‘I wasn’t just looking at price. I was looking at what happens after the deal. The price had to be fair, but it didn’t have to be the best. What I needed was something more balanced,’ says Christopher Luise, COO of New Charter Technologies, who sold his MSP in 2021.
For many MSP founders, selling their business is not based around a single decision. It’s a personal calculation shaped by timing, age, money, family, employees, risk tolerance and what they want the next chapter of their lives to look like.
Some owners sell because they are ready to stop carrying the full weight of the business, others want scale, capital and support while continuing to lead. Some are looking for a bigger platform, some want a quieter life and some just reach a point where the business they built no longer matches the life they want.
For Mark Essayian, who sold Orange County, Calif.-based KME Systems to Courser in 2024, the decision started with a blunt realization after decades of building his MSP.
“I didn’t want to die at my desk,” Essayian told CRN. “A lot of business owners, that’s exactly what they do. They work until they’re 70, 75, and then that’s it. That was never going to be me.”
Tim Guim took a different route. After more than 25 years building PCH Technologies, he sold to Evergreen in 2025 but stayed on to continue leading the company.
Christopher Luise, meanwhile, sold Adnet Technologies to New Charter Technologies because he wanted succession, opportunity for employees and a larger platform where he could keep building.
“I wasn’t just looking at price,” Luise said. “I was looking at what happens after the deal.”
CRN spoke with six different MSPs who all sold their businesses within the last two-and-a-half years, for different reasons and who took different paths.
Some founders exited, some rolled equity forward, others stayed on. But across the different routes are a number of themes: It’s not about the money, letting go of control is an adjustment and as the owner, ask yourself the hard questions. Below are their stories.
Mark Essayian Sold, Exited After 30 Years: ‘I Didn’t Want To Die At My Desk’
After more than three decades building an MSP, Mark Essayian knew what he wanted next, and what he didn’t want.
“I didn’t want to die at my desk,” Essayian told CRN. “A lot of business owners, that’s exactly what they do. They work until they’re 70, 75… and then that’s it. That was never going to be me.”
Essayian, 60, sold his Orange County, Calif.-based MSP KME Systems in 2024 to Courser. After roughly 25 years into the business, he started exit planning and asking what he wanted next.
“That’s when I sat down and said, ‘Here are my assets, here are my liabilities, here’s the life I actually want,’” he said. “You can love what you do, but at the end of the day, your business is an ATM for your life. So you start asking real questions. How do I want to travel? What do I want to give to charity? How long do I actually want to work? You’re not getting the private jet, but you can still design a life you’re happy with. You aim for the stars and settle for the moon. And the moon is pretty great. Once you accept that, you start making very different decisions.”
His plan was to exit, but not before surrounding himself with a team to help him best sell his business.
“Just because you’re good at running a business doesn’t mean you know how to sell one,” he said. “I talked to people I trusted. I hired advisors. A lot MSPs think, ‘I know my value.’ No you don’t. That’s not your job.”
For Essayian, the deal was less about chasing the highest bidder and more about finding the right alignment. While money mattered, culture was just as important. He didn’t want to sell to a buyer that would come in and gut the staff he had built. So to vet potential buyers, he went beyond standard due diligence, pushing for candid conversations to get the good and the bad.
Still, he cautioned other MSPs considering a sale that sentiment does not carry weight in a transaction. What matters most, he said, are “the financials, the balance sheet, the P&L and the customer base…not a founder’s ego or the story behind the business.”
In his case, that meant working with advisors years ahead of the sale to focus on increasing monthly recurring revenue.
“Make sure what you invoice on the first of the month is as high as possible,” he said. “And then make sure you’re actually making money on it. If you’re billing a million a month and making a thousand, that’s a problem.”
The sale process itself also challenged Essayian’s expectations. One of the biggest personal challenges, he said, was staying quiet during negotiations.
“I’m Armenian…it’s hard,” he joked. “But my advisor told me, ‘There’s no emotion here. It’s just money.’ You’ve got to treat it like a transaction.”
He ultimately stayed on with Courser for about two-and-a-half years post-sale in an advisory role. He still consults occasionally.
Looking back, his advice to other MSP owners is straightforward: start earlier, get help and be honest about goals.
