News

RLJ Equity Partners LLC has acquired a majority stake in Minneapolis-based Virteva LLC, a provider of managed services for digital companies. No financial terms were disclosed. Piper Jaffray Companies served as a financial adviser to Virteva on the deal.

PRESS RELEASE

BETHESDA, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–RLJ Equity Partners LLC (“RLJ”), an affiliate of the RLJ Companies, has acquired a majority interest in Virteva, LLC (“Virteva”). Founded in 2005, Virteva is a privately held Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company that is a Gold ServiceNow partner and leading provider of managed services for digital enterprises. The Virteva team will join Crossfuze to offer a more dynamic global organization. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Advancing Crossfuze’s ServiceNow and Managed Services growth strategy, Virteva is bringing a complementary customer base in the United States, and an accomplished team of experts. The new company will have 100 dedicated ServiceNow consultants and developers and over 600 total employees globally. The company’s global headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia, with country headquarters in Minneapolis, Toronto, London and Manila.

“We believe the Crossfuze and Virteva teams are a winning combination for customers. Combining the strengths of the two entities will advance our strategic vision and accelerate our growth,” said Nigel Howard, principal at RLJ. “Both leadership teams have demonstrated their ability to deliver significant value to customers and partners while providing employees the ability to advance their careers by establishing a culture of innovation and collaboration.”

The merged company, known as Crossfuze, is uniquely positioned to help customers deliver long-term ServiceNow digital transformation with speed, confidence and scale. In the last year, Crossfuze has been officially recognized by ServiceNow as the partner with the Highest Customer Satisfaction for the Americas and the EMEA Accelerated Growth Partner of the Year. Similarly, Virteva was awarded the Partner of the Year designation by ServiceNow in 2018.

“Crossfuze is delivering dynamic customer success in three continents. Virteva brings the right kind of people with a customer-first approach. For today’s hypercompetitive business landscape, a market leader must ensure that customers around the world are receiving the highest quality experience,” said Chris Howard, president and chief executive officer of Crossfuze. “By adding Virteva’s proven capabilities and deeply knowledgeable resources, we are taking the next step toward Crossfuze’s vision of superior customer experiences.”

Virteva is a well-known Gold Sales and Services Partner for ServiceNow, and the company has deployed over 600 projects. These services allow organizations to take advantage of new cloud technologies to improve workflows and optimize operating expenses.

Tom Kieffer, chief executive and co-founder of Virteva, said, “Like Crossfuze, Virteva has been growing and sharpening its expertise to service the digital enterprise. Our company will be the preferred professional services partner for ServiceNow and Managed Services.” As a new Crossfuze board member, he added, “The combination of the two companies brings tremendous opportunity for our customers and employees.”

The acquisition of Virteva is the second ServiceNow-related acquisition that RLJ has made in the last six months. In October, RLJ acquired Crossfuze to enter into the ServiceNow market.

“The combination of Crossfuze and Virteva significantly increases the company’s scale and service offerings necessary to be a preferred partner for ServiceNow consulting and implementations in North America and Europe. ServiceNow is transforming the enterprise by automating workflows for information technology, asset management, customer service and human resources,” said Jerry L. Johnson, partner of RLJ Equity Partners and Chairman of Crossfuze. “We will make significant organic and inorganic investments to continue to support the depth and breadth of the current and future needs of our corporate and government customers.”

DLA Piper LLP provided legal counsel to RLJ Equity Partners. Fredrikson and Byron, P.A. provided legal counsel, and Piper Jaffray Companies served as financial advisor to Virteva.

About Crossfuze
Founded in 2000, Crossfuze is a leading ServiceNow Gold Sales and Services Partner, recognized by ServiceNow as the partner with the highest customer satisfaction for the Americas. With over 1,200 implementations, 18 years of Enterprise Service Management experience and a global reach, Crossfuze is known for providing superior service and in-depth knowledge that enables organizations to accelerate the path to achieving their ServiceNow vision. For more information, visit www.crossfuze.com and follow Crossfuze on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Virteva
Virteva, a Gold ServiceNow Partner, provides a full suite of as-a-service solutions to deploy, manage and serve on the ServiceNow platform. With a battle-tested approach designed for the digital enterprise, Virteva ensures success for its customers and the people those customers serve. Virteva has over 130 employees and serves companies nationally from its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About RLJ Equity Partners
RLJ Equity Partners is a middle-market private equity firm focused on generating long-term capital appreciation by investing in profitable and growing businesses led by strong management teams. Founded in 2006 by Robert L. Johnson in partnership with The Carlyle Group, RLJ originates structures and invests in traditional buy-outs, recapitalizations and add-on acquisitions. RLJ Equity Partners is a portfolio company of The RLJ Companies. For more information, visit www.rljequitypartners.com.