Edafio Merges With Sister Company Ascend Technologies

Kenny Kinley, CEO of Ascend Technologies (photo provided by Ascend Technologies)

Managed IT services provider Edafio of North Little Rock announced that it’s merging with its sister company Ascend Technologies of Chicago.

Both are portfolio companies of private equity firm M/C Partners of Boston.

Edafio’s offices in North Little Rock, Conway and Rogers will start operating under the Ascend Technologies name. The combined company will be led by Kenny Kinley, who had been Edafio’s president and CEO since 2020.

“I am honored to lead this unified entity as the CEO of our newly merged organization, bringing together the strengths and expertise of two exceptional companies,” Kinley said in a statement. “Our commitment to client-centric service remains unwavering and this merger is also a testament to our collective dedication to continue to provide industry-leading solutions. We will ensure the success of our clients is at the cornerstone of every decision we make and are poised to redefine the landscape of technology solutions.”

The combined company will have a total of 356 employees, Ascend said in a statement to Arkansas Business. The company said “a few” overlapping positions were cut as a result of the merger.

Ascend has offices in Lincoln, Nebraska; Auburn Hills, Michigan; and Chicago. It was created in 2020 when M/C Partners merged two IT consultancies it acquired the previous year, West Monroe Managed Services LLC of Chicago and Gratia Inc. of Cincinnati.

Edafio was founded in 1999 as an outgrowth of the JPMS Cox accounting firm. Edafio in 2014 merged with Coleman Technologies, an IT services company for medical clinics, to become the largest IT managed services provider in Arkansas.

M/C Partners acquired a stake in Edafio in 2022. Financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed.

In a statement, Ascend said the merger with Edafio expands the organization’s already -extensive expertise in cybersecurity, cloud solutions, infrastructure management, service desk support, and Salesforce and Microsoft solutions. The company has clients in sectors including financial services, manufacturing, health care, business services and nonprofits, but it declined to name them.

The company also declined to disclose annual revenue figures.

The merger with Edafio aims to help the company meet “exciting opportunities and challenges” in a rapidly-evolving  industry, the statement said.

“Our decision to merge was driven by the recognition that combining our strengths and expertise allows us to navigate these trends more effectively and create shared success. By joining forces, we will leverage our collective resources to innovate, stay ahead of industry trends, and at the core of everything, deliver exceptional value to our clients and partners.”

M/C Partners focuses on small and mid-sized businesses in the digital infrastructure and technology services sectors. It has invested $2.7 billion in more than 140 companies over the past 30 years, according to its website. The firm is currently investing its ninth fund.