If you own an IT company or a managed service provider (MSP), the most active buyers today are groups backed by private equity that are assembling MSPs one acquisition at a time. Larger IT services firms also buy to add a capability or a region, holding companies buy to own for the long term, and some owners sell to their own employees, including through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

What makes those buyers pay more is mostly predictable: managed services revenue under contract, customers who stay and are spread across many accounts, engineers and account managers who stay after the sale, documented processes, strong security, a business that runs without you, and clean financials.

The short version

  • Who buys: private equity backed MSP and IT services groups, private equity firms buying a first platform, larger IT services firms, holding companies, and your own employees or managers.
  • What they pay more for: recurring revenue under contract, customers who stay and a spread of them, a team that stays, documented processes, strong security, low owner dependence and clean financials.
  • How to get the best result: put the company in front of several of those buyers at once, confidentially, instead of taking the first offer that arrives.

Who has been buying IT companies and MSPs

The deals below come from public announcements. None of them is a Hello Exit transaction, and naming a buyer here does not mean it works with Hello Exit or is looking for any particular business. They show who is active and how these deals tend to be structured.

If your company mainly sells software of its own, read how to sell a SaaS business instead. If it is closer to a digital or marketing agency, also read who buys marketing agencies.

Groups backed by private equity that add MSPs

The most common buyer for an established MSP is a group that already owns several and is adding more. Many keep the local name and leadership, and add purchasing, tools, security services and back office support.

Private equity firms also buy an established provider outright as the first company in a new group. Sole Source Capital acquired Brite, a cybersecurity and managed IT services provider in Victor, New York, in January 2026, as the first platform investment from its third fund. Brite’s leadership team stayed with the company.

Larger IT services firms adding a capability or a market

Larger firms buy to add a service they do not offer or to enter a market where they are not yet strong.

A strategic buyer may value your customers, your engineers or your region differently from a financial buyer, because it can combine them with what it already has.

Holding companies and long-term owners

Holding companies and family offices invest for the long term and can hold a business indefinitely, which some owners prefer when they care about what happens to their team and name. Evergreen, which calls itself a permanent home for businesses, acquired Next7 IT, a 26-person MSP in the Pittsburgh area, in August 2025. Next7 kept its name, its founder retired, and its chief operating officer became chief executive.

Individual buyers, including search funds and experienced operators, are often the buyers for smaller IT companies. Both are worth including when the buyer list is built.

Your employees and managers

Some owners sell to the people who already run the company. An ESOP is one way to do it: a trust holds shares on behalf of the employees.

An ESOP or management buyout keeps the company with its people. It is one option to compare against outside offers, not a replacement for testing them, and it needs its own legal, tax and financing advice.

How selling an IT company works differently

A few things come up in IT services deals that rarely come up elsewhere. These are general points about what buyers ask, not legal, contract, tax or compliance advice. Bring your own attorney, accountant and security advisers in early.

Managed services, projects and break-fix work

Managed IT services are sold by subscription, with customers paying a flat fee on a set schedule, usually monthly (TechTarget). Break-fix work is done when something fails and is typically billed on time and materials (TechTarget). Most IT companies also do project work and resell hardware and software. Buyers will ask for revenue and margin by type, because managed services under contract tell them more about next year than one-off projects or resale.

Customer contracts in a sale

Buyers will read your managed services agreements: how long they run, how they renew, how much notice a customer must give to leave, and what they say about a sale. They will look for clauses that limit assignment or require a customer’s consent to a change of control. What your contracts allow depends on their wording and on how the deal is structured, so have your attorney review them before you go to market.

Security and compliance

An MSP holds access to its customers’ systems, and buyers know it. US and allied cybersecurity agencies have warned that attackers target MSPs to reach their customers, and recommended steps such as multifactor authentication on MSP accounts that access customer environments (CISA). Expect questions about how you secure your own tools and administrator access, and about any past incidents and how you handled them.

Customers in regulated industries bring their own requirements. The AICPA describes a SOC 2 report as information for customers and business partners about a service provider’s controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality or privacy (AICPA). If your customers include defense contractors, they may ask how your services fit the Defense Department’s CMMC program, whose contract rule took effect in November 2025 (DoD). Buyers will ask what you have in place and what you have promised customers in writing.

