announced the acquisition of Soul Machines, an organization that builds AI avatars and human-centered digital experiences, along with CCI Network Services, a provider of integrated unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) and CX technology.

The move will enhance AppDirect’s AI capabilities and expand its ability to help advisors, partners, and businesses deploy more interactive AI experiences across sales, service, support, and commerce.

The combination of Soul Machines’ technology, AppDirect’s advisor ecosystem, and go-to-market reach will accelerate adoption of AI solutions that are simpler for businesses to deploy and more intuitive for end users to trust and use.

“Soul Machines helps us take the next step in making AI more useful and more accessible for businesses,” said Nicolas Desmarais, Chairman and CEO, AppDirect. “By bringing Soul Machines’ avatar technology into the AppDirect platform, we can help our advisors and their customers move faster from experimentation to real-world deployment,” Desmarais adds.

Further, the acquisition gives AppDirect advisors and partners new ways to deliver tailored AI solutions to their customers, while Soul Machines’ customers gain access to AppDirect’s broader platform.

The acquisition of CCI will give AppDirect a foundation in hybrid work models, distributed teams, and multi-channel customer expectations.

The integration of CCI’s capabilities into the AppDirect ecosystem will establish a center of excellence for UCaaS and CX, accelerating the organization’s ability to deliver a unified, differentiated, and value-first experience for partners, customers, and providers.

“Joining AppDirect gives us the opportunity to take what we’ve built over more than 20 years and bring it to a much larger audience,” said Jeff Parson, CEO, CCI. “Together, we’ll offer deep expertise, broad solutions, and an unwavering focus on empowering businesses through every stage of their technology journey.”

General Datatech to be sold, acquired by Softcat

H.I.G. Capital has sold its portfolio company, General Datatech (GDT), to an affiliate of Softcat plc for $1.05 billion USD.

GDT is a global IT solutions provider delivering secure, enterprise-grade, AI-ready infrastructure and services to customers.

“H.I.G. has been an outstanding partner to GDT and has supported our team as we invested in our people, practices, and client and partner relationships. Together, we have diversified the business, brought tremendous value to our customers, and positioned GDT to capitalize on the significant opportunities created by continued enterprise IT modernization,” said Shawn O’Grady, Chair and CEO, GDT.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished and excited to begin our next chapter with Softcat,” adds O’Grady.

The acquisition gives Softcat a scaled presence in North America and India.

Nutanix to acquire Ryax Technologies

Hybrid cloud and AI platform company Nutanix has announced the acquisition of Ryax Technologies, an AI-driven compute orchestration and management platform based in France.

Nutanix will receive a boost in helping organizations build, run, and govern agentic AI by integrating the Ryax platform’s GPU utilization and smart scheduling capabilities directly into Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) and Nutanix Enterprise AI (NAI).

The Ryax platform will enable Nutanix to target two critical architectural capabilities for customers: Intelligent Resource Optimization and AI-Aware Smart Scheduling.

“Agentic AI requires a flexible architecture, simple operations, and the ability to use infrastructure far more efficiently,” said Rajiv Ramaswami, CEO, Nutanix. “Our acquisition of Ryax helps to directly answer the challenges enterprises face today with agentic AI infrastructure management. The acquisition marks an exciting milestone in our commitment to simplifying enterprise AI at scale.”

Adlib acquires Paperbox

Adlib Software will be acquiring Paperbox, pairing agentic AI intake for inbound insurance communications with a strong data foundation.

“Nearly every insurer now has an AI governance policy on paper. Far fewer can prove the data behind it holds up,” said Chris Huff, CEO, Adlib. “That gap is the difference between a pilot and a production system in a regulated industry. Paperbox understands the work well enough to get it to the right person the moment it arrives. Adlib makes sure the data behind that work can answer to an auditor.”

The combined company will move a carrier from a full inbox to data for an auditor.

“Paperbox was built to remove friction at the very start of the insurance value chain,” said Frederix Stallaert, CEO of Paperbox. “Carriers, MGAs, and TPAs all carry the same problem: the inbox is the queue, and everything downstream inherits whatever came through it. Joining Adlib means what reaches an adjuster is accurate and audit-ready before a person ever sees it.”

A-LIGN acquires AssurePoint and Pathfynder

A-LIGN, a cybersecurity compliance company, has acquired Australian-based company, AssurePoint, a cloud security assessment firm specializing in helping organizations solve challenging security and compliance issues and achieve compliance with the information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP).

