M&A Moves: Following Inc. 5000 recognition, DC’s Data Society acquired consulting firm Restless Creation

Data Society, a DC-based provider of data science training programs and AI technology, acquired Florida’s Restless Creation, a consulting firm for federal government, academia, and commercial customers.

The acquisition, Data Society said, will enable the company to build on its training programs, bolster its current partnerships and offer new technology to help identify innovation-focused employees. The combined efforts will also help offer data solutions for organizational goals. It also follows a period of rapid growth for Data Society, which just ranked #1,834 on the 2021 Inc 5000 list. The company has had 225% year-over-year growth for three years, it said.

Data Society CEO Merav Yuravlivker told Technical.ly that, following the merger, the company will continue to grow and develop its product, with further announcements coming late this year and in 2022.

“This acquisition highlights our commitment to our clients,” Yuravlivker said. “We plan to continue to expand our training and assessment product portfolio to ensure that we can support our clients’ training and assessment needs across a growing number of technology and innovation skills.”

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Inovalon, a healthcare cloud software developer based in Bowie, Maryland, inked an acquisition agreement to be purchased by a group of investors led by Nordic Capital and Insight Partners. Inovalon founder and CEO Keith Dunleavy, 22C Capital and various Class B stockholders also joined in the all-cash deal, which is valued at $7.3 billion.

Through the deal, which is one of the largest of the year, stockholders will receive $41.00 per share. Following closing, Inovalon will become a private company, and Dunleavy will stay on as CEO, serve on the board of directors and be a majority shareholder. The company will also continue to operate out of its headquarters in Bowie, Inovalon said.

“We are excited to enter the next chapter in Inovalon’s journey together with such great partners as Nordic Capital, Insight Partners, and 22C Capital,” Dunleavy said in a statement. “Their significant experience in the areas of software, data, and healthcare is key. This, together with their longer-term focus, operational experience, and international perspective, is an exciting combination for what we see in front of us. We look forward to continuing our mission, together with our greatly appreciated customers, to empower data-driven healthcare.”

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Downtown DC insurtech company Pie Insurance is making moves across state lines. Pie subsidiary Pie Carrier Holdings (PCH) received regulatory approval this month to acquire Western Select Insurance Company, a property casualty insurance provider with offices in California, Illinois and New York.

According to Pie, following the formation of PCH, this acquisition is all part of a larger plan to be a full-stack insurance carrier. Western Select will be renamed Pie Casualty Insurance Company following the deal.

“Since Pie was founded in 2017, our goal has been to offer the entire small business insurance experience to our customers as a full stack insurance carrier,” said John Swigart, cofounder and CEO of Pie in a statement. “Receiving regulatory approval to acquire Western Select Insurance Company is a key milestone on the path for Pie to write our own policies, and to bring our seamless commercial insurance experience to even more small businesses across the country.”

Today we announced that Pie Insurance has received regulatory approval to acquire Western Select Insurance Company: https://t.co/ZWOtiaPBSP

— Pie Insurance (@pie_insurance) August 25, 2021

Pie has had various financial successes over the past year. In May of 2020, it raised $127 million to form PCH. And earlier this year, the company raised a $118 million Series C round with the intention of hiring tech talent, bringing its total tally to $300 million raised in outside funding.

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Here’s who else is merging around the DMV: 

• Arlington’s Two Six Technologies, which provides tech to national security customers, acquired software engineering and analytics company Trusted Concepts. This is Two Six’s first acquisition since it was formed in February.
• Fairfax tech consulting firm Customer Value Partners acquired DC’s Atlas Research, a fellow consulting firm concentrating on federal health work. Financial terms were not disclosed.
• Chantilly-based VTG, a technology firm focused on modernizing defense, acquired ASSET, a Manassas company which provides undersea warfare and unmanned technologies. This is the company’s second acquisition in the past year.
• Broadband investment firm Grain Management has acquired Florida’s Young Communications, which offers construction services for telecommunications and utility infrastructures. The DC firm did not reveal terms of the deal.
• Arlington Capital Partners, a DC private equity firm, announced this month that it would acquire MCR, a govtech firm based in McLean. Although financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, Arlington Capital said that senior MCR executives invested in the deal.
• Plus, BlueHalo, an Arlington Capital Partners subsidiary, also announced that it would be acquiring Intelligent Automation Inc, a Rockville national security technology company.
• Accenture Federal Services completed its deal to acquire McLean’s Novetta, an analytics firm.
• Federal health IT provider GovernmentCIO inked a deal to acquire Fairfax’s Salient CRGT, a software and data analytics company.
• Sedulous Consulting Services has acquired Infinity Support Services, a fellow cybersecurity and IT firm also based in Triangle, Virginia. Infinity Founder Lindo Bradley will now be retiring his company and it will operate as Sedulous.
• Herndon, Virginia-based data center solutions company EdgeConneX will acquire Global Data Center, based in Israel, for an undisclosed amount.
• Treliant, a consulting firm based in DC, closed a deal this month to acquire Vox Financial Partners, a fellow consultant based in New York.
• McLean digitalization and cloud software company Kajeet announced an asset acquisition of broadband design consulting firm Red Rover. Former Red Rover President Steve Rovarino will join Kajeet as senior business development manager.
• IntelliBridge, a McLean AI DevOps firm backed by Enlightenment Capital, acquired Arlington’s U.Group, a data science firm that works with defense and federal civilian agencies.
• GovTribe, an Arlington marketing and contracting company, was acquired by DC’s GovExec.
• Florida’s GovSpend, a government contracting company, completed an acquisition of Rockville’s Fedmine, which provides data on federal government contracts. GovSpend is a subsidiary of Thompson Street Capital Partners and Endicott Growth Equity Partners.
• Advanced Solutions International, an Alexandria software developer for nonprofits, acquired New Hampshire learning management developer WBT Systems for an undisclosed amount.
• McLean cybersecurity firm IronNet completed its $136.7 million business merger with special-purpose acquisition company LGL Systems. IronNet is now publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
• Information services company FiscalNote acquired Wisconsin’s Curate, a tech company focused on civic engagement and monitoring.

Bonus round, some fellow media companies making merger moves (say that five times fast):

• German publisher Axel Springer will acquire DC’s Politico and Politico Europe, plus its tech news site Protocol. The deal is estimated to be valued at over $1 billion.
• Nexstar Media acquired political news site The Hill for $130 million. Nexstar operates over 120 local websites and 284 mobile apps nationwide.
• Vox Media, headquartered in DC, acquired drink and cocktail culture site Punch.
• Information services company GovExec acquired Public Sector 360 from 1105 Media. Public Sector specializes in government technology news.