Claremont
The Claremont company, which has carved out a lucrative niche over the past 21 years as procurement specialists of laptops, terminals and peripherals on behalf of the U.S. military, is reshaping itself into a “technology integrator” to manage the computer networks and data storage needs of both the federal government and private sector.
In a move aimed at diversifying the 200-employee firm’s business and gain entry into IT management and consulting, Red River last week said it acquired Accunet Solutions, a Boston-based “systems integration and IT consulting services provider” that operates data centers with deep ties to the health care and life sciences market. The acquisition instantly broadens Red River’s reach into the private sector, which traditionally has been a minor part of its business as it focused on government contracts.
“I really wanted to expand into the commercial space quickly and Accunet has a ‘who’s who’ of a client base in the life sciences and colleges in Boston,” said Rick Bolduc, chief executive of privately owned Red River. He called the deal “our first strategic growth acquisition” and said it would be the first of several more to grow the company in the years ahead. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us,” he said.
Red River has had explosive growth, Bolduc said in an interview last week, and will approach $500 million in revenue by the end of 2017. But the computer supply market is shifting away from an unlimited appetite for equipment — and with it one of Red River’s longtime core business, he explained.
“The IT industry is going through a revolution right now,” he said. “Over the past three years we’ve noticed a significant change in the complexity of the IT industry in its transition away from hardware products to the cloud business models. The most important part of that is you’re providing a solution and a service to the customer that really doesn’t include hardware anymore.”
Other companies in the computer industry have recognized the change and adjusted accordingly. Computer giant IBM, once known for building and servicing mainframe computers in addition to selling laptops, has repositioned itself as a computer and telecommunications consultant capable of managing the data needs of corporations and governments. Others, like online retailer Amazon, have branched out to operating the cloud needs of businesses.
Accunet, which also has a division in Rochester, N.Y., and sales and engineering representatives along the East Coast and Southern California, has 30 employees, bringing Red River’s total full-time workforce to 230. Accunet’s founder and president, Alan Dumas, will become president of Red River’s new commercial division focusing on the nongovernment market.
“That’s another reason we made this acquisition,” Bolduc said in reference to Dumas. “He’s run his business for 20 years and done very well at it. We’re very exited to have him.”
Red River began expanding into the New England private sector 10 years ago, and has provided services to such Upper Valley organizations and businesses as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Mascoma Savings Bank. Nonetheless, “we’ve been mostly a federal solutions provider and (the private sector) has never really been more than 10 percent of our business model,” Bolduc said.
“We will still do that going forward, but we are now aligning ourselves with cutting-edge industry moves into the IT space,” he said.
Bolduc said Red River’s revenues have been growing at 30 percent annually, but said the company is not well-known in New Hampshire since the vast majority of its business has been out of state and focused on procuring government contracts in Washington. But that may change.
“My work going forward will be to look for acquisitions, as well as grow organically,” he said. And although Red River is self-funding the purchase of Accunet, Bolduc said, it will be able to tap other resources the next time a deal appears on the horizon.
“We have banking partners that have agreed to help us on our acquisitions,” he said.
John Lippman can be reached at 603-727-3219 or jlippman@vnews.com.
