MergerTech is a global mergers and acquisitions advisory conglomerate that focuses on the sales side of technology companies, helping them to partner with the best financial buyers. Headquartered in Emeryville, CA, the company was founded by entrepreneur, Nitin Khanna in 2009, and it collaborates with technology entrepreneurs to maximize their outcome by finding the ideal financial or strategic acquirer.
After starting MergerTech, Nitin Khanna spent the first six months rebranding (MergerTech was formerly known as M&A Forum), repositioning, and relaunching the company. He has helped lead the company’s growth and client development efforts since then and has also been the lead strategy and negotiation advisor on the company’s largest deals. MergerTech is the dominant firm in this space, and it provides one service, namely passionate sell-side representation of technology clients who aim to sell their company for a price that falls within a $10MM-$200MM range.
Mergertech
MergerTech is considered a boutique technology treasury that provides mergers and acquisitions advice. The company’s key advantage is that it offers its clients a personalized and comprehensive consultation that is based on Nitin Khanna’s domain expertise and mergers and acquisitions experiences. This is based on the company’s vision that non-technology and non-US buyers are likely to pay more for technology startups in the US than large US-based IT companies.
Driven by the same vision, Nitin Khanna also advised on the sale of Simple, a fintech startup that was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as the highest value ever obtained for a customer in a mergers and acquisitions pact. This also includes Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, or BBVA, a Spanish bank, as well as the sale of Mutual Mobile, a mobile software developer, and WPP, a British advertisement agency. In each of the aforementioned cases as well as in many others, the price that Khanna negotiated for his clients was much higher than what a buyer would have usually paid. Also, according to 451 Research, MergerTech was named the top dealmaker bank, ahead of leading bank names such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
MergerTech’s Current Engagements
MergerTech has a rich repertoire of companies that it currently offers sell-side advisory services. The project portfolio is listed below.
Project Arial – e-clinical Trials Platform for Health and Pharma Sectors
Arial is an e-clinical trails platform for health and pharma sectors. More specifically, Arial is a leading edge cloud and SaaS-enabled e-clinical platform that manages clinical trials for several companies including global pharmaceuticals, contract research organizations, and medical device manufacturers worldwide.
Project Raedam – Smart Parking Technology
Raedam is a smart parking technology company that has built a pioneering end-to-end technology in the smart parking niche. They offer a robust web and mobile-based service for parking. Local commerce manages parking pain points and can be implemented modularly with various platforms.
Project Coronado – Marketing Solutions for the Real Estate Sector.
Coronado offers marketing solutions for the real estate sector. More specifically, it provides digital marketing solutions including SEO-optimized websites, traffic boost, on-page SEO enhancements to real estate agents and brokers. The company also offers consulting services such as training, reporting, and management of SEO, blogging, and social media.
Project Silver – Digital Media and Content Production Solution
Based in California, Silver provides digital media services to the film and television industry. The company’s core business is a set of post-production services for original content such as movies and television shows. Silver’s high-quality levels, as well as its unmatched security controls that it provides to its clients, have earned it broad acclaim.
Project Per Kuleshov – Interactive Narratives Software Platform
Per Kuleshov is an advanced storytelling software platform and IP that enables the creation and consumption of personalized, social, and interactive professional narratives.
Project Scarlett – Conversational Artificial Intelligence Platform
The leading artificial intelligence platform of its kind, Scarlett focuses on developing and deploying text-based chatbots across major messaging applications.
Project Rome – Enterprise Asset Management Solutions
Rome is the leading provider of enterprise asset management solutions for the largest industrial, energy, utilities, and government organizations in the world. Founded two decades ago, Rome has been the go-to consulting partner for complex, asset-intensive organizations ever since. It offers SaaS-based solutions for tracking, managing, and servicing multimillion-dollar asset portfolios.
Project Sol – Digital Development Services for Enterprise Clients
Specializing in engineering highly sophisticated digital products and solutions for enterprise clients, Sol is an award-winning, full-service agile software development company. The company is results-oriented and constantly optimizing its business model as it offers end-to-end agile and digital development services from agile software development, IT strategy, app development, to dynamic implementation, through enterprise-class engineering.
Project All Spark – Lithium-Ion Battery Technology
All Spark is a full-service customizable lithium-ion battery engineering and manufacturing firm. It is based on the West Coast and considered to be the leading enterprise in its niche. All Spark’s strength lies in its in-house prototyping and production and in its team of experienced engineers. This has led to the company’s ability to innovate rapidly and deliver products built to perform to the highest standards and incorporate the latest chemistry and safety systems.
