New Deal Will Make Black Investment Firm Larger Player In Government IT Services Space

Black-owned investment firm IMB Partners has made a strategic investment in eTelligent Group (eTel).

The fresh deal for IMB Partners, whose focus includes building large minority business enterprise companies via acquisition and partnership, means it invests in a provider of technology solutions to the U.S. government.

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based e-Tel’s offerings mainly includes digital transformation services to the Internal Revenue Service. It marks IMB’s second transaction in the GovCon space.

BLACK ENTERPRISE reported in August 2020 IMB’s purchase of IT consulting firm Ashburn Consulting. The eTel deal helps cement IMB’s position in the GovCon sector and allows it to apply its experience with Ashburn to a larger platform with a lot of runway.

The GovCon or government contractor sector includes people and businesses with contracts with the United States on a federal, state, or local government level to handle work or provide goods and services to those agencies. On a federal level, the market reportedly exceeds $1 trillion.

Started in 2010, Bethesda, Maryland-based IMB calls itself a private equity sponsor focused on investing and partnering with management teams to grow lower middle market companies serving government agencies and electric and gas utilities.

IMB seeks platform investment targets between $10 million to $250 million in revenue. In February 2023, the firm shared its growth in 2022: over $1 billion in revenue reached across its portfolio of investments.

The latest deal fits IMB’s long-term growth strategy. It plans to lean into both organic and acquisitive growth for e-Tel. “There is a lot of room to build on this platform with add-on investments because eTel has a very strong core already,” an IMB spokesperson said.

Norman Yu, director at IMB Partners, said, “The eTel team has laid some very impressive groundwork, and IMB sees a great opportunity to grow, diversify, and strengthen the business both inside and outside of the IRS.”

Ritesh Bansal, managing Partner of eTel, added, “Over the past 18 years, we have built a high-performing team of industry-leading professionals that are committed to our core company values of serving with excellence.”

“And now, with this partnership with IMB, we will have the means to extend the same exceptional service to more customers across new categories and invest significantly in building our strategic and operational framework,” said Rohit Aggarwal, managing partner of eTel.