Ottawa software firm Versaterm continues its recent acquisition spree, agreeing to buy a company that specializes in emergency communications technology for police and fire departments.
Versaterm announced the purchase of Quebec City-based Komutel this week. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 2001, Komutel makes software that streamlines the process of transferring and dispatching 911 calls as emergency communications infrastructure shifts from analog to digitally based services. Its customers include the Ontario Provincial Police.
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It’s the latest in a string of recent M&A deals for Versaterm, which supplies dispatch software and records management services to first responders throughout Canada and the U.S.
Versaterm, which was itself acquired by San Francisco-based private equity firm Banneker Partners last December, has snapped up six companies since the start of 2020 in a bid to broaden its customer base and expand its geographic footprint.
And it appears Versaterm’s shopping spree isn’t over. In a statement this week, the company said it expects to acquire other “industry-leading technologies” in the coming months.
Five of its deals have come this year.
In June, Versaterm acquired Baltimore-based Adashi Systems, which tracks the movements of equipment and firefighters when they’re dispatched to a scene. Later that month, the firm bought eJust Systems, a southern Ontario company that helps police investigators organize and electronically deliver material to prosecutors.
Versaterm followed up those deals with the July acquisition of SPIDR Tech, a California company whose platform automatically sends text messages and emails to 911 callers and crime victims updating them about the status of their calls and cases and informing them when officers have been dispatched to a scene.
In August, Versaterm announced it was acquiring Arizona-based JusticeTrax, which specializes in software that tracks and verifies evidence such as DNA and blood samples after it is sent to forensic test labs.
Versaterm now has more than 180 employees, including about 100 in Ottawa. CEO Warren Loomis recently told Techopia revenues have been growing at an annual rate of more than 30 per cent, adding the company aims to boost its local headcount to at least 150 over the next couple of years as it continues to pursue additional M&A opportunities.
“The investment community out there is really behind us,” he said. “They’re loving public safety.”
