Most Active Acquirers of Managed IT Services Companies (2026)
The acquirers that announced the most purchases of U.S. and Canadian managed IT services companies between Nov 1, 2025 and Oct 25, 2026, with every deal linked to its source.
Key findings
- The 20 MSP (private strategic) was the most active acquirer, with 8 announced deals.
- We recorded 102 announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian companies by 67 distinct acquirers.
- 19 acquirers announced two or more deals; together they account for 53% of the deals recorded.
- Private equity-backed acquirers made 50% of the deals.
- 102
- Announced acquisitions recorded
- 67
- Distinct acquirers
- 19
- Acquirers with two or more deals
- 50%
- Of deals made by PE-backed acquirers
Scope. Managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security providers (MSSPs) serving small and mid-sized organizations, including outsourced IT support, cloud managed services and IT consulting firms. Pure software vendors and telecom carriers are excluded.
Coverage. Some serial acquirers, notably Evergreen Services Group, report many of their acquisitions only in aggregate rather than one by one, and Evergreen's own site could not be read on a second attempt, so their counts here are understated. Several trade-press pages could not be retrieved.
The ranking
| Rank | Acquirer | Ownership | Deals | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The 20 MSP | Private strategic | 8 | Jul 7, 2026 |
| 2 | New Charter Technologies | PE-backedOval Partners | 5 | Aug 13, 2026 |
| 3 | Nexus IT | PE-backed | 4 | Aug 19, 2026 |
| 3 | AYCE Capital | Private strategic | 4 | Jun 18, 2026 |
| 5 | IT Solutions | PE-backedNautic Partners | 3 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| 5 | Net at Work | PE-backedLovell Minnick Partners | 3 | Jul 29, 2026 |
| 5 | Harbor IT | PE-backedWorklyn Partners | 3 | May 20, 2026 |
| 8 | Centre Technologies | PE-backedLightBay Capital | 2 | Oct 22, 2026 |
| 8 | CompassMSP | PE-backedAgellus Capital | 2 | Oct 21, 2026 |
| 8 | Big Sur Technologies | Private strategic | 2 | Oct 12, 2026 |
| 8 | Charles IT | Private strategic | 2 | Sep 2, 2026 |
| 8 | DEX Imaging | Private strategic | 2 | Aug 3, 2026 |
| 8 | Presidio | PE-backedClayton, Dubilier & Rice | 2 | Jul 13, 2026 |
| 8 | Loffler Companies | Private strategic | 2 | Jul 9, 2026 |
| 8 | Corporate Technologies | PE-backedTonka Bay Equity Partners | 2 | Apr 28, 2026 |
| 8 | Alchemy Technology Group | PE-backedAvance Investment Management | 2 | Apr 23, 2026 |
| 8 | Convergence Networks | PE-backedRiverside Partners | 2 | Mar 25, 2026 |
| 8 | Arctiq | Private strategic | 2 | Mar 18, 2026 |
| 8 | Entech | PE-backedProspect Partners | 2 | Feb 10, 2026 |
Announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian companies, Nov. 1, 2025 to Oct. 25, 2026. Acquirers with equal counts share a rank. Sponsor shown is the private equity owner of the acquirer at the time of its deals, where disclosed.
Top 15 acquirers by number of announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian managed IT services companies, Nov 1, 2025 to Oct 25, 2026. Source: Laurent Capital Research.
Deals by acquirer
Each deal links to the press release or report it was taken from. Dates are announcement dates.
