FULLY MANAGED

Big buy: TELUS acquires Ottawabased IT firm Fully Managed for $137M

A Kanata North-based IT enterprise that expanded across the country by snapping up companies in B.C., Alberta and southern Ontario has been acquired by TELUS for $137 million.

The Vancouver-based telecommunications giant’s deal for Fully Managed closed in early 2022, TELUS spokesman François Marchand said in an email.

Fully Managed CEO Mark Scott said in a blog post the company began to explore “strategic growth alternatives” over the past year – a process that eventually spawned the deal with TELUS.

In an email, Scott called the acquisition “an exciting opportunity for us to continue our vision of becoming the No. 1 managed service provider in North America.”

Launched in 2006, Fully Managed has over 400 employees in Canada and the U.S. The firm, which serves more than 2,000 customers across North America, also has offices in Calgary, Edmonton, the GTA, London, Ont., Summerside, P.E.I., and Vancouver.

The company uses cloud-based software and remote network monitoring technology to assist customers without requiring support workers to be physically on site. Fully Managed also has a senior care division that provides IT solutions for that sector.

In the blog post announcing the deal, Scott said demand for managed

IT services has “exploded” during the pandemic as employers across

North America shifted to a remotefirst work model that’s driven more traffic to wireless networks. The CEO said joining forces with

TELUS – a global enterprise that provides internet, wireless and other services as well as healthcare software through its various subsidiaries and generates more than $14 billion in annual revenues – gives his firm access to “vast range of resources, world-leading products, networks and both leadership talent and technical expertise to better service our customers and lead in the digital decade ahead.”

Marchand said Fully Managed’s IT expertise will be a “major asset” for TELUS as the conglomerate looks to expand its offerings in “IT support, technology strategy and proactive network management.”

The deal puts Fully Managed on the other side of the table after years of being the buyer in a string of M&A transactions.

Formerly known as TUC, the company combined with senior care technology provider CareWorx in 2016. Three years later, the firm – by then rebranded as CareWorx – acquired Vancouver-based Fully Managed Technology as it pushed to grow its market base in Western Canada and expand its product offerings.

In early 2020, the company secured $25 million in venture financing. Shortly after, it purchased Calgary-based managed services provider TWT Group in a bid to establish a foothold in the Alberta market.

Fully Managed followed that up with two more deals in 2021, acquiring another Calgary IT firm, Wappo Information Services, before buying Toronto-based IT planning, project management and network security services provider Quartet Services.