“Write down what you want,” he said. “How much money, what kind of life. Then build the business to support that. Not your ego, your life.”
A business broker who was a client of Tim Guim’s gave him sound advice back in 2010: always keep the business ready to sell. That meant maintaining clean financials, building recurring revenue, improving margins and creating systems that didn’t depend entirely on him.
After researching the market, attending M&A events and speaking with other MSP owners who had sold, he partnered with a business broker who brought the opportunity to a large number of potential buyers. Out of roughly 1,000 to 1,500 private equity firms that received information about the company, five came back with serious offers.
“The highest value offer wasn’t necessarily the right fit. They were looking at my company as a quick add-on,” he told CRN. “They were buying the revenue to get them to the next stage, and over time I felt like I was going to disappear. That really wasn’t what I wanted.”
After building New Jersey-based PCH Technologies for more than 25 years, he wanted to protect the relationships and culture he had created.
“PCH is like another baby for me. I grew the company up. I’m really part of that business,” Guim, 52, said. “Yes, I have a team that can support and do the work, but it’s still a major part of my life. I wasn’t ready to just separate in three months and go away.”
In 2025, he landed on San Francisco-based Evergreen, a holding company with more than 160 MSPs under their umbrella and more than $1 billion in revenue. Under Evergreen, his MSP maintains its logo and operational independence.
While the sale process went smoothly, Guim said one of the biggest surprises was the amount of work involved during due diligence. Even well-prepared owners should expect significant time commitments gathering contracts, financial information, vendor agreements and operational details, he said.
“The biggest thing was the time commitment. It was a challenge because I had to keep it a secret. Even though we were prepared as you can be, it still takes a lot of time. You have to pull contracts, financial scenarios, vendor contracts, customer contracts and answer a lot of questions,” he said.
Looking back, he said there were two areas where owners should prepare earlier, especially if they’re going under private equity: tax planning and understanding the financial requirements of operating under private equity ownership.
One lesson he wished he’d learned earlier was the complexity of GAAP-based accounting. Moving from an entrepreneurial operating model to a private-equity-backed firm required new processes, tighter financial reporting and a deeper understanding of accounting standards.
Today, he continues leading the company but has an increased focus on financial metrics, reporting and operating discipline. The biggest adjustment, however, has been accepting that selling a business means giving up a level of ownership and control.
“The hard truth is that when you sell the business, it’s not your business anymore. You have to understand that,” he said. “You may get to call some of the shots, but at the end of the day it’s owned by somebody else.”
Bobby Umphlett Sold To New M&A Player, Stayed On: ‘It Came Down To Morals’
After about 15 years of building his MSP, Bobby Umphlett had a moment of clarity.
“Three years prior, I didn’t have any interest in selling,” he told CRN. “And then something just clicked and I said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready.’”
Umphlett, 53, was debt-free, had been investing since his teens and no longer needed to work 40-plus hours a week to sustain his lifestyle.
“My wife said, ‘Why are you still working 60, 70 hours a week? You don’t have to anymore.’ And I didn’t really have an answer. It was just all I knew,” he said. “I didn’t want to quit. I just thought if I can find someone I align with, I’ll do that.”
He evaluated five to six potential buyers and narrowed it down based on values.
“It came down to morals,” he said. “I asked them tough questions. Like, ‘Would you take on a client that didn’t align with your values if the money was big enough?’ That told me everything I needed to know.”
That’s why he sold his MSP, North Carolina-based Cloud Server Techs, to Grand Rapids, Mich.-based ITPartners+ in 2024. ITPartners+ is a $20 million MSP, according to CEO Kevin Damghani, and is newer to the M&A market, securing a $30 million funding round in 2025 to ramp up acquisitions.
“I liked them. I liked the business plan,” Umphlett said. “And I didn’t want all the money upfront, I wanted to keep some of it in and let it grow. They allowed me to do that.”
Equally important was the role he’d have post-transaction. “I didn’t want to go backwards or end up somewhere I didn’t enjoy. I like being in the weeds and solving problems. I like walking into a complete train wreck and fixing it.”
Today he focuses on technical strategy and support as a vCIO and sales engineer for ITPartners.
During the sale process, he said the biggest challenge was time as he was juggling the sale while also running his business.
“I was overloaded,” he said. “Looking back, I should have delegated more and freed myself up to focus on the transaction.”