Project Le Mans – Professional Services and Technology Consulting
A fast-growing IT services arm of one of the largest privately held US companies, Le Mans relies on MergerTech to provide it with buy-side advisory services to assist in the acquisition of a digital strategy consulting and/or cloud enablement services firm.
Merger Tech’s Closed Deals
MergerTech’s proven industry experience is evident in its repertoire of recently closed transactions. This includes helping clients attract a broad range of partners and buyers that helped increase their value through mergers and acquisitions. According to Josh Reich, the chief executive officer of Simple, one of MergerTech’s clients, “MergerTech’s representation was simply perfect. They worked tirelessly to get the best outcome for the company but it was clear they also cared deeply about us as individuals. Their experience and expertise, strategy and negotiation skills, passion and culture of service were evident throughout the process. I would highly recommend them to anyone seeking a mergers and acquisition advisor for their company.”
The following are some of the company’s recent transactions:
Defakto
Defakto is the latest in an ongoing list of digital transformation and digital agency transactions that MergerTech has advised on in recent years. Thanks to MergerTech, Defakto a marketing technology agency that specializes in creating connected customer experiences leveraging the Adobe Experience Cloud, has been acquired by Ansira. One of the largest independent marketing agencies in North America, Ansira is backed by global private equity firm Advent International. Headquartered in Dallas, Defakto’s headquarters are in Dallas, Texas, and the company offers an unmatched combination of strategic consulting, customer experience design, technology enablement and implementation of key marketing technology platforms. These include names such as Adobe Experience Cloud, Magento, Marketo, Salesforce, Oracle Eloqua and others that enable Defakto to deliver authentic customer experiences.
Infield Digital
Infield Digital is a leading digital experience consultancy with offices in San Francisco, Denver, and Berlin. With the help of MergerTech, the company has been acquired by HS2 Solutions, an award-winning digital brand experience agency. The acquisition deepens HS2’s commitment to being the leading independent provider of Adobe Experience Cloud services. The acquisition also strengthens the company’s ability to deliver personalization in complex eCommerce transactional environments.
Raizlabs
Raizlabs was purchased by Rightpoint, one of the largest independent customer experience agencies in North America. Rightpoint is backed by Stella Point Capital, a private equity group. Raizlabs is a fast-growing mobile innovation and emerging technologies agency. Its team of world-class product design and technology experts helps market the brand’s vision and deliver innovative products that have the ability to transform clients’ businesses and industries.
Natoma
Natoma Technologies is a technical consulting firm and systems integrator that specializes in software and application development for federal, state and local government agencies. MergerTech ensured the company’s acquisition by Red River, a preeminent technology transformation and integration firm that is focused on business and government clients. Natoma helps clients leverage commercially available technologies and develop custom solutions to improve work processes, reduce costs and enhance service levels to make government functions proceed more effectively and efficiently.
ArcTouch Inc.
MergerTech helped ArcTouch Inc. to be acquired by Grey Group, a WPP company, and a global marketing communications conglomerate. ArcTouch Inc. is a leading full-service mobile design and development company whose team of designers and developers transforms ideas into app experiences for a broad range of connected “things” one holds in their hand, wears on one’s writs, and use in one’s home and car. According to Eric Shapiro, the CEO of ArcTouch Inc., “ We are extremely pleased with the outcome and representation that MergerTech provided. The MergerTech team really understands our industry and provided us with the right guidance to take ArcTouch to the next level.”
GlobeSherpa
GlobeSherpa is a market leader in mobile solutions for public transportation with mobile book-and-pay ticketing in several major US markets including Portland, San Francisco, and Chicago. It was acquired by RideScout, the leading mobile app that allows users to search and compare ground transportation options on demand. According to Nat Parker, the CEO of GlobeSherpa, “GlobeSherpa was founded on the belief that mobile solutions and services would help improve operations and people’s daily lives, making transit payment applications seamless with a few clicks from your smartphone. MergerTech’s ability to understand and share our vision aided us through an extremely complex process, and for that we are grateful. I cannot begin to describe how difficult the transaction would have been to manage without the help of MergerTech. It was clear that they deeply cared about the outcome for all stakeholders including shareholders, employees, and management.”
Invisible IT, Inc.
Based in Mountain View, California, Invisible IT, Inc. is a provider of Cisco collaboration solutions among other complex IT offerings and a broad array of professional and managed services. The company was acquired by Milestone Technologies, Inc., an established leader in IT infrastructure services for many leading technology providers around the world. Both companies are well respected within their IT service markets, and both have important expertise for the combined IT service company.
