Pohlad Family of Companies Acquires Avtex

Third company in IT acquisition plan

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Pohlad family of companies has expanded its information technology (IT) holdings for the third time in two years with the addition of Avtex, Inc., a unified communications solution provider based in Minneapolis.

“We’ve been successful growing to this point as a standalone entity, but to take the next leap, we need a partner like the Pohlad organization”

The deal closed today. Terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 1971, Avtex designs, installs and supports technology needed for call centers and customer contact centers, as well as IP telephony systems and other messaging applications for businesses. The company has grown rapidly by providing premise based and hosted unified communications solutions that bring together telephone, email, text messaging and call centers into a single, highly secure customer contact system that transcends traditional phone and data systems.

Under Pohlad ownership, Avtex will operate as a separate company, retaining its current headquarters location and all of its 100 employees, including its senior management team. Since 1998, Avtex has acquired five companies to expand its services and geographic reach. Most recently it acquired Perimeter Technology of Georgia, expanding its southeast operations.

“We think Avtex is a great fit, since they have both a strong management team and excellent growth potential,” said Dave Johnson, chief technology officer for the Pohlad family of companies.

“We’ve been successful growing to this point as a standalone entity, but to take the next leap, we need a partner like the Pohlad organization,” said Bob Denman, Avtex president. “It’s a nice match for us, at the right time, given our shared interest in capitalizing on the significant marketplace opportunities we seek to increase service offerings and geographic reach. It’s also great news for our customers and employees, who will both benefit from this move.”

Johnson indicated that acquiring Avtex fits with an important marketplace trend. “Unified communications is the fastest-growing segment of the IT industry because it brings together all of the forms of communications that were separate in the past. It’s a very exciting business for us to be in,” he said.

The acquisition also rounds out the three-pronged IT strategy the Pohlad organization has been pursuing in the managed services IT arena, Johnson said. In 2006, the Pohlad organization acquired Inetium, a Minneapolis-based IT firm that focuses on improving business productivity through IT strategy, solutions and services. In July 2007, it acquired Arcadia Solutions, a Boston-based IT consulting firm specializing in the deployment, benchmarking and optimization of emerging business technologies in the health care, financial service and high technology industries.

“We can start to provide IT solutions across all three companies. Arcadia does the high level analytics that help companies understand their customers. Inetium does the installation of customer relationship management and workforce automation systems,” Johnson said. “And now Avtex provides the underlying communications platform and application expertise to bring it all together.”

About Avtex – Avtex provides multimedia contact center, enterprise-wide communications solutions and emergency notification solutions. A Microsoft Certified Gold Partner and Interactive Intelligence Platinum Partner, Avtex has a staff of software developers, systems engineers, network engineers, system design consultants, project managers, customer support personnel and field technicians that are trained, certified and specialize in mission critical applications. Based in Minneapolis, Avtex supports over 650 customers across the United States and in six countries. In addition to Minneapolis, Avtex has offices in Milwaukee and Appleton, Wis., Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Neb., Cincinnati, Ohio and Atlanta, Ga. To reach Avtex, call 800.323.3639 or visit http://www.avtex.com

About the Pohlad family of companies - The Carl R. Pohlad family holdings include significant interests in financial services, beverage, entertainment and real estate industries, as well as ownership of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team.