He also cautioned owners to pay close attention to the fine details of their financials, “They’re going to turn over every rock. Even things like personal assets tied to the business. I had a truck in the company name that I had to deal with at the last minute. Stuff like that matters.”
Communication, he said, is another area where MSPs should be intentional. The CEO told his employees about the sale as soon as he knew where he’d land, and he said ITPartners’ Damghani met with the team right away to answer any questions.
Looking back, he wished he asked for more communication, just a weekly check in to see how the deal was going, even if there were nothing to report.
Like Guim, Umphlett’s biggest adjustment was giving up complete control, but the benefits outweigh that.
“For the first time, I took a vacation without my laptop,” he said. “I used to always have it with me, always be on call. This time, I just checked email at night. That was it.”
Christopher Luise was ready for what’s next. So in 2021, he sold Adnet Technologies, an MSP he co-founded in 1991, to Denver-based New Charter Technologies.
“I was 54 at the time, and my business partner was 11 years older. That changes how you think about risk, about succession, about what you want your life to look like,” Luise told CRN.
For him, the biggest priority was his team, “They are what got us here. I needed to make sure they were taken care of, that they had opportunity. That was my number one goal.”
He believed that if employees were supported, everything else, especially client outcomes, would follow suit. That perspective shaped how he evaluated buyers.
“I wasn’t just looking at price,” he said. “I was looking at what happens after the deal. The price had to be fair, but it didn’t have to be the best. What I needed was something more balanced.”
He also wasn’t ready to stop working. He wanted to roll equity forward and stay invested. “I wanted to keep building,” he said.
He landed on New Charter Technologies, the $425 million MSP, according to CEO Peter Melby, with about 30 acquisitions under its belt. He now serves as the company’s COO.
“It was the first time I heard a private equity-backed platform really talk about culture as something valuable,” he said. “Not something to tear down and rebuild, but something to preserve and grow.
“They led with people,” he added. “And they gave me the opportunity to keep building, but with more resources, more scale, more services and more buying power.”
While the transaction went smooth, his biggest lesson was preparation. He also learned that owners often misjudge what buyers value. Long-term client contracts did not change the deal while smaller administrative details, such as old incorporation documents and UCC filings, became unexpectedly important, he said.
Communication during the transition was also deliberate. He didn’t want to gatekeep, so he invited New Charter’s leadership in to meet with his team to answer any questions. He also spent weeks meeting directly with clients, reinforcing continuity with their service.
In his new role, he doesn’t miss the administrative side of the business, “the filings, the constant attention to cash flow, the distractions.”
What he does miss, though, is the closeness of a smaller team.
“When you’ve worked with people for 20 or 30 years, you know their lives,” he said. “You see their kids grow up. That’s harder to maintain at scale.”
However, in his role now he spends more time coaching other leaders within the organization, which he finds rewarding
For other MSP owners considering a sale, his advice is simple: “Understand why you’re doing it. Be honest with yourself.”
“Are you actually ready to give up control?” he added. “You have to be clear on that.”
Simon Beckett Sold To Smaller Firm, Works For Customer: ‘Now, The Pressure Is More Contained’
Simon Beckett never had a plan to sell his MSP, but he eventually knew it was time as he felt a gradual shift in his personal life and in the industry itself.
“For the first 20 years, it was fun,” Beckett, 52, told CRN. “Then it became not quite so much. Around the time I turned 50, I started asking myself whether I really wanted to keep doing this.”
That thought process coincided with changes in the industry as well. Increasing compliance requirements and a shift in how services were delivered began to shape the work in ways that didn’t appeal to him.
“The industry was heading in a direction that didn’t suit me,” he said. “I like building things, plugging things in. Suddenly, there’s all this paperwork…policies, compliance, audits. It’s important, but it’s not why I got into the business.”
By the time he formally explored selling his UK-based MSP Dynacom IT Support Limited, he had three offers on the table. The first potential buyer hadn’t done any due diligence and the second didn’t align with his culture, the third happened to be the perfect fit.
In 2025 he sold to Shoot Hill, a U.K.-based MSP that he said had £5 million to £10 million in revenue.
“They asked a lot of questions,” he said. “That was a good sign. If someone isn’t asking questions, they don’t understand your business.”
