Mainline Information Systems Acquired By Miami Investment Firm
‘What H.I.G. saw in Mainline was phenomenal customer relationships, and a very strong technical base that they could build off of. There will certainly be future investment of various sorts. Our intent would be to build out our practice areas, grow our capabilities and skills, and move into adjacent areas,’ says Mainline Information Systems CEO Jeff Dobbelaere.
Mainline Information Systems CEO Jeff Dobbelaere
IT solution provider Mainline Information Systems, one of the largest IBM mainframe channel partners, Tuesday said it was acquired by Miami-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.
H.I.G. Capital acquired Tallahassee, Fla.-based Mainline from its founder and former CEO, Rick Kearney. No dollar value was provided for the acquisition.
With the acquisition, H.I.G. is getting a company with a solid business and plenty of room to expand, said current CEO Jeff Dobbelaere.
“What H.I.G. saw in Mainline was phenomenal customer relationships, and a very strong technical base that they could build off of,” Dobbelaere told CRN. “There will certainly be future investment of various sorts. Our intent would be to build out our practice areas, grow our capabilities and skills, and move into adjacent areas.”
Those adjacent areas include expanded focuses on security, cyber resiliency, hybrid cloud, DevOps, and DevSecOps, Dobbelaere said.
Mainline has traditionally been known as one of the top IBM mainframe channel partners, but the company has over the last decade or so expanded significantly, Dobbelaere said.
“While we are certainly well known for our mainframe capabilities, and I think rightly so, our mainstream capabilities certainly are second to none and are very important to us,” he said. “Our IBM relationship is very important to us. We have become far more than just an IBM reseller in the last decade or so. We’ve expanded into numerous other areas of technology, other vendors, but also into consulting services around hybrid cloud, data and AI, and cyber resiliency. And those are areas that we look to fortify and strengthen and invest in.”
That strengthening could be a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, Dobbelaere said. Mainline in 2019 acquired RTP Technology, which gave it a big foothold in the New York area, and in January of 2023 acquired Frisco, Texas-based Axcelinno for its hybrid cloud, IT automation, and DevSecOps capabilities.
“Acquisition has been a part of our strategy and will continue to be so,” he said.
Dobbelaere declined to discuss Mainline’s financials because it is a private company. However, Tallahassee, Fla.-based public radio station WFSU said Mainline has annual revenue of over $1 billion.
Dobbelaere said his company currently has over 400 employees, and is looking to expand its headcount as part of its growth into new practice areas.
“I think there’s a lot of good talent out on the street at the moment,” he said. “And we should be able to capitalize on the fact that there’s some disruption in the market.”
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