ATEC Group
ATEC Group is a leading provider of virtualized data center solutions and specializes in infrastructure resource optimization (IRO). In 2009, MergerTech’s involvement ensured the company’s acquisition by GSS America Infotech Limited, a leading Global IT Services company, focused on providing scalable and cost-effective IT Solutions using a Global Delivery Model.
GCI Systems
A provider of technology solutions, GCI Systems has also been acquired by GSS Infotech, a pioneer in providing Managed IT Services. GCI is based in the Twin Cities, and it has been providing customized, affordable technology solutions to businesses since 1988. GSS Infotech has established itself as a preferred partner for IT services to over 200 Fortune customers and offers world-class services propelled by industry experts and a vast pool of professionally qualified workforce operating across the globe.
MergerTech’s other recent transactions include Pointsource that was acquired by Globant, Pondera Solutions that was invested in by Serent Capital, iHomefinder that was acquired by FRONTSTEPS, Prolific Interactive that sold a strategic minority interest to Critical Mass in 2016, A Sharp Inc. that sold a majority stake to Chicken Soup for the Soul, Eleven Wireless that sold a division to UniGuest, ONtheGO Platforms that was acquired by Atheer, Serene Corporation that was bought by AST Corporation, Y Media Labs that has joined a strategic partnership with MDC Partners Inc., Springbrook Software that has been acquired by Accela, AppThwack that was purchased by Amazon Web Services, Evolve Technology Group that was acquired by ePlus Technology Inc., SERUS Corporation that was purchased by E2Open, WeoGeo that was bought by Trimble, HPM Networks that signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by CANCOM, Simple that joined the global BBVA family of businesses, WellnessFX that was acquired by Health Elements, LLC, Mutual Mobile Inc. that sold a minority interest to WPP Digital, and several others that can be viewed on their website.
MergerTech’s Team
The team at MergerTech is made up of investment bankers who have a background in technology. Specifically, the team is made up of professionals who are experienced in building technology and technology-enabled companies. Their expertise covers the entire process of investment banking, beginning from the initial strategy to the final completion of the transaction. The team aims to provide each of its clients “big company” services, and the executives and investment bankers have expertise in all aspects of investment banking, including mergers and acquisitions and capital raises for growth or recapitalization.
About Nitin Khanna
Nitin Khanna’s expertise and experience, strategizing and negotiation skills, passion, and culture of service have set a new benchmark for the mergers and acquisitions transactions. His personal and professional values are admired and looked to by every budding entrepreneur in Portland, Oregon.
Nitin Khanna is the founder and chief executive officer emeritus of MergerTech. He founded the company in 2009, and he spent the first six months rebranding it from M&A Forum to MergerTech. He also repositioned and relaunched the company and has helped lead its growth and client development efforts ever since. He has also been involved as a lead strategy and negotiation advisor on the company’s largest deals. Before his positions as founder and CEO of MergerTech, Nitin Khanna was also the founder, chairman, and CEO of Saber Corp. that he founded in 1998 and which is one of the largest providers of state government solutions in the country. Ever since starting Saber, he helped grow the company to a total of 1200 employees and generate over $120MM in revenue by 2007 at which point it was sold to EDS for nearly four times its revenue, namely $460MM.
Nitin then assumed leadership of EDS’ government business operation that included Saber. Eight months later, after EDS was acquired by HP, Khanna departed and left the company with total revenue of $300MM and 1500 employees. While at Saber, Khanna led 8 mergers and acquisition transactions and gained knowledge and expertise that enabled him to provide both operational, strategic, and mergers and acquisition advice to the clients of MergerTech. Prior to Saber, Mr. Khanna was employed by Oracle Corporation where he held a number of senior technical positions in both the consulting and training organizations.
Khanna’s other entrepreneurial ventures span across the cannabis industry, where he is a frequent investor as well as the former CEO of Cura Cannabis that he left in May of 2018. In addition to his engagements at MergerTech, Nitin Khanna also sits on the advisory boards of Freeware Broadbank, TiE Oregon, The Classic Wines auction, Vendscreen and standoff companies in cloud spaces, mobile and social.
Mr. Khanna is quite active in the civic community as well, where he is known for his philanthropic engagements. His work with the Urban League of Portland (as a Board member), Portland Children’s Museum, Salem Area Youth Golf, and other organizations helped him win the “40 under 40 in Portland” award from Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber.
Nitin Khanna has a Bachelor and Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. Aside from his professional engagements, Khanna enjoys live music and DJ’ing.