And like many other owners, the due diligence process was the most eye opening.
“We discovered we made a surprising amount from licensing and virtually nothing from hardware,” he said. “That was eye-opening. Hardware was a big part of our turnover, but not our profit. My perception of how the business worked wasn’t actually accurate.”
The legal side of the sale proved even more challenging as he didn’t bring on legal representation to help understand or translate language in formal documents.
“It was quite bewildering,” he said. “You’re reading this legal document thinking, ‘That’s not what we agreed.’ But the other side is reading it thinking it is. It almost feels like you’re accusing them of changing things in their favor, even if that’s not what’s happening.”
Looking back, he would do a few things differently.
“We didn’t take enough professional advice,” he said. “My accountant was brilliant, but we should have had someone dedicated to working alongside the buyer’s legal team. It nearly fell apart at the last minute because of things we’d glossed over.”
Once the sale was complete, Beckett spent six months visiting clients and introducing them to the new leadership, “Customers don’t buy from companies, they buy from people. They bought from me, from my team. So you have to help them transfer that trust.”
Even so, letting go of those relationships has been one of the hardest adjustments.
“The biggest change is not being in control of how communication works anymore,” he said. “Clients still come to me, but I’m not the one making decisions. And things that used to take an hour now take a week because there are more stakeholders.”
Today, Beckett works as an IT manager for a former client, a role also not on his radar but fell into his lap.
“Running your own business is constant pressure,” he said. “Now, the pressure is more contained. You deal with specific problems, not everything all at once.”
Michael Goldstein Sold To $20 Million Firm, Stayed On: ‘I’m Out There As A Cheerleader’
Longtime MSP executive Michael Goldstein prepared his business for sale about four years prior to the deal. His first step was finding an accounting firm that specialized in MSPs, an early move he claimed paid dividends later. “That gave us a chance to redo our books and really understand our numbers,” he told CRN.
And as consolidation heated up across the MSP market, he received countless calls from potential buyers, but it was a broker he knew for 20 years that encouraged him to meet with Fort Myers, Fla.-based Entech, the MSP Goldstein ultimately sold to.
Goldstein, 64, ran his Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based MSP Lan Infotech for 17 years before selling in 2025. He stayed on after the deal.
“I feel like I’m still too young to be a greeter at Walmart,” he joked. “I love what I do. It took me a long time to climb this mountain and I wanted to still be an integral part. I wanted to shed those everyday billing questions… generating invoices, chasing down accounting issues, the 2 a.m. calls. I wanted to focus on sales, marketing, development…the things I do best.”
He said he approached the decision less like a transaction and more like a long-term commitment. “It’s no different than dating or marriage,” he said. “You really want to be sure it’s the right fit, because there’s no ‘I’m sorry, it didn’t work out.’”
And, like everyone else, the due diligence process was the toughest.
“You feel like they’re going through everything,” he said. “It’s hard not to take offense sometimes. They’ve got to go through every nook and cranny so you’ve got to check your pride at the door.”
He came prepared though, with his chief financial officer and legal representation assisting with the deal. If there was one surprise, it was how intense the final stretch became.
“The last mile was attorneys fighting over words,” he said. “Every 15 minutes, I’m on calls with legal and CPA teams. Your blood pressure’s up….so at some point, you just have to draw the line.”
The hardest part, though, was telling his team about the sale and the emotions that came with it. The day after closing, he gathered employees for an all-hands meeting. Entech leadership was waiting in the parking lot.
Goldstein had prepared a whole speech, “….and I just couldn’t hold it together.”
Customer communication followed immediately. He locked himself up for two days and started calling customers. Some of those relationships go back 25 years, he explained.
Today, as market president–Southeast Florida at Entech, the former owner’s role looks different, but not unfamiliar.
“I’m out there as a cheerleader,” he said. “Community events, MSP events, meeting clients, looking for opportunities.”
The biggest shift, like others, has been letting go of control. “I always like to be in the driver’s seat. I’m not great in the passenger seat.”
But giving up control has had its upside. Goldstein recalled a recent flight to Chicago when the plane’s Wi-Fi went down—something that once would have left him anxious because he typically used that time to work.
“Before, I’d be sweating it,” he said. “Now? I just watched a movie.”
