‘We were very interested in Australia and New Zealand, but specifically it was First Focus that put Australia and New Zealand on the map for us because a lot of what we know about that market came because of our peer group relationship,’ says Integris CEO Rashaad Bajwa.
That acquired MSP, First Focus, not only brings Integris to a total of about 1,200 employees, it also gives Cranbury, N.J.-based Integris its first international expansion with offices in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Integris is a platform MSP, which is a company that investors use to acquire multiple smaller MSPs to combine them into a larger company better able to scale to meet the needs of clients, Bajwa told CRN.
[Related: MSP Integris Rolls Out AIOps Platform Internally, Preps For Client Use]
Furthermore, he said, the move late last year by one of the world’s largest private equity investment companies, OMERS Private Equity, to invest in Integris gives the company the ability to continue its acquisitions, including acquisitions of other platform MSPs.
“First Focus, for example, is the top consolidator in Australia,” he said. “So them joining us allows us to essentially take it up another level. We anticipate doing more of those acquisitions in the U.S. as well, meaning there are other consolidators out there. We think Integris is kind of a destination platform of choice where we expect some of those consolidators would be good partners for us going forward.”
There’s a lot going on in the MSP M&A space. For more on the industry and on Integris’ moves, here is more of CRN’s conversation with Bajwa.
How do you describe Integris? How do you define the company?
We are an SMB-focused managed services provider. And now it’s not just IT; it’s AI and IT because those are going hand in hand as far as the services that we’re providing to our clients. We believe we’re the largest MSP in the U.S. specifically focused on SMB, meaning there’s other MSPs that may be larger than us, but a lot of those are focused on the enterprise or midmarket space. We are also very focused on some regulated verticals like community banking, legal … and manufacturing.
Now when you say ‘largest’ MSP in the SMB space, can you quantify that?
Well, we are private. But with the First Focus acquisition, I think we’ll probably be around 1,200 folks around the world. In the U.S., we are close to 800 or 900 people, somewhere in that range. And then add another 300-ish with the First Focus deal, that brings us to about 1,200.
Talk about First Focus. What attracted you to the company?
We see First Focus like the Integris of Australia and New Zealand. They are the leading SMB-focused scale player down there. And when entering that market, we knew they were the partner that we wanted to work with because of their reputation, customer profile, and very good cultural and capability overlap with Integris.
Was it an interest in the Australia and New Zealand market that brought you to First Focus, or an interest in First Focus that brought you to Australia and New Zealand?
That’s a good question. I think we were Australia- and New Zealand-curious but didn’t know it that well. Ross [Sardi, First Focus CEO,] is a peer group member of ours, so we’ve known the business for quite some time. Ross is going to become chief innovation officer of our combined platform. Our interest in First Focus was very much about Ross as well because Ross is an exceptional leader, especially on the AI side. First Focus is one of the leading integrators, one of the first MSPs in Australia, New Zealand, or anywhere to have an OpenAI partnership. So the company is very far ahead of other folks, not only in Australia, but frankly in the world, when it comes to solutions for SMB customers as far as not only securing AI and offering a secure AI option, but also creating agents and agentic workflows for SMB customers. So we were very interested in Australia and New Zealand, but specifically it was First Focus that put Australia and New Zealand on the map for us because a lot of what we know about that market came because of our peer group relationship.
What other countries does Integris have a presence in?
Prior to this, we were only U.S.-based. This acquisition brings us a presence in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Has this whetted your appetite for further international expansion?
I think so. But more important to us is making sure that we have the right company. As I said, this was about First Focus and it being a differentiated player to allow us to go not only into Australia, but internationally. I think we will have a play in the U.K. and other English-speaking countries. I think it’s a no-brainer for us. But getting the right company is going to be the most important thing, rather than just going to other countries.
How much did Integris pay for First Focus?
We can’t disclose it.
Did you approach Ross, or did Ross approach you. with the idea of bringing the two companies together?
We approached Ross. We had observed them for two things. One, they are the scaled consolidator of choice in Australia. So from an M&A point of view, they are one of the top scaled SMB consolidators, maybe the biggest, Down Under. We knew he was very active there. But in the last couple of years, we also saw what they were doing on the AI front. And because of those two things, they really stood out to us as a differentiated opportunity. And so we approached Ross about bringing the companies together, and we were able to make that happen.
So First Focus is a platform MSP in Australia and New Zealand?
That’s right. Now they’re going to be our APAC platform, meaning we will continue to do further M&A in Asia-Pacific. First Focus will be our platform there. They ultimately will be under the Integris brand, but they already have a very differentiated reputation as a consolidator of choice down there.
How many acquisitions has First Focus made then?
I don’t know the exact number, but it’s in the teens. Yes, they’ve done quite a few.
How about Integris? Any more acquisitions planned for this year?
Yes, we are very active in the market. In all likelihood, we will probably have at least another transaction this year. Part of our recapitalization with [Toronto-based] OMERS Private Equity at the end of 2024 was to give us access to one of the largest institutional investors in the world. Our goal is to continue to do transformative acquisitions like First Focus. First Focus was a scaled MSP itself, with roughly $80 million Australian, or roughly $60 million, in revenue and 300 people. So it’s not a small organization. We’re going to continue to scale it even as we scale our U.S. expansion.
First Focus is a very scaled MSP. And frankly, for Australia, their consolidation is, you could say, five to 10 years behind that of the U.S. So $60 million in the U.S. is … big, but there’s plenty of that size companies here. In Australia and New Zealand, that’s like a ‘unicorn,’ meaning that while they’re way behind from a consolidation point of view, they are the largest SMB-focused MSP in Australia and New Zealand at $60 million, compared to us in the U.S. where we are going to be close to $300 million combined.
Did First Focus have a private equity backer?
No, they were privately owned.
But Integris is backed by OMERS Private Equity. OMERS is Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Systems, a large Canadian pension. And OMERS Private Equity is one of the largest institutional investors in the world.
Did OMERS invest in Integris specifically to set Integris up as a platform MSP?
That’s right. Frontenac Private Equity was our last sponsor. Frontenac was a private equity fund out of Chicago, and we did our first recap with them back in 2020. We scaled that significantly. And then, yes, OMERS invested in us to help us scale at the next level where we can now be a consolidator of the consolidators. First Focus, for example, is the top consolidator in Australia. So them joining us allows us to essentially take it up another level. We anticipate doing more of those acquisitions in the U.S. as well, meaning there are other consolidators out there. We think Integris is kind of a destination platform of choice where we expect some of those consolidators would be good partners for us going forward.
