Ares Management Corporation and Convergint Technologies announced that Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. and funds managed by Harvest Partners, LP have purchased equity in Convergint from a fund managed by Ares’ Private Equity Group and other existing shareholders. As a result of the transaction, Ares, LGP and Harvest will be financial partners with the company.
Headquartered in Illinois, Convergint is a service-based systems integrator, working alongside a network of partners and manufacturers to design, install and service security, fire alarm, life safety, audio-visual and building automation solutions for enterprise customers. Convergint has 7,100 colleagues in over 150 locations worldwide. Closing more than 50 acquisitions since 2001, the company has deepened its vertical market expertise across numerous sectors, particularly in data centers, utilities, healthcare and financial services.
“We are pleased that LGP and Harvest are joining Ares as financial partners in Convergint,” said Matt Cwiertnia, partner and co-head of Ares’ Private Equity Group and chairman of the Convergint board of directors. “This transaction underscores the strength of the Company, its management team and its growth strategy. Over the course of Ares’ nearly four-year partnership with Convergint, we have closely collaborated to help the Company achieve strong growth, including notable expansion in sectors, services and geographies. We are proud that Convergint has been a meaningful champion for positive change by fostering a diverse, inclusive and socially responsible culture, which has benefited the business as a whole in addition to its colleagues, communities and stakeholders.”
“We could not have had any better partner than Ares over the past four years,” said Ken Lochiatto, CEO of Convergint. “With every important decision, Ares made sure that we remained focused on one guiding factor: do what is best for Convergint, our customers, and our colleagues. Ares’ strength and confidence helped us accelerate our investments for growth, and their help has been tremendous as we have worked to expand our inclusion and diversity efforts and further strengthen our culture and our commitment to our founding Values and Beliefs. They have provided leadership and insights that have helped us make meaningful progress, and we are grateful for their continued support and guidance.”
John Danhakl, managing partner at Leonard Green & Partners, added, “We feel Convergint is well positioned for long-term success. Convergint’s strong, values-based culture and reputation for customer service excellence combined with its best-in-class management team and significant capabilities and footprint in the global security industry position the company for meaningful future growth. We look forward to continuing to build on Convergint’s strong foundation as the world's premier systems integrator, while generating value to all of its stakeholders.”
William Blair, Harris Williams and J.P. Morgan served as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Ares and Convergint. Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to LGP. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal advisor to Harvest.
