Tecala receives $18 million investment from Armitage Associates

Sydney-based MSP Tecala has received an $18 million investment from Melbourne-headquartered business investment specialist Armitage Associates.

Tecala said the investment would fuel its national growth strategy, aiming to extend its mid-market customer base. This expansion would also look to increase its businesses presence in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, as well as new staff to meet growing customer demand.

Tecala managing director Pieter DeGunst said the partnership "comes at an important time for the company, as it works to expand its operations and grow its portfolio of offerings for clients." 

“During the past 15 years, Tecala has positioned itself as a leading provider of consulting, managed IT services, and cloud solutions. This new partnership with Armitage will allow us to further scale the business nationally and increase our investment into emerging technology areas to prepare our clients for the future.”

DeGunst said a portion of the funding would be used to pursue strategic, targeted acquisitions to further grow Tecala’s service offerings.

“We are always on the lookout for areas where we can acquire new capabilities and this funding will enable us to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise.”

The investment by Armitage was the result of a detailed, 18-month review of a range of potential business partners, and ultimately meant the company would gain a significant stake in Tecala.

“We did not want to follow the traditional private equity route, where investors are looking to bolt together businesses and make a quick buck. Rather, we were looking for a company who understood our growth strategy and were keen to become involved as a long-term partner.”

“Our focus will now be on growing our portfolio of services and making them available to a wider range of businesses around the country,” DeGunst said. “Working with Armitage, we will have a network of people with the experience to help us achieve our goals.”

“The existing Tecala board and leadership team remains in place and will continue to have full oversight of all operations. Mark De Ambrosis joins the board, and along with the dedicated Armitage team, brings decades of experience in scaling companies such as Tecala, as we prepare for our next phase of growth.”

Also joining the board is industry veteran and former Dimension Data boss Steve Nola as chairman.

DeGunst said Nola as chair would "further provide advice and guidance" to help the Tecala team scale and lead the market. "With over 30 years in the industry, he brings with him a wealth of valuable market knowledge and experience,” he added         

Armitage Associates co-founder and managing director Mark De Ambrosis said the new partnership was strategic for both companies, as Tecala represented the type of organisation with which the investment firm was looking to work with.

“We had been examining the managed services market for some time and could see the potential for strong future growth across Australia,” De Ambrosis said. “We could clearly see that Tecala had already established a strong footprint and had a clear plan for ongoing growth.”

Tecala implements and optimises a range of services including, managed cloud, IT support services, communications services, cyber security and intelligent automation. This year, Tecala won ‘Managed Service Provider Partner of the Year’ at Rubrik’s inaugural Partner Recognition Awards, after being named Rubrik's first authorised support partner in APAC in 2021.

Armitage Associates focus on providing capital and management support to small and medium sized businesses across ANZ.