News

Platinum Equity and The Gores Group have sold Data Blue, a provider of customized infrastructure, cloud architecture and virtualized solutions, to Court Square Capital Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. Raymond James & Associates provided financial adviser to Platinum Equity and The Gores Group on the transaction while Morgan Lewis acted as legal adviser. And, Dechert was legal adviser to Court Square on the acquisition.

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Platinum Equity and The Gores Group announced today the sale of Data Blue to Court Square Capital Partners. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2011, Data Blue is a provider of customized infrastructure, cloud architecture and virtualized solutions to enterprise customers in North America.

Platinum Equity and The Gores Group, through its Gores Small Capitalization Partners fund, acquired a controlling stake in Data Blue in 2016 and worked together with the company’s management team to drive growth and operational improvement plans.

“We’ve enjoyed a great partnership over the past three years that has helped substantially grow and diversify our business,” said Data Blue CEO Stephen Ayoub. “We have evolved from our roots in data storage and established the company as a leading provider of converged infrastructure solutions that is well positioned for continued success.”

Since 2016, Data Blue’s revenue has grown nearly 50 percent as the company has deepened relationships with technology partners, developed an Infrastructure Transformation practice, invested in new sales and marketing capabilities, and completed two add-on acquisitions.

“We’ve worked together to create an efficient, truly scalable platform that is built for sustainable growth,” said Platinum Equity Partner Jacob Kotzubei. “It’s been a real collaborative effort and we are proud of everything the company has accomplished during our stewardship.”

Ed Johnson, Senior Managing Director at The Gores Group, said, “Data Blue has evolved into a world class IT solutions provider through impressive gains organically and through execution of a successful M&A strategy. We wish Stephen and the team great future success.”

In January 2017 Data Blue acquired LPS Integration, a Value Added Reseller specializing in cloud infrastructure, networking, security and storage architecture. In April 2017 it acquired Atlanta-based cloud expertise and consulting firm, Williams & Garcia.

Raymond James & Associates acted as financial advisor and Morgan Lewis acted as legal advisor to Platinum Equity and The Gores Group on the sale of Data Blue. Dechert acted as the legal adviser to Court Square on the acquisition.

About Platinum Equity
Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with approximately $13 billion of assets under management and a portfolio of approximately 40 operating companies that serve customers around the world. The firm is currently investing from Platinum Equity Capital Partners IV, a $6.5 billion global buyout fund, and Platinum Equity Small Cap Fund, a $1.5 billion buyout fund focused on investment opportunities in the lower middle market. Platinum Equity specializes in mergers, acquisitions and operations – a trademarked strategy it calls M&A&O® – acquiring and operating companies in a broad range of business markets, including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology, telecommunications and other industries. Over the past 23 years Platinum Equity has completed more than 250 acquisitions.

About The Gores Group
The Gores Group, founded in 1987 by Alec Gores, is a global investment firm focused on partnering with differentiated businesses that can benefit from its extensive industry knowledge, decades long experience and flexible capital base. Over its 30 year history, the firm has developed a deep understanding of and appreciation for building businesses and creating value alongside management. Headquartered in Los Angeles, The Gores Group maintains offices in Greenwich, CT and Boulder, CO. For more information, please visit www.gores.com.

About Court Square Capital Partners
Court Square is a middle market private equity firm with one of the most experienced investment teams in the industry. Since 1979, the team has completed 225 investments, including several landmark transactions, and has developed numerous businesses into leaders in their respective markets. Court Square invests in companies that have compelling growth potential within the business services, general industrial, healthcare, and technology and telecommunications sectors. The firm has $6.2 billion of assets under management and is based in New York, N.Y. For more information on Court Square, please visit www.courtsquare.com.