IT Authorities, a Tampa-based managed service provider and managed security service provider, recently announced that it has been acquired by WidePoint Corp. (NYSE American: WYY), a publicly-traded company that provides trusted mobility solutions, telecom lifecycle management, and access, and identity management services to government entities and Fortune 100 companies. WidePoint serves the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the White House.
“We were attracted to WidePoint because they were not in our space and our entire service portfolio would be complementary to their clientele. This deal was attractive to us because we loved the people, we were aligned in core values and we agreed on vision,” Jason Caras, CEO of IT Authorities, says. “We have been working on deals together for months now and the very first opportunity WidePoint brought to us called for the support of some 200,000 end users. WidePoint intends on introducing IT Authorities to their clients and that kind of warm access is unheard of. In addition, we are now able to offer Public Key Infrastructure-as-a-service, the kind of security WidePoint provides the DoD to our existing customers.”
The deal also is a solid fit for the culture, and ethics, behind IT Authorities, according to Caras.
“I’ve never worked with people that I’ve had so much fun with,” he says. “After we started the interviews and started partnering together on opportunities, we realized we shared the same core values. One of which is to have fun.”
IT Authorities expects to report annual revenue of more than $10 million in 2021. The deal involved $8,000,000 in cash, 550,000 warrants of stock and an additional earnout period of three years.
In the deal, IT Authorities has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of WidePoint. Jason Caras will remain on as CEO, as will all existing staff, according to Caras. He adds that very little transition will take place, minimizing any disruption.
Established in 2006, IT Authorities has been named an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America seven times.
“It’s been an arduous journey. We lost everything we owned back in 2005 and one client took a chance on us and bankrolled us for a few months. That’s how we started IT Authorities,” Caras says.
In 2017, IT Authorities was experiencing explosive growth when Caras brought on a CEO to replace himself to take the company to greater levels. A decision, he says, failed miserably and almost tanked the company.
“We came back in 2019 after the company had lost more clients and employees than it had in all of its years in business. We had to rescue the company by bringing back financial discipline and we rebuilt the entire company, process by process, employee by employee, from scratch. It feels good to have someone behind you,” he says. “It’s like we have been building a Ferrari but didn’t have the gas. Now we do.”
