Two Elite Microsoft Solution Providers Merge

Two leading Microsoft partners are combining forces as Perficient is acquiring PointBridge Solutions in a $22 million deal, both companies said Monday.

St. Louis, Mo.-based Perficient and Chicago-based PointBridge are both Microsoft Gold partners and members of Microsoft's National Systems Integrator (NSI) program, an elite category of Microsoft partners. Executives from the two companies said the acquisition would help solidify Perficient's position among the largest systems integration consulting firms in the Microsoft market.

"Like Perficient, PointBridge is an award-winning Microsoft NSI partner and we're pleased to add their proven sales and delivery teams, attractive services offerings, and impressive client roster and bill rates in this well-structured transaction," said Jeffrey Davis, Perficient's president and CEO, in a statement. "The acquisition of PointBridge further strengthens our ability to bring a comprehensive portfolio of business-driven technology solutions to market and is a great way to start 2012."

Perficient is a national IT consulting firm that serves large-enterprise businesses in North America. In addition to being a Microsoft NSI and Gold-certified partner, the company partners with IBM, Tibco, Documentum and Oracle.

PointBridge, which also has offices in Boston and Milwaukee, has expertise in a number of Microsoft technologies including SharePoint, Exchange, SQL Server and Office Communications Server. The solution provider focuses on cloud services, information management, application development, unified communications and support services and counts John Deere, Caterpillar, American Family Insurance and others as among its customers.

The acquisition expands Perficient's market presence and adds more than 130 consulting, technology, sales and support professionals to its staff. PointBridge's $17 million in annual revenue would boost Perficient's annual sales to more than $300 million.

PointBridge CEO and co-founder Mike Gersten will join Perficient "in a key leadership role," the companies said, reporting to Aaron Sloman, general manager of Perficient's Microsoft business group.

Perficient's $22 million deal includes $14.4 million in cash and approximately $7.6 million in Perficient stock.