Managed Services Provider Vertical Solutions Merges with HBK IT
CANFIELD, Ohio – HBK CPAs & Consultants and Vertical Solutions, a Pittsburgh-based managed service provider, announced Friday that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement.
Upon closing of the transaction, Vertical Solutions will merge operations with HBK IT, an HBK company. The combined company will be renamed Vertilocity and operate out of Pittsburgh, Clark, N.J., and in the Denver area.
Vertilocity will be led by Bruce Nelson, president of Vertical Solutions. The combined company’s annual gross revenue is estimated currently at $10 million. Terms of the merger agreement were not disclosed.
“Digital technology is the most impactful disrupter in business today,” said Christopher M. Allegretti, HBK managing principal and CEO, in announcing the merger. “Everywhere and in every industry, companies are embracing digital transformation. The Vertical Solutions team is steeped in experience in organizational workflows, systems, and software, and will support our initiative to provide relevant, sophisticated technological support to our clients.”
Vertical Solutions was founded in 1993 and acquired in 2007 by R.L. Nelson and Associates, Inc., a Pittsburgh information systems consulting firm founded in 1986. Vertical Solutions was among the earliest entries in the field of managed services providers. IT-related services and support include managed IT support, advanced threat protection, Office 365 management and support, technological tools and software designed to address an organization’s specific processes, and hardware procurement and installation.
Vertical Solutions has specialized in working with health care businesses and institutions. The merger serves to enhance HBK’s support of its more than 600 health care clients, the announcement noted.
“I’m extremely excited about what this merger brings to our team and the clients of both firms,” said Nelson in a prepared statement. “HBK IT has extensive capabilities, and our firms share a vision for technical solutions, that they are built around solving business challenges. Our collective technical expertise along with the financial services offered by HBK combine for a unique, comprehensive, and extremely valuable offering to our current and future clients.”
About one third of Vertical Solutions’ clients operate in the Denver area, according to the announcement. The merger extends HBK’s reach in the West, and gives the combined company a significant IT services presence in three major markets: Pittsburgh, Denver, and New York Metropolitan Region. It also allows HBK to deliver comprehensive IT and MSP services, including cybersecurity support, to its clients throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida.
“We have been committed to enhancing our technological capabilities as well as technology-based services to our clients,” Allegretti said. “Internally, technological capabilities are key to being able to pivot quickly and effectively when it comes to unexpected challenges, as [the firm] did in 2020 in response to the unprecedented challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
HBK provides small to mid-market businesses a wide range of financial solutions. These include accounting, tax and audit services; wealth management; business valuation; corporate finance; forensic accounting; litigation support services; and business consulting expertise in major industries.
The accounting firm dates to 1949 and added its wealth management practice in 2001.
HBK CPAs & Consultants and HBKS Wealth Advisors serve clients from offices in Columbus, Youngstown and Alliance, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Erie, Hermitage, Meadville and Blue Bell, Pa.; Princeton, Cherry Hill and Clark, N.J.; and Fort Myers, Naples, Stuart, Sarasota and West Palm Beach, Fla.
HBK ranks 52nd on Accounting Today’s list of the largest U.S. CPA firms with firm-wide revenues totaling more than $100 million.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
