Alfar and Walter join hands to buy MSP, merge it with Groupe Access

Later this morning, Alfar Capital, based in Westmount, Quebec, and Walter Capital Partners, based in Montreal, are expected to announce the completed acquisition of MSP Corp – a managed service provider group with headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta, and Guelph, Ontario – from BDC Capital and MSP Corp co-founders Ravi Ramharak and Jason Dacosta, in a deal valued at more than $100 million.

After the acquisition, MSP Corp is merging with Groupe Access, a managed service provider based in Montreal.

The combined entity, which continues to use the MSP Corp name, brings together 15 companies and creates a national Canadian platform of managed services that its investors said is poised to lead the industry in digital transformation, cloud computing and cybersecurity solutions.

BDC Capital retains a minority stake in the new entity through its Growth Equity Partners Fund II.

Groupe Access CEO Habib Malik is leading the combined MSP Corp.

Ramharak, who previously served as chief executive of MSP Corp, will become the chief mergers and acquisitions officer and retains a stake in the company.

Dacosta is exiting the business.

Management and employees will own more than 10 percent along with the ownership stakes retained by the CEOs of the two merged entities.

Ahead of the deal announcement later today, Ramharak answered a few questions PE Hub asked.

What’s the significance of today’s announcement?

The main goal of MSP Corp has always been to become a pan-national entity and now with the acquisition by Walter/Alfar Capital and the merger with Groupe Access, we cover all major corridors of the Canadian market. MSP Corp has also been looking for a CEO that could lead the company, and Habib Malik from Groupe Access was the perfect fit. So we got two major wins in one transaction.

What will future growth of the company look like?

MSP Corp will continue to acquire for inorganic growth but will also turn its focus to organic back-office integration synergies in payroll/HR/benefits and a national sales strategy.

What are your plans to expand in the US?

We are very excited to bring our cohesive model to the US starting in 2023 – we want to be a North American MSP and we will be targeting the major markets of US East/US South to begin our strategy.

How is the challenging economy affecting MSP’s business?

We believe that the MSP model is resilient to the current economy, and it’s proven that over the last 10 years when we have seen two-three down cycles, and MSPs have generally held well if they had a diversified client base. We feel as more and more companies face cyber threats and have a hard time finding technical staff MSPs will continue to grow.