“Australian has become one of the most important expansion markets for our customers, and IRAP is often the gate they have to get through to do business there,” said Scott Price, CEO of A-LIGN. “This acquisition means we can accomplish our client’s objectives under the same roof as their SOC 2 and ISO 27001 work, instead of sending them to a separate vendor for a framework that overlaps with audits we’re already executing.”

The acquisition is A-LIGN’s second acquisition of the month, following its acquisition of Pathfynder, a specialized offensive and defensive cybersecurity firm.

The Pathfynder acquisition will expand A-LIGN’s service offerings for enterprises looking to bolster security posture and reduce cyber risk.

“We are excited to join the A-LIGN team and bring our trusted expertise and proven capabilities to their existing suite of services,” said DJ Fuller, founder of Pathfynder. “We share the same core values and mission: helping companies close security gaps and meet regulatory requirements, so they can reduce the risk of financial and reputational damage from a cyberattack.”

RealSense to be acquired by Cognex

Cognex Corporation, a provider of industrial machine vision, has acquired RealSense, a market leader in depth-sensing cameras and vision technology for robotic perception and Physical AI.

The move will expand Cognex’s customer base and go-to-market reach and advance its strategy to diversify its growth engine by entering the robotic perception market.

“RealSense represents a compelling strategic expansion for Cognex into robotic perception, one of the most attractive adjacent markets in machine vision,” said Matt Moschner, President and CEO of Cognex. “RealSense brings a leading 3D perception platform with proprietary technology, a strong developer community, and a compelling value proposition for customers.”

“Combined with Cognex’s machine vision expertise and global reach, RealSense positions us to offer a full-stack visual intelligence platform, spanning industrial 1D, 2D, and 3D machine vision measurement to 3D depth perception and robotic navigation, built to serve the full spectrum of Physical AI,” Moschner adds.

Prior to closing, RealSense will also spin off its Facial Authentication product line into an independent company.

CyberMaxx acquires Avertium

CyberMaxx, a provider of managed detection and response (MDR) services for the mid-market, has acquired Avertium, a Microsoft-focused cybersecurity firm with expertise in GRC and offensive security.

Avertium’s “Assess, Design, Protect” approach will combine with CyberMaxx’s capabilities, enabling CyberMaxx to serve mid-market organizations throughout their security journey.

“Acquiring Avertium furthers our commitment to serving the mid-market,” said Brian M. Ahern, CEO, CyberMaxx. “The mid-market deserves a security partner that stands with them on the wall all the way through remediation, and Avertium helps us do that to the best of our ability. We can now walk alongside a customer from their first security assessment through continuous defense, as their single committed partner.”

The move also reinforces CyberMaxx’s durability model and allows the company to focus on increased investment in scalable, tech-enabled, and AI-driven services.

Focus Group makes deal to acquire Prime Networks

Focus Group will be expanding its IT managed services for SMEs by acquiring Prime Networks, an MSP.

Through this acquisition, Prime Networks’ customers will get access to Focus Group’s wider capabilities in AI, automation, and IT solutions. Prime Networks already supports roughly 500 SME customers.

“Technology has the power to transform businesses, but only when it’s applied in the right way,” said Neil Hall, CEO at Focus Group. “With AI, IT, and cybersecurity now making up more than half of everything we offer, we’re building the expertise to help more SMEs use technology with confidence, not just adopt it for its own sake.”

“Bringing Prime Networks into Focus Group strengthens that mission, giving even more businesses access to specialist support they can rely on,” Hall adds.

Together, Focus Group’s national reach and Prime Networks’ IT and cyber expertise will help support SME customers across the UK.

Hosvara acquires Dr. Backup

Hosvara Inc., an operator-led holding company, has acquired Dr. Backup, a cloud backup provider serving the MSP community.

The company will now operate as Dr. Backup, a Hosvara Company.

“Our job now is to operate the Dr. Backup platform MSPs have relied on for two decades and invest the resources needed to help partners meet the changing data protection needs of their clients,” said Nancy Henriquez, CEO, Hosvara Inc. “This is what Hosvara is built to do: bring proven MSP-focused businesses into a home where they can keep growing instead of getting swallowed up by faceless private equity firms.”

