Berkshire Partners Acquires Majority Stake in AHEAD from Centerbridge

Centerbridge Acquires Majority Stake in AHEAD; Berkshire Partners Takes Minority

September 1, 2020

Cloud & SaaS

Funds advised by Centerbridge Partners will acquire a majority stake in AHEAD, the Chicago-based enterprise cloud solutions and professional services provider, while Berkshire Partners will purchase a minority stake and AHEAD management will retain a significant ownership position. The transaction, which Court Square Capital Partners is exiting, is intended to accelerate AHEAD's expansion of digital solutions, services and geographic reach to support further growth in intelligent operations and cloud-native application development.

AHEAD Acquires Platform Consulting Group

January 7, 2020

IT Services

AHEAD, a Chicago-based enterprise cloud solutions provider, has acquired Platform Consulting Group, a Denver-based cloud native application development consultancy. The acquisition expands AHEAD’s professional services capabilities in application modernization, cloud-native development and modern development frameworks.

AHEAD Acquires MBX Systems

June 5, 2023

IT Services

AHEAD has acquired MBX Systems, an integrator of custom hardware platforms and provider of the Hatch supply chain orchestration software, to expand its edge and hyperscale infrastructure capabilities. The deal adds MBX’s engineering, manufacturing and global logistics capabilities (including a 120,000 sq. ft. integration and logistics center) to AHEAD’s enterprise cloud and digital platforms; AHEAD is PE-backed by Berkshire Partners.

AHEAD Acquires Vertical Trail

April 13, 2021

Data & Analytics

AHEAD has acquired Vertical Trail, a Chicago-based data and analytics consulting firm, to expand its cloud-based data engineering, data science and analytics capabilities. The acquisition integrates Vertical Trail’s cloud accelerators and partnerships (including Snowflake, Dataiku and Tableau) into AHEAD’s portfolio to help enterprise clients accelerate data-driven transformation.

AHEAD Acquires vCORE Technology Partners

March 7, 2022

IT Services

AHEAD, a provider of enterprise cloud services, has acquired Scottsdale-based vCORE Technology Partners to strengthen its presence in the Southwestern U.S. The deal expands AHEAD’s managed-services and cloud capabilities, bringing together talent and clients to create a business with more than $2 billion in gross revenues and over 1,300 employees.

Berkshire Partners Makes Equity Investment in UPSTACK

April 14, 2021

IT Services

Berkshire Partners has made an equity investment in UPSTACK to support the company's technology platform, expand its product and service portfolio, and accelerate direct investments and M&A in top-producing sales agencies. UPSTACK, a New York–based technology brokerage for cloud, colocation and connectivity solutions, will use the capital to evolve its platform and pursue continued roll-up activity.