H.I.G. Capital has agreed to sell General Datatech (GDT), a Dallas-based company that designs, installs and supports corporate networks, data centers and cybersecurity systems, to Softcat, a London-listed IT infrastructure provider, at an enterprise value of $1.05 billion.
GDT sells, installs and manages the equipment and software large organizations use to move, store and protect data. The company designs corporate and carrier networks, builds and upgrades data centers and hybrid cloud environments, deploys firewalls and other cybersecurity systems, and installs collaboration and contact-center tools.
The equipment installed by GDT comes largely from Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NetApp, NVIDIA and Palo Alto Networks. GDT resells that hardware and software and combines it with design, installation and managed services, under which GDT monitors and maintains systems after they go live.
GDT's more than 700 customers are large and upper-middle-market companies operating in the financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, energy, retail and telecommunications sectors. The company operates an around-the-clock operations center in Bangalore, India, with approximately 230 employees, and a 10,000-square-foot equipment testing facility at its Dallas headquarters.
GDT was founded in 1996 by J.W. Roberts and today is led by CEO Shawn O'Grady, a former private equity operating partner with more than 35 years of experience in IT who became chief executive in January 2023. H.I.G. invested in GDT in 2021.
During H.I.G.'s ownership, GDT acquired MDS Global IT, a provider of Cisco collaboration and contact-center services, in 2024; opened its Bangalore operations center; and expanded into hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence infrastructure and cybersecurity. GDT's EBITDA roughly doubled under H.I.G., while the share of gross profit generated by recurring services increased.
[caption id="attachment_240934" align="alignright" width="120"] Aaron Tolson[/caption]
The H.I.G. transaction team was led by Managing Partners Aaron Tolson and Kevin Van Culin. "Shawn and the GDT management team have done a phenomenal job transforming the company into a leading IT solutions provider," said Mr. Tolson. "The strategic investments during our ownership into high-growth areas such as hybrid cloud, AI, and cybersecurity have driven exceptional growth. We look forward to following the team's continued success."
"H.I.G. has been an outstanding partner to GDT and has supported our team as we invested in our people, practices, and client and partner relationships," said Mr. O'Grady. "Together, we have diversified the business, brought tremendous value to our customers, and positioned GDT to capitalize on the significant opportunities created by continued enterprise IT modernization. We are proud of what we have accomplished and excited to begin our next chapter with Softcat."
Softcat resells software licenses, hardware and cloud services to more than 10,000 business and public-sector customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland and also provides consulting, managed and support services. For the fiscal year ended July 2025, the company generated approximately $2 billion of revenue and $661 million of gross profit.
Softcat, led by CEO Graham Charlton, was founded in 1993 by Peter Kelly and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2015. The company is headquartered west of London in Marlow, England.
The acquisition of GDT is Softcat's first acquisition of scale in the United States. Before the transaction, Softcat's US presence consisted of an office of approximately 20 people in Virginia.
"Our customers have repeatedly asked us to support their technology requirements outside the UK and Ireland, particularly in North America," said Mr. Charlton. "GDT meets every benchmark we looked for to meet that request, including meaningful US scale, an established U.S. enterprise customer base, deep data center and networking capabilities, and a customer-first corporate culture that matches our own. With GDT, we will be creating a company with the scale, talent and technical depth to capitalize on the massive growth opportunities in today's technology market."
Softcat expects GDT to generate approximately $240 million of gross profit in calendar 2026, up about 30% from 2025, and approximately $80 million of EBITDA. Based on the $1.05 billion enterprise value, this equates to an EBITDA multiple of approximately 13.1x expected 2026 EBITDA.
Industry tailwinds are strong. Corporate spending on IT infrastructure is accelerating with the growth of artificial intelligence. Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending of $6.4 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% from 2025, with spending on data center systems rising 62.5% to $822 billion and IT services growing 5.3% to $1.6 trillion. Managed services, the recurring side of GDT's business, is also growing faster than product resale. Grand View Research expects the global managed services market to reach $731.1 billion by 2030, growing 14.1% annually, with North America accounting for approximately one-third of spending.
Private equity has been active among IT integrators and service providers. H.I.G. took Toronto-based Converge Technology Solutions private in April 2025 and merged it with portfolio company Mainline Information Systems to form Pellera Technologies, which has approximately $4 billion of revenue. Warburg Pincus completed the merger of portfolio company Service Express with Park Place Technologies, owned by GTCR and Charlesbank, in January 2026. AEA Investors made a majority investment in Magna5, a Pennsylvania-based managed IT and security services provider, in February 2026.
H.I.G. invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate carve-outs and growth investments in manufacturing and service businesses. Its US lower-middle-market fund, H.I.G. Capital Partners VII LP, closed in October 2024 with $2 billion, while H.I.G. Middle Market LBO Fund IV LP closed in September 2023 with $5.5 billion. H.I.G. manages approximately $75 billion of capital, based on total capital raised. The firm was founded in 1993 by Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer and is headquartered in Miami.