Vendor partnerships and the people behind them

Vendor partner programs can depend on certified people. Microsoft’s Solutions Partner for Modern Work designation, for example, awards skilling points based on how many people at the company hold eligible Microsoft certifications (Microsoft). Buyers will ask which designations your standing with vendors depends on, who holds the certifications behind them, and whether those people are staying.

They will also ask which tools you run, such as remote monitoring and management, ticketing, backup and security software. Buyers that own several MSPs may move an acquired company onto their own platform. When Katalyst acquired Layer27, a managed services and cybersecurity provider in Durham, North Carolina, in July 2026, it said Layer27’s technology stack, vendor relationships and service delivery would move onto Katalyst’s platform over the following weeks.

What IT services buyers pay more for

Every buyer looks at earnings first. After that, these are the things that most often move what an IT services buyer will pay and how much of the price comes at closing.

Recurring revenue under contract

Managed services revenue billed every month under written agreements tells a buyer what next year looks like. Buyers will ask how much of your revenue recurs, how long the agreements run and how many customers are month to month.

Customer retention and concentration

Buyers look at how long customers stay and how many leave each year. If one or two customers bring in a large share of revenue, a buyer will ask what happens if one of them leaves. A wider customer base makes the company easier to value.

Engineers and account managers who stay

The people who run the help desk and own the customer relationships are much of what a buyer is paying for. Buyers look at how long they have stayed, who holds the key certifications, and who will stay after the sale.

Documented processes

Written procedures, a ticketing system with a clean history, standard setups across customers, and service levels you track and meet show a buyer that the company runs on process, not memory.

Security posture

Multifactor authentication, protected administrator accounts, tested backups and an incident plan in your own operations make the company easier to buy. A recent breach will get attention.

How much the business depends on you

If you sell the big accounts, solve the hardest technical problems and hold the vendor relationships, a buyer is paying for a business that may not run without you. Owners who have a leadership team running daily operations usually get better terms, with more of the price paid at closing and less tied to future results.

Clean financials

Buyers will ask for several years of financial statements, revenue and gross margin by service line and customer, a list of customer agreements with their terms, and personal expenses separated from business costs. Clean books make the business easier to underwrite and harder to discount.

Why it pays to have several buyers at the table

The same IT company can look very different to different buyers. A group of MSPs may value your customers and your region. A larger IT services firm may value a capability it lacks. A holding company may value steady recurring revenue and a team to keep, and your own managers may value keeping the company independent. When you talk to only one of them, you only learn what that one will pay.

Putting the company in front of several qualified buyers at once, confidentially, tests price and terms against each other. Buyers learn who you are only after signing an NDA, so employees, customers, vendors and competitors do not find out early.

Hello Exit is a sell-side M&A advisor for founders selling businesses from $1 million to $400 million, and it is the team behind 1,000+ acquisitions and exits. Every engagement starts from accurate information. Hello Exit’s Exit Report is an advisory estimate that shows the strategic case, where strategic buyers exist, and the financial case side by side, along with an honest read on readiness. If the business is not ready to sell, Hello Exit says so and helps you get there first.

See how the process works, from the first confidential call to closing, and what Hello Exit does.

Size matters too. Below roughly $1 million in value, a marketplace or local business broker is usually the practical route to a sale. Above $400 million, an investment bank is usually the better fit.

Before you talk to buyers

Common questions

Who buys IT companies and MSPs?

Mostly groups backed by private equity that combine MSPs, private equity firms buying a first platform, larger IT services firms adding a capability or a region, holding companies, and employees or managers through an ESOP or buyout. Which of them fits depends on your services, your mix of recurring and project work, your customers and your region.

What drives an MSP valuation?

Buyers start with earnings and then look at the quality of the revenue behind them: how much is managed services under contract, how long customers stay, how concentrated they are, margins by service line, the security of your own operations and how much depends on you. Two MSPs with similar earnings can draw very different offers, which is why it pays to test several buyers.

What happens to my customer contracts when I sell?

That depends on what your agreements say and how the deal is structured. Some need the customer’s consent to transfer, and some address a change of control directly. Have your attorney review your key customer and vendor agreements before you go to market.

Is my IT company big enough for an M&A advisor?

Hello Exit works with businesses from $1 million to $400 million in value. Below roughly $1 million, a marketplace or local business broker is usually the better route.