ABRY Partners takes stake in KORE; KORE acquires RacoWireless

KORE Wireless Group has announced that ABRY Partners, a communication sector-focused private equity investment firm in North America, has acquired a majority interest in KORE.

KORE says that this investment, established in conjunction with the current KORE partners, “provides growth and acquisition capital that will allow KORE to further its goal of creating the pre-eminent independent provider of broad-based M2M service solutions on a global basis”.

As the first step in its broader strategy, KORE also announced the acquisition, in an all-cash transaction, of RacoWireless, a company that provides end-to-end connectivity solutions for IoT/M2M.

Following the completion of this transaction, the combined company will have offices in five countries and serve more than 3 million subscribers on behalf of over 1500 customers using services in more than 110 markets around the world.

The acquisition is subject to completion of certain regulatory and other consents, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.

“We are standing at a historic inflection point in our industry where scalability and innovation are critical, and the financial partnership with ABRY delivers the capital and expert support necessary to rapidly develop the scale demanded by global customers in what has so far been a fragmented market,” said Alex Brisbourne, CEO of KORE.

“This acquisition is a great fit between two companies that have been pioneers in this space,” said John Horn, president of RacoWireless, who will become the executive vice president and chief strategy officer.

“We have been closely watching this industry as it starts to take off on a global scale,” said Blake Battaglia, partner at ABRY Partners.

“Our commitment to investing in KORE as an engine for global growth is, we believe, an indication of the opportunity within this industry space, and we are excited to be a part of facilitating this first step in the inevitable consolidation to take place as the market moves from its current nascent state,” he said.