One of Canada’s largest pension plans just made its first direct investment in IT management.
The nearly C$130 billion Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Integris, a provider of IT, cloud and cybersecurity services, from its current owner, Chicago-based buyout firm Frontenac. Financial terms of the transaction were withheld.
New Jersey-based Integris connects small and mid-sized companies with IT service providers that range from cybersecurity to IT consulting to cloud services and network connectivity.
Integris is the product of Frontenac’s roll-up strategy. In 2020, the firm recapitalized the company, previously known as Domain Technology Group, and merged it with three other companies to form Integris in 2021.
Since then, Frontenac has added eight other firms to Integris, including, most recently, its acquisition of IT managed service provider Network People in February.
The acquisition of Integris was led by Omers Private Equity, which manages the pension’s C$25 billion in net PE investment asset exposure. It’s the first time the pension has directly invested in a managed service provider and marks the continuation of OMERS’ strategy under the so-called Canadian model, which prioritizes direct deals over fund investments in its private market portfolio.
Following the departure of European PE head Jonathan Mussellwhite in September, OMERS reportedly said it would stop making direct PE investments in European companies in an effort to shift its exposure there to largely funds and co-investments.
OMERS’ North American PE lead Eric Haley will remain at the helm.
Featured image by Istvan Kadar Photography/Getty Images
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