Guggenheim Securities and Moelis & Company were the financial advisors to H.I.G. and GDT. J.P. Morgan Cazenove and Barclays were the financial advisors to Softcat. JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and BNP Paribas have agreed to provide debt financing for the transaction.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
GDT sells, installs and manages the equipment and software large organizations use to move, store and protect data. The company designs corporate and carrier networks, builds and upgrades data centers and hybrid cloud environments, deploys firewalls and other cybersecurity systems, and installs collaboration and contact-center tools.
The equipment installed by GDT comes largely from Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, NetApp, NVIDIA and Palo Alto Networks. GDT resells that hardware and software and combines it with design, installation and managed services, under which GDT monitors and maintains systems after they go live.
GDT's more than 700 customers are large and upper-middle-market companies operating in the financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, energy, retail and telecommunications sectors. The company operates an around-the-clock operations center in Bangalore, India, with approximately 230 employees, and a 10,000-square-foot equipment testing facility at its Dallas headquarters.
GDT was founded in 1996 by J.W. Roberts and today is led by CEO Shawn O'Grady, a former private equity operating partner with more than 35 years of experience in IT who became chief executive in January 2023. H.I.G. invested in GDT in 2021.
During H.I.G.'s ownership, GDT acquired MDS Global IT, a provider of Cisco collaboration and contact-center services, in 2024; opened its Bangalore operations center; and expanded into hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence infrastructure and cybersecurity. GDT's EBITDA roughly doubled under H.I.G., while the share of gross profit generated by recurring services increased.
[caption id="attachment_240934" align="alignright" width="120"] Aaron Tolson[/caption]
The H.I.G. transaction team was led by Managing Partners Aaron Tolson and Kevin Van Culin. "Shawn and the GDT management team have done a phenomenal job transforming the company into a leading IT solutions provider," said Mr. Tolson. "The strategic investments during our ownership into high-growth areas such as hybrid cloud, AI, and cybersecurity have driven exceptional growth. We look forward to following the team's continued success."
"H.I.G. has been an outstanding partner to GDT and has supported our team as we invested in our people, practices, and client and partner relationships," said Mr. O'Grady. "Together, we have diversified the business, brought tremendous value to our customers, and positioned GDT to capitalize on the significant opportunities created by continued enterprise IT modernization. We are proud of what we have accomplished and excited to begin our next chapter with Softcat."
Softcat resells software licenses, hardware and cloud services to more than 10,000 business and public-sector customers in the United Kingdom and Ireland and also provides consulting, managed and support services. For the fiscal year ended July 2025, the company generated approximately $2 billion of revenue and $661 million of gross profit.
Softcat, led by CEO Graham Charlton, was founded in 1993 by Peter Kelly and went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2015. The company is headquartered west of London in Marlow, England.
The acquisition of GDT is Softcat's first acquisition of scale in the United States. Before the transaction, Softcat's US presence consisted of an office of approximately 20 people in Virginia.
"Our customers have repeatedly asked us to support their technology requirements outside the UK and Ireland, particularly in North America," said Mr. Charlton. "GDT meets every benchmark we looked for to meet that request, including meaningful US scale, an established U.S. enterprise customer base, deep data center and networking capabilities, and a customer-first corporate culture that matches our own. With GDT, we will be creating a company with the scale, talent and technical depth to capitalize on the massive growth opportunities in today's technology market."
Softcat expects GDT to generate approximately $240 million of gross profit in calendar 2026, up about 30% from 2025, and approximately $80 million of EBITDA. Based on the $1.05 billion enterprise value, this equates to an EBITDA multiple of approximately 13.1x expected 2026 EBITDA.
Industry tailwinds are strong. Corporate spending on IT infrastructure is accelerating with the growth of artificial intelligence. Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending of $6.4 trillion in 2026, up 14.2% from 2025, with spending on data center systems rising 62.5% to $822 billion and IT services growing 5.3% to $1.6 trillion. Managed services, the recurring side of GDT's business, is also growing faster than product resale. Grand View Research expects the global managed services market to reach $731.1 billion by 2030, growing 14.1% annually, with North America accounting for approximately one-third of spending.
Private equity has been active among IT integrators and service providers. H.I.G. took Toronto-based Converge Technology Solutions private in April 2025 and merged it with portfolio company Mainline Information Systems to form Pellera Technologies, which has approximately $4 billion of revenue. Warburg Pincus completed the merger of portfolio company Service Express with Park Place Technologies, owned by GTCR and Charlesbank, in January 2026. AEA Investors made a majority investment in Magna5, a Pennsylvania-based managed IT and security services provider, in February 2026.
H.I.G. invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate carve-outs and growth investments in manufacturing and service businesses. Its US lower-middle-market fund, H.I.G. Capital Partners VII LP, closed in October 2024 with $2 billion, while H.I.G. Middle Market LBO Fund IV LP closed in September 2023 with $5.5 billion. H.I.G. manages approximately $75 billion of capital, based on total capital raised. The firm was founded in 1993 by Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer and is headquartered in Miami.
Guggenheim Securities and Moelis & Company were the financial advisors to H.I.G. and GDT. J.P. Morgan Cazenove and Barclays were the financial advisors to Softcat. JPMorgan Chase, Barclays and BNP Paribas have agreed to provide debt financing for the transaction.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
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