“I built this company one partner relationship at a time, and handing it off isn’t something I took lightly,” said Mitch Romm, founder of Dr. Backup. “The team at Hosvara understands this channel because they’ve lived in it. I’m staying close to this transition because our partners deserve continuity and because I believe in where this goes next.”

CloudClevr makes Flow AI acquisition

UK-converged MSP, CloudClevr, has acquired Flow Automated Intelligence (Flow AI) from SCC to enhance its  Digital Transformation capabilities. 

Flow AI will form the foundation of a new Digital Transformation Practice for CloudClevr, developed around AI & Automation Services and Data Services.

“[Flow AI] brings established expertise in automation, document services, and information management, but more importantly it gives us a strong foundation from which to build our wider Digital Transformation capability across automation, data, and AI,” said Steve Harris, CEO, CloudClevr.

“Automation, data, and AI will play an increasingly important role in how organizations operate, and this acquisition gives CloudClevr another important capability as we continue to build and scale the business,” Harris continued.

Flow AI will initially operate independently – retaining its existing brand, leadership, and customer relationships – while the businesses begin a phased integration.

Tusker to acquire Fortress SRM

Tusker, an IT solutions provider, has acquired Fortress SRM, a Cleveland-based firm specializing in cybersecurity services, adding nearly 50 cybersecurity professionals to its team.

The move will bring together Fortress SRM’s cybersecurity expertise and Tusker’s technology capabilities and geographic reach.

“Fortress SRM brings exactly the kind of expertise and customer-centered culture that has defined every company we have acquired over the last nine years,” said Matt Zafirovski, CEO, Tusker. “This acquisition expands our cybersecurity team and related service capabilities, plants a flag for Tusker in the Ohio Valley, and strengthens our ability to be a trusted technology partner across the customer’s enterprise IT environment.”

Airspan Networks acquires Cambium Networks’ fixed wireless product lines

Airspan Networks, a provider of advanced wireless connectivity, has acquired several Cambium Networks fixed wireless product lines serving service providers, defense, and critical communications customers.

The acquired portfolio spans point-to-multipoint access with the PMP 450 platform; unlicensed point-to-point backhaul with the PTP 670; point-to-point systems for defense applications with the PTP 700; millimeter-wave point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connectivity with cnWave; and narrowband communications for industrial environments with cnReach.

It also includes the management system and planning software for the acquired portfolio, including LINKPlanner, cnHeat, and cnMaestro.

“Cambium’s point-to-point and point-to-multipoint products are a compelling addition to Airspan’s 4G and 5G wireless network solutions for service providers, defense, and critical communications,” said Glenn Laxdal, CEO, Airspan.

More than 135 Cambium employees will join the Airspan team.

Rexel acquires GCG

GCG, a specialty wire & cable distribution platform, has been acquired by Rexel, a distributor of energy management products and services, from Audax Private Equity.

GCG operates through two complementary segments – Customer Engineered Solutions (CES) and Connectivity & Power Solutions (CPS) – delivering engineer-led, value-added wire, cable, and connectivity solutions to customers across data centers, power infrastructure, defense, building systems, water telecom, and industrial end markets.

The move is expected to extend Rexel’s presence in high-growth, mission-critical end markets, including data center and power infrastructure.

“With the support of Audax, we’ve built a differentiated business with strong technical capabilities, deep customer, and supplier relationships, and a track record of growth,” said Glenn Pennycock, CEO, CGC. “We believe Rexel’s strategic focus and commitment to customers and suppliers make them the right partner to continue that momentum, while creating new opportunities for our associates, customers, and supplier partners.”

Spectrotel and AireSpring complete merger

Spectrotel Holding, LLC, a provider of managed network services and connectivity solutions, has merged with AireSpring, a provider of global connectivity, managed services, and network infrastructure solutions.

The merger will combine Spectrotel’s experience supporting complex, distributed enterprises with AireSpring’s nationwide facilities-based fiber network, geo-redundant voice infrastructure, and global connectivity capabilities.

“The market is moving beyond buying connectivity and individual technology solutions toward something much more strategic – enterprises want a partner that can take accountability for how their network performs and the outcomes it delivers,” said Ross Artale, CEO, Spectrotel.

“Merging Spectrotel and AireSpring gives us the scale, network control, global reach, and expertise to meet that expectation,” Artale added. “This combination accelerates our ability to anticipate issues earlier, reduce complexity for customers, and define what the next generation of managed network services should deliver for customers and our channel partners.”