Cosentry Acquires XIOLINK To Expand MSP Business, Midwest Reach

In a move to help expand its geographical reach and managed services capabilities, Omaha, Neb.-based Cosentry has acquired St. Louis-based XIOLINK for an undisclosed amount, the companies said Wednesday.

With the purchase of XIOLINK, Cosentry has now extended its Midwest regional data center and managed services business into the St. Louis area, expanding on its already established businesses in Omaha, Neb., Kansas City, Kan., and Sioux Falls, S.D.

XIOLINK also has had a respected relationship in the St. Louis region for its managed services practice, which Cosentry CEO Brad Hokamp said made it an ideal fit for acquisition.

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"We basically were able to achieve two of our main strategic goals: expansion from a geographical market perspective and strengthen our managed services," Hokamp said. "It's kind of a two-for-one scenario here."

Hokamp said that Cosentry was interested in breaking into the St. Louis market, in particular, because of the strong business demographics there. There is a lot of demand, he said, from both SMB and enterprise.

"This really comes down to the business demographics and the demand side of it. We see it as very attractive, and we think we can be the leader there," Hokamp said. "Cosentry is the leader in the respective markets we compete in ... and now we've acquired the company that’s the leader in St. Louis."

The acquisition of XIOLINK includes two additional next-generation data centers, adding to the six data centers already operated by Cosentry.

Going forward, Hokamp said that Cosentry plans to establish St. Louis as one of its primary markets, utilizing the XIOLINK managed services platform and operations team as the company's core platform in the region. Hokamp said that Cosentry plans to invest more in sales and marketing as well as maximize growth in the region.

This isn't the end of the acquisition path for Cosentry, Hokamp said. Over the next two to three years, he said the company hopes to expand into other Midwest markets, as well as continuing to expand technology capabilities.

"What customers can expect is [Cosentry] continuing to invest in the current markets," Hokamp said. "We're looking into a lot of enhancements to our cloud capabilities and taking advantage of the XIOLINK platform and adding more capability to that ... You're going to see us continue to move and add more capabilities from a data center footprint and managed services capabilities going forward."

PUBLISHED JAN. 8, 2014