True
North Solutions, Inc. was a privately held firm focused on providing
a broad range of information technology security products and
services to a number of federal government and commercial customers.
The Company’s key customers included the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency
for International Development, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and Northrop
Grumman. The Company’s primary services offerings included
system security assessment and testing, security application implementation
and integration, strategic outsourcing and security policy development
and review. Since the Company’s founding in 2000, it had
experienced rapid growth of both revenues and margins. In assessing
it’s strategic position in the summer of 2003, the Company
decided that it was the appropriate time to seek a strategic partner
that would provide the platform and infrastructure to support
substantial additional growth, particularly in the Federal sector.
True North Solutions was referred to WWC Securities to assist
in this process. In its meetings with the Firm’s professionals,
the Company found a group that had a strong industry background
and track record in the Federal and commercial IT services markets.
The Company expressed a desire to have professional representation
assist them in structuring and implementing a process in which
a small number of strategic buyers would have an opportunity to
acquire the business. The firm designed and implemented a process
under which several types of buyers were contacted both obvious
and non-obvious. Our transaction team was able to efficiently
engage a small number of strategic buyers in serious discussions
with the Company.
The process led to the Company being purchased by American Systems
Corporation, a leading government professional services firm that
supports the U.S. Department of Defense, State Department, Department
of Agriculture, Department of Justice, and a number of large commercial
customers. WWC Securities' detailed knowledge and experience in
the information technology services market, particularly the Government
professional services market made it possible for True North Solutions
to successfully complete the sale of its business to American
Systems Corporation in a transaction that was beneficial to both
parties.
