Spire Capital Partners with Grant Evans & Founders to Invest in Telekenex

NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Spire Capital, a lower middle market focused private equity firm specializing in investments in the business services, information services, education, media and communications sectors, today announced a partnership with Grant Evans and the founders of Telekenex, Inc. ("Telekenex" or the "Company").  Telekenex is a provider of hosted communications, security solutions and managed network / IT solutions to small and medium-sized business ("SMB") and enterprise customers.  The Company's offerings include hosted Voice-over Internet Protocol ("VoIP"), managed access / MPLS services, security solutions and value-added managed services. This marks Spire's second investment in Spire's third fund.

Founded in San Francisco, California in 1994, Telekenex serves over 800 customers in the United States, which range from SMB customers to larger, multi-location enterprises and offer bundled, hosted managed IT solutions to a variety of sectors including retail, financial services, technology, and healthcare, among others.  Telekenex's services are offered in a bundled, hosted solution or a la carte and include hosted VoIP, fiber and wireless data access, wireless device management, firewall, secure VPN, content filtering, antivirus and PCI compliant network services.

Grant Evans joined the Company upon Spire's investment to serve as the Chief Executive Officer ("CEO").  Mr. Evans previously served as the Chairman and CEO of ActiveIdentity and prior to that as the CEO of A4Vision.  "I am very excited to join Telekenex alongside the Founders as a valued leader.   Brandon Chaney and Anthony Zabit have built an amazing team and company serving over 800 customers today.  We plan to aggressively expand the IT services, data/voice services and security solutions offering at Telekenex to better provide our customers and new customers with broader solution sets and new services," said Grant Evans. "The convergence of hosted communications, cloud services, IT services and security solutions in today's marketplace provides a great opportunity for us, our partners and our customers. Partnering with Spire Capital will provide the strategic focus and investment needed for Telekenex to continue to be a leading provider for converging IT solutions in the coming years."

"Anthony and I have enjoyed building a great company and demonstrating our ability to create an IT platform that provides premium solutions," said Brandon Chaney, a Founder of Telekenex. "We believe we are in the first stages of enhanced convergence of IT solutions. He and I will continue to lead the Company alongside Grant, and couldn't be happier about the additional resources and enhanced leadership he and Spire will bring to the Company."

"The Company has developed strong relationships with partners and end customers since its founding, while successfully innovating and growing new services," relayed David Schaible, Partner at Spire Capital. "We are excited to partner with Telekenex, Grant Evans, Brandon Chaney and Anthony Zabit.  There will be numerous areas for new investment to expand Telekenex's service offerings and additional capital to acquire other providers that would expand the ecosystem the Company serves.  Bryan Koehler will also be joining the team as the CFO at Telekenex.  Bryan had served as the CFO at one of our previous companies, Certiport, and will complement this team immensely."

D.A. Davidson & Co. acted as financial advisor to Telekenex and Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP served as legal counsel to the Company.  Denton's served as legal counsel to Spire Capital and senior debt capital was provided for this transaction by Webster Bank, N.A.

About Telekenex

Telekenex employs approximately 150 people and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with an additional office in Seattle, WA. Telekenex is a provider of hosted communications, security solutions and managed network / IT solutions to SMB and enterprise customers.  The Company's offerings include hosted VoIP, managed access / MPLS services, security solutions and value-added managed services.  Telekenex serves over 800 customers which range from SMB customers to larger, multi-location enterprises.  Focus end customer verticals include retail, financial services, technology, and healthcare, among others.  Please learn more about Telekenex at www.telekenex.com or follow us on Twitter @Telekenex.

About Spire Capital Partners

Founded in 2000, Spire Capital is an active and experienced private equity firm with an investment focus in companies within the business services, information services, media, education and communications sectors.  Spire Capital leads buyout investments in its areas of expertise and believes its deep industry experience and network of relationships are invaluable in helping its portfolio companies to grow and succeed. Spire Capital is investing out of its third fund and has managed over $700 million in private equity commitments since its founding. For more information please visit www.spirecapital.com.

SOURCE Spire Capital Partners