- 1
The 20 MSP
8 deals | Private strategic
- Sundance Networks | United States | managed IT, cybersecurity and AI consulting MSPSource: PR Newswire (via StreetInsider)
- MashGrape Technologies | Fort Myers, FL | managed IT services providerSource: The 20 MSP (company blog)
- Northwest Computer Solutions | Hillsboro, OR | managed IT services providerSource: The 20 MSP (company blog)
- Assured Technology Solutions | Portland, OR | managed IT services providerSource: The 20 MSP (company blog)
- 2
New Charter Technologies
5 deals | PE-backed, Oval Partners
- GraVoc | MA | technology solutions provider (IT, cybersecurity, ERP, creative)borderline fitSource: Company site
- 3
Nexus IT
4 deals | PE-backed
- TecServ Inc. | Salt Lake City, UT | industrial/OT technology servicesborderline fitSource: Company site
- Damon Technology Solutions (DamonTeK) | Phoenix, AZ | managed IT services providerSource: Company site
- 3
AYCE Capital
4 deals | Private strategic
- Kernel Advisory | Toronto, ON | cybersecurity advisory, vCISO, managed security operationsSource: EIN Presswire
- 5
IT Solutions
3 deals | PE-backed, Nautic Partners
- 5
Net at Work
3 deals | PE-backed, Lovell Minnick Partners
- 5
Harbor IT
3 deals | PE-backed, Worklyn Partners
- 8
Centre Technologies
2 deals | PE-backed, LightBay Capital
- IT First Equipment Co. managed services customers | Dallas, TX | managed services customer bookSource: Company site
- 8
CompassMSP
2 deals | PE-backed, Agellus Capital
- 8
Big Sur Technologies
2 deals | Private strategic
- 8
Charles IT
2 deals | Private strategic
- 8
DEX Imaging
2 deals | Private strategic
- Imagine Technology Group (ITG) | Chandler, AZ | document technology and managed IT servicesborderline fitSource: ENX Magazine
- 8
Presidio
2 deals | PE-backed, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
- LookingPoint | CA | networking, security, cloud solutions providerborderline fitSource: Company site
- Achieve One | VA | systems integrator and cloud solutions providerborderline fitSource: Company site
- 8
Loffler Companies
2 deals | Private strategic
- Fisher's Technology | Boise, ID | office technology with managed IT and cybersecurityborderline fitSource: Company site
- Digital Office Centre (DOC) | ND | office technology / managed services dealer (Minot, Bismarck)borderline fitSource: Company site
- 8
Corporate Technologies
2 deals | PE-backed, Tonka Bay Equity Partners
- RPM Technologies, LLC | MN | managed IT and compliance services for life sciences organizationsreport dateSource: PrivSource
- Cloud Compliance Solutions, LLC | Pompano Beach, FL | cloud / desktop-as-a-service providerSource: PR Newswire
- 8
Alchemy Technology Group
2 deals | PE-backed, Avance Investment Management
- Enterprise Computing Solutions, Inc. (ECS) | Irvine, CA | edge computing, cloud and security solutionsborderline fitSource: Company site
- 8
Convergence Networks
2 deals | PE-backed, Riverside Partners
- 8
Arctiq
2 deals | Private strategic
- 8
Entech
2 deals | PE-backed, Prospect Partners
- LAN Infotech | Fort Lauderdale, FL | IT services / Microsoft cloud and cybersecuritySource: Company site
Other acquirers in the period
48 further acquirers announced 48 deals in this niche.
- CNE (Communication Network Engineering) acquired FARR Technologies | Sioux Falls, SDborderline fitSource
- Virtual Technologies Group acquired Whitlock Infrastructure Solutions | NCborderline fit, report dateSource
- LevelBlue acquired Alert Logic managed detection and response business (from Fortra) | Eden Prairie, MNSource
What drives consolidation in managed IT services
Managed IT is fragmented: most providers are founder-owned firms serving a regional client base, and buyers appear to value the recurring monthly contracts that dominate their revenue.
Rising security and compliance requirements (cyber insurance questionnaires, CMMC for defense suppliers, HIPAA) likely favor providers with dedicated security staff, which pushes smaller firms toward larger platforms.
Founder succession is a frequent stated reason for sale in press releases, and many platforms describe a strategy of entering new metros by acquiring an established local provider.
These observations reflect themes stated in the announcements we reviewed and our general view of the market; they are not findings measured from the dataset.
All eight niches in one file, with source URLs. Filter the niche column for this ranking.
Frequently asked questions
Who acquired the most managed IT services companies in 2026?
Between November 1, 2025 and October 25, 2026, the most active acquirers by number of announced deals were The 20 MSP (8), New Charter Technologies (5), Nexus IT (4). Counts include only publicly announced acquisitions of U.S. and Canadian companies.
How many managed IT services acquisitions were announced in the past year?
We recorded 102 announced acquisitions by 67 acquirers. Because many small transactions are never announced, the true number is higher.
Are most MSPs buyers private equity-backed?
In our data, 50% of the deals were made by acquirers owned by private equity firms. The rest were made by public companies and privately held strategic buyers.
What does this mean for an owner considering a sale?
