Acquisitions in Massachusetts in 2018

Brown & Brown of Massachusetts, LLC (part of Brown & Brown, Inc.) has acquired substantially all of the assets of Rodman Insurance Agency, Inc. The Rodman team will continue to operate from its Needham, Massachusetts office under existing leadership; the agency reported approximately $9.5 million in annual revenue and serves commercial customers across the Northeast.

The Allstate Corporation has acquired PlumChoice, a Lowell, Massachusetts-based provider of cloud and technical support services, in a $30 million deal. PlumChoice will be integrated into Allstate's SquareTrade protection-plans business to expand tech-support capabilities for consumers and small businesses.

Amedisys, Inc. acquired Bring Care Home, a privately owned personal care services provider serving the North Shore, Merrimack Valley and Greater Boston areas of Massachusetts. The deal (announced/closed in 2018) expands Amedisys’ personal care footprint in northeastern Massachusetts; the sell-side was advised exclusively by American Healthcare Capital.

Arena Solutions, a cloud-based product realization platform, acquired Omnify Software, a provider of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software for discrete manufacturers. The acquisition brings Omnify's experienced staff and customers into Arena's portfolio while maintaining Omnify's Andover office and product support to accelerate product development and expand Arena's offerings in electronics, medical device, aerospace and telecom markets.

Weber Marketing Group, a national financial services strategic consultancy, acquired BancTrac Solutions, a Boston-area data warehouse and analytics firm, to expand its business intelligence and analytics capabilities for financial services clients. BancTrac’s founder Bill Hasapidis and the Boston-based team will continue supporting existing clients while joining Weber’s broader analytics and digital marketing offerings.

ProcessUnity, a cloud-based provider of third-party and integrated risk management software, received a majority growth capital investment from Long Ridge Equity Partners. The capital will accelerate ProcessUnity's product and market growth in third‑party/vendor risk management and provide partial liquidity to existing shareholders; Comerica provided senior financing and advisors included Morris, Manning & Martin and DCS Advisory.

Elsevier has completed its acquisition of Aries Systems, a North Andover, Massachusetts-based provider of manuscript submission, peer review and publishing workflow solutions. The purchase brings Aries' Editorial Manager and ProduXion Manager offerings into Elsevier's portfolio to strengthen its content-plus-technology strategy for scientific and scholarly publishing.

USI Insurance Services has acquired Wilbraham, Massachusetts–based The Gaudreau Group; terms were not disclosed. The Gaudreau Group, a nearly century-old commercial insurance, employee benefits and personal risk firm that insures more than 6,000 businesses and families across 14 states, will join USI's New England operations and its president Jules O. Gaudreau will join USI's New England regional management team.

Berry Global Group, Inc. completed the acquisition of Laddawn, Inc., a U.S.-based manufacturer of blown polyethylene bags and films with a proprietary e-commerce sales platform. Laddawn reported over $145 million of net sales for the 12 months ended July 31, 2018 and approximately 380 employees across five U.S. manufacturing sites; Berry said the deal will expand its Engineered Materials portfolio and leverage Laddawn's web and mobile capabilities to better serve small and medium customers.

Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. acquired a leading technology event and a group of complementary technology intelligence brands from EH Media for approximately $28 million in cash. The purchase includes brands such as Total Tech Summit, CEPro, Commercial Integrator, Security Sales & Integration, and Campus Safety, and brings EH Media's Framingham-based team into Emerald to strengthen Emerald's trade show and digital content capabilities.

EZShield, a portfolio company of The Wicks Group, has acquired IdentityForce, a leading identity theft protection provider for consumers, businesses and government agencies. The add-on expands EZShield's identity protection ecosystem—adding IdentityForce's monitoring, mobile app and restoration capabilities—and positions the combined business for further organic growth and additional acquisitions in the identity/cybersecurity space.

Vista Equity Partners signed a definitive agreement to acquire Alegeus, a market-leading consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) SaaS platform, from investment funds affiliated with Lightyear Capital. The acquisition will support Alegeus’ next phase of growth—leveraging Vista’s software and operational expertise to scale the platform that serves 300+ clients and about 30 million consumers.

Perficient, a digital transformation consulting firm, acquired Boston-based Stone Temple Consulting, a digital marketing and SEO agency. The deal adds approximately 60 employees, strengthens Perficient’s digital marketing, content and SEO capabilities, increases its presence in the Northeast, and brings Stone Temple founder Eric Enge into a leadership role at Perficient.

Broadtree Partners announced a strategic investment in ListEngage in July 2018. The investment is intended to help the Salesforce consulting firm scale its operations, deepen its relationship with Salesforce, and provide management support to realize growth opportunities.

Novacap has completed the acquisition of PCI Synthesis, a U.S.-based small-molecule CDMO with R&D and manufacturing sites in Massachusetts. The deal gives Novacap a U.S. footprint and strengthens its global pharmaceutical synthesis and commercial manufacturing capabilities.

Harbor Beach Capital, a lower-middle-market private equity firm, has acquired AVFX LLC, an event technology and audio-visual production company headquartered in the Boston area. The deal provides founder succession while positioning AVFX for national growth and expansion under Harbor Beach’s ownership, with existing management (President Steve Halling) remaining in leadership.

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. acquired Phillips, DiPisa & Associates, Inc. (PDA) and Leaders For Today, LLC (LFT) for a base purchase price of $30 million plus up to $7 million in potential earnouts. The two sister firms, which provide executive search and interim leadership staffing to healthcare delivery organizations, expand AMN’s leadership placement and interim management capabilities across hospital systems and academic medical centers.

4Wall Entertainment has acquired the assets of Boston-based Advanced Lighting & Production Services (ALPS) and will rebrand ALPS' Canton facility as 4Wall Boston. 4Wall will retain ALPS' staff (with founder Steven Way as General Manager and Dan Clawson as Director of Events) and use the 40,000 sq. ft. site to expand its theatrical and corporate event rental, sales, and systems-integration capabilities on the U.S. East Coast.

Cambridge Innovation Institute (CII) acquired Westborough, Massachusetts–based Trends Equity, Inc., including the AI World Conference & Expo and the AI Trends publication. The deal expands CII’s events and publishing portfolio into enterprise AI and enables rapid vertical expansion into markets such as healthcare, finance and manufacturing.