Wind Point Partners Acquires CTSI
Wind Point acquires leading systems integrator of highly engineered low-voltage solutions
Chicago, IL, June 23, 2020 – Wind Point Partners (“Wind Point”), a Chicago-based private equity firm, announced today that it has acquired Corbett Technology Solutions, Inc. (“CTSI” or the “Company”), a leading provider of highly engineered and customized communication, collaboration, life-safety and security solutions. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, CTSI serves a large network of private, public and institutional clients spanning the healthcare, education, commercial, government, house of worship, senior living and multi-family residential markets. The Company designs, engineers, installs and maintains cutting edge audiovisual, sound, student safety, fire safety and patient communications systems, with most projects centered around replacements and upgrades.
Wind Point will be partnering with CTSI management, led by CEO Gino Ruta, and executive advisors George Pierson and Bob Chauvin. Mr. Ruta has led the Company through several years of consistent organic growth and successfully integrated two strategic acquisitions. Mr. Ruta and management will remain with the business and retain a meaningful ownership stake in the Company alongside Wind Point. Mr. Pierson and Mr. Chauvin will serve on CTSI’s board, leveraging their significant industry experience to help Wind Point and management drive the Company’s value creation plan.
“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Wind Point due to their long history of scaling businesses and accelerating growth,” noted Gino Ruta, CEO of CTSI. “Since CTSI’s founding, we have successfully grown our service capabilities, including enhanced managed and subscription services, while extending geographic reach by prioritizing the needs of our customers, partners and employees. Our focus remains the same, and, with Wind Point’s support, we will further expand our capabilities to better serve those constituencies and reach new markets.”
Nathan Brown, Managing Director at Wind Point, commented, “We are very excited for the opportunity to partner with the high-quality professionals at CTSI. Gino and the talented people at CTSI have built a market leader that is positioned for further expansion. CTSI is a fundamentally strong business, including double-digit growth rates and resilient performance through the great recession and the current pandemic.”
Wind Point and CTSI management will continue investing in the business to expand the Company’s breadth of service offerings and geographic reach through a combination of organic growth initiatives and acquisitions. Mr. Pierson and Mr. Chauvin advised Wind Point on the transaction and will lead a newly formed board of directors focused on support CTSI’s continued growth. Mr. Chauvin is a 30-year fire and life-safety systems industry veteran, having spent most of his career at Tyco SimplexGrinnell, where he retired as president in 2017. Mr. Chauvin will be actively involved in the development and execution of CTSI’s future acquisition strategy. Mr. Pierson will join CTSI as Lead Director, bringing over 30 years of experience in the engineering services industry, including prior roles as President and CEO of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global engineering and program management firm, and as CEO of The Kleinfelder Group, a leading multidisciplinary engineering firm. Mr. Pierson and Wind Point most recently partnered on the acquisition of The Kleinfelder Group in 2018, where he currently serves as Board Chair. CTSI represents the third partnership between Wind Point and Mr. Pierson, who is also a member of the firm’s Executive Advisor Partner program.
Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Czech Asset Management, L.P. and Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal counsel to Wind Point. KPMG, LLP provided transaction advisory services in connection with the transaction.