Bunker Hill Capital, a leading Boston based private equity investor in lower middle market companies, announced today that it has made a majority investment in Taos Mountain, LLC (“Taos” or the “Company”), a Silicon Valley based IT infrastructure consulting and managed services firm that delivers technical and strategic solutions to address challenges throughout a company’s IT lifecycle. In addition to Bunker Hill Capital and other co-investors, CEO and former majority-holder of Taos, Ric Urrutia, reinvested significant proceeds in the deal.
Taos’ expertise in leading edge technologies and deep knowledge across all infrastructure, cloud operations and datacenter domains allows the Company to organize its service offerings around the four main stages of the IT lifecycle: Plan (advisory services), Design (development of architecture and solutions), Build (physical or virtual system components), and Run (on-site support and managed services). Taos’ reputation and ability to plan, design, build and run its clients’ critical IT infrastructure systems serves as the foundation on which the Company is growing its managed service offerings, which are delivered from Taos’ 36,000 sq. ft. service center located in Boise, Idaho. This center provides a single point of contact and a 24x7x365 presence for support including triage, incident management, and service request management. The managed service offering holds an unqualified external assertion as a SOC II Type II provider with an ISO 27002 base security policy. In addition to providing a secure, U.S. based service, the Idaho location provides an onshore presence, a strong cultural match with clients, and a low turnover. Rufus Clark, Managing Partner of Bunker Hill Capital, said, “Taos is an extremely well run IT services platform with strong share in the world’s most advanced technology market, the Bay area. Its customers are extremely loyal and provided the highest net promoter score we’ve ever seen, which solidified our belief that the platform is poised for significant growth in existing and new markets.”
Ric Urrutia, CEO of Taos, said, “We were impressed with the BHC leadership team and believe they can help make Taos an even greater company. Together with BHC, we are confident that the team can further accelerate Taos’ growth through organic opportunities and expanded wallet share in areas like cloud adoption, the Internet of Things, and onshore outsourcing.”
Taos has assembled a highly knowledgeable and experienced professional team of consultants through its unique, rigorous hiring practices and extensive training programs. The Company employs a proven technical interview and consultant ratings model that focuses on hiring individuals who understand, utilize, and have a desire to continue to push the envelope of cutting edge technologies. This structured approach to hiring and continuous development of its employees is core to Taos’ culture and has been essential to the success of the organization and a critical component of its leading levels of client service, as it sets the Company apart from competitors and provides it with unparalleled industry knowledge. Mark DeBlois, Managing Partner of Bunker Hill Capital, said, “Taos’ management team, consultants, and IT professionals are assisting Silicon Valley’s leading technology companies in adopting the newest and most advanced IT information solutions in the world. The Company’s strong relationships span a loyal base of clients who view Taos as a value-add partner and an extension of their teams. We are thrilled to partner with CEO, Ric Urrutia, and his team and are excited about deploying Taos’ capabilities and expertise throughout the major U.S. markets.”
Bunker Hill Capital made the investment in the Company from its second fund and, in addition to partnering with management, also raised outside financing from Abacus Finance Group, GMB Mezzanine Capital and Brookside Mezzanine Fund.
About Taos Mountain, LLC
Taos Mountain, LLC is a Silicon Valley based IT infrastructure consulting and managed services firm that delivers technical and strategic solutions that address challenges throughout a company’s IT lifecycle. Taos has provided its services to over 1,000 clients, and it is known in the marketplace for its expertise in addressing transformational and disruptive technologies as well as for optimizing legacy IT infrastructure environments. Taos differentiates itself from competitors through its depth of talent and expertise, the ability to flexibly engage at any point in a company’s IT lifecycle, and an intense focus on client success and satisfaction. For more information on Taos, please visit www.taos.com.
About Bunker Hill Capital, L.P.
Bunker Hill Capital is a private equity firm that makes investments in lower middle market companies with enterprise values up to $120 million. The principals of Bunker Hill Capital have invested over $555 million in 35 transactions and target opportunities across four industry sectors including industrial products, business services, consumer products and specialty retail. Bunker Hill Capital’s current portfolio company investments include California Family Fitness, the leading owner and operator of fitness centers in the greater Sacramento, California area; Papa Gino’s/D’Angelo, a dominant quick service restaurant operator in New England; Smith & Wollensky, a premier steakhouse concept in the United States; SunBriteTV, the world’s leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of all-weather outdoor televisions and related accessories; Rizing, a leading SAP services firm; Dyno, the exclusive licensee of the Singer brand for sewing accessories and producer and marketer of holiday decorative home products; Hubbardton Forge, a Vermont based premier designer and manufacturer of branded hand-forged premium lighting fixtures; ASPEQ Heating Group, a manufacturer of highly engineered electric heating and thermal management technologies; and Courtagen, a diagnostic testing services company. For more information on Bunker Hill Capital, please visit www.bunkerhillcapital.com.