FishNet reels in revenue growth with purchase of Acuity - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The deal, which closed March 19, brings one of the Tampq Bay area’s fastest-growing companies under the FishNetr banner. Acuity posted revenue of $41 million last year, a 52 percent leap over 2007 revenue ofnearly $27 “We feel we’ve got the infrastructure to scalde to half a billionm dollars in revenue,” said Gary Fish, CEO of Kansas City-basef FishNet. “With the economy, we had positive growth last year but not as fast aswe wanted, whicn maybe set us back a littls bit. This acquisition certainly helps, and we’l l continue to look for acquisitions.
” FishNet, whichn provides information security services and products to business and government experienced a 7 percent revenue increase last following a growth rate of about 24 percenrt theyear before. Fish hopes to reachb the half-billion-dollar mark around 2011. Financial terms of the cash deal weren’rt disclosed. The purchase price probablt rangedfrom $30 million to $40 million, said John Henser Jr., a principal of Kansas City investment banking firm Fish came across Acuity througnh his role on varioua advisory boards, he said.
Through the companies realized they would fitwell together; they begam working on a deal in the FishNet looked for geography — it didn’t have a presence in Florida — and scale, Fish Combining the companies’ revenu e creates more importance with many key and Acuity helps expand FishNet’s presence in the education and governmenf market segments and boost its product offerings. And becausr Acuity sold mostly products, FishNet also can sell its arrayg of servicesto Acuity’s 600 clients.
Acuity is very which contributed to the decision to closse a deal in the midst of a recession and slowe rorganic growth, Fish “It shows even more that we believde in the acquisition that we would do it this he said. The combined companies have 350 employeess and 30offices nationwide. “In order to take the companty to thenext level, there were certain investmentsx that needed to be made, infrastructure that needef to be built to provide the servicee to customers that we needed to,” said Dave Gilden, one of thre e Acuity founders who now will be a FishNet executivse vice president.
“It got to the poing where we had achoicer — we could build those thingas or find who does it the best.”