An active market means more potential buyers, but serial acquirers usually have set valuation frameworks and integration plans. Owners tend to achieve better terms when several qualified buyers compete, including strategic buyers that appear less often in announcements. The ranking shows who is buying; it does not show who would pay the most for a particular company.
What is counted as a deal in this niche?
Managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security providers (MSSPs) serving small and mid-sized organizations, including outsourced IT support, cloud managed services and IT consulting firms. Pure software vendors and telecom carriers are excluded. Records that sit at the edge of that definition are marked as borderline in the CSV.
Methodology and sources
Laurent Capital Research compiled this dataset from public sources in October 2026 (sources retrieved October 26, 2026). It covers acquisitions announced from Nov 1, 2025 to Oct 25, 2026 in which the acquired company was headquartered in the United States or Canada. For each of eight niches we built a list of acquirers known to be active, read the news and press-release pages of each one we could reach, then reviewed wire services (PR Newswire, Business Wire, GlobeNewswire and others), trade publications and public deal trackers for deals by acquirers not on the initial list. A second collection pass, added to the dataset on October 27, 2026, contributed 37 further deals, mostly from the PrivSource deal tracker and trade publications; each was checked against the page it cites, and a private equity sponsor is shown only where that page names it.
Each press release or article was read and its facts recorded in a fixed schema: announcement date, acquirer, the acquirer’s private equity owner at the time (if any), target, target location, a short description of the target’s business, and the source URL. The press release is the preferred source; where none could be found or retrieved, the source is a trade publication or a public deal tracker (for example PrivSource, Levin Associates, Becker’s Hospital Review or the monthly sector reports of Janes Capital Partners). Where only a closing date or the date of a report was available, that date is used and the deal is flagged as such on the page and in the CSV.
Records were deduplicated on acquirer and target, and each deal is counted in one niche only. On review we removed 69 of 644 collected records: deals known only from a search-result snippet or a page that could not be read, deals with an unknown or out-of-window date, targets outside the United States and Canada or with an unconfirmed headquarters, duplicates, initial platform investments by private equity firms, deals outside a niche’s definition, and transactions with a disclosed value above $1 billion. Every remaining source link was requested on October 26, 2026 and none returned “not found” (some sites block automated requests); for the pages whose text could be read automatically, we confirmed that the page names the acquirer and the target.
Acquirers are ranked by the number of announced deals in a niche. The acquirer is the operating company that announced the acquisition (for example, a private equity-backed platform or a software group within a larger holding company), not its financial sponsor; the sponsor and, where relevant, the parent group are shown separately. Minority investments and purchases of municipal or government-owned assets are excluded.
Limitations. The counts include only deals that were publicly announced and that we could find and read. Many add-on acquisitions of small companies are never announced, some acquirers disclose deals only in aggregate, and a number of company newsrooms and trade-press archives could not be retrieved, so the totals understate actual activity, by more for some niches and acquirers than others; each niche page states its known coverage gaps. The revenue cycle management ranking in particular rests on limited data and should be read as preliminary. Niche boundaries require judgment; records marked “borderline” are included in the counts. Deal values are rarely disclosed for companies of this size and are not reported here. The data does not include any transaction advised by Laurent Capital.
- 1prnewswire.com. 15 deals sourced here
- 2privsource.com. 9 deals sourced here
- 3the20msp.com. 4 deals sourced here
- 4ayce-capital.com. 3 deals sourced here
- 5itsolutions-inc.com. 3 deals sourced here
- 6newchartertech.com. 3 deals sourced here
- 7nexusitc.net. 3 deals sourced here
- 8bigsurtech.com. 2 deals sourced here
- 9compassmsp.com. 2 deals sourced here
- 10einpresswire.com. 2 deals sourced here
Data last updated Oct 27, 2026.
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Citation
Laurent Capital Research, “Most Active Acquirers of Managed IT Services Companies (2026),” 2026, https://laurent.capital/research/most-active-acquirers/managed-it-servicesLink (HTML)
<a href="https://laurent.capital/research/most-active-acquirers/managed-it-services">Most Active Acquirers of Managed IT Services Companies (2026)</a> (Laurent Capital)Compiled from public sources for general information; not investment advice. Inclusion does not imply any relationship with, or endorsement by, the companies listed, and the data does not include any transaction advised by Laurent Capital. To report a missing or incorrect deal, write to info@laurent.capital with a link to the announcement.
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