Thirty-seven of the 39 managed service providers The 20 MSP bought from September 2022 to the end of 2025 were members of its peer group before the deal. That network of about 175 member MSPs is its pipeline, and in a little over three years it has made The 20 the second most active buyer of MSPs in our records, behind Evergreen Services Group.
The Plano, Texas company is majority-owned by its founder, Tim Conkle, and its terms are simpler than most: cash at closing with the option to reinvest, and zero earnouts by its own account. It is a credible buyer for a small MSP that already runs on its playbook. The catch is information, since a member sells to a buyer that has seen its numbers for years, outside a competitive process, and the price deserves an outside test.
The 20’s own releases fill in the deal list we hold from Mergermarket. Deal terms come from those releases and its blog, its chief executive’s interviews with CRN, ChannelE2E and Omdia, and one seller’s SEC filing. The sections below also cover how The 20 is organized and what MSPs sell for.
The 20 MSP and The 20 MSP Group: How the Business Is Organized
The 20 is two businesses under one owner. The 20 MSP Group, founded in 2013, is a paid peer group and growth platform for independent MSPs: members keep ownership of their companies and plug into a shared playbook, with a US-based 24/7 support desk and network operations center, a standard RMM, PSA and documentation stack, sales training, co-selling and pooled vendor pricing. The 20 says its support desk takes up to 90 percent of a member’s tier 1 to 3 tickets. The 20 MSP is the operating company: a managed IT services provider serving thousands of businesses across the country, built by acquiring members of the group.
Members adopt the tools and processes long before any deal, so a member that sells is largely integrated already, and Omdia notes that The 20 has access to members’ financial and operating data for diligence and knows their customers, endpoints, leadership and culture. Membership has been put at 150 to 175 MSPs since 2023, about 175 in late 2025, and Conkle told CRN in November 2025 that he wants to take it to 600.
Conkle bought Roland Technology, a Texas MSP, in 1991, grew it for about two decades and still runs it alongside The 20. He spent roughly ten years building the member network before the first acquisition, and he holds the majority of the company. The 20 describes its acquisitions as funded free of private equity, from operating cash flow and conventional bank borrowing. Former owners who reinvested hold shares, and several sit in management, including the head of sales, who founded an Ohio MSP that The 20 bought in 2022.
How Many Acquisitions The 20 MSP Has Made
The 20 made 11 acquisitions in 2022, all from September, 13 in 2023, 9 in 2024 and 6 in 2025. It started with six in a single month, September 2022, and the pace slowed after 2023: 2025 was its quietest full year, and the first deals of 2026 came in June, after what Conkle called a shift of focus “for a few months there”. Sundance Networks in Pennsylvania followed in July 2026.
Its plans have run well ahead of the record. In December 2022 The 20 aimed for two to four deals a month in 2023, 24 to 48 for the year, and closed 13. In November 2025 Conkle told CRN that 25 a year should be “the low bar” and that upwards of 40 was possible, and leadership set a target of 12 to 15 for 2026, according to Omdia. In practice the pace has been about one deal a month in its busiest years, with the stated targets as a ceiling.
Each of the 39 was a completed purchase of 100 percent. The 20 ranks fifth in our ranking of strategic acquirers of IT services companies and second among MSP buyers.
What Size of MSP The 20 Buys
The 20 publishes its size range. Below $1M of annual revenue, its blog tells owners, “chances are, you’re too small to secure a deal with us”. Conkle told CRN in November 2025 that the sweet spot is $1M to $6M of revenue, and Omdia put it at $1M to $5M in September 2026. The data points fit: the three MSPs bought in April 2023 brought an average of about $1.5M of revenue each, by Conkle’s account, and one MSP bought in early 2023 had grown from about $0.7M to $5.5M of revenue in its three years in the group.
The 20 goes larger when a deal adds a market or a capability. Red Level Group, bought in November 2025, was the largest so far at “well over $10 million in revenue”, with about 20 staff, and it was The 20’s third purchase in the Detroit area. The 20 told Omdia that it stays out of the competitive sale processes that larger MSPs, with several million dollars of EBITDA, run for PE-backed platforms, and Omdia sees the smaller deal size as giving it access to businesses with fewer well-funded exit options.
The 20 keeps its prices private: Conkle declined to discuss the cost of the April 2023 deals with CRN, and our records hold one price, for a carve-out. Size is therefore known by revenue alone.
What The 20 MSP Buys
Everything The 20 buys is managed IT services. Of the 39 deals, 38 are MSPs and one is a systems integrator, a Massachusetts firm that The 20 describes as a provider of IT support to small and mid-sized businesses. The distinctive part is where the targets come from.
| Type of acquisition, 2022 to 2025 | Adquisiciones |
|---|---|
| Member MSPs, bought whole | 36 |
| A member’s managed IT division | 1 |
| Businesses carved out of companies outside the group | 2 |
| Total | 39 |
Membership comes from The 20’s releases. Into mid-2024 it bought members exclusively, describing each MSP it bought as one that did most of its growing inside the group. From May 2024 it widened the net, and the two outside deals came that year: Collabrance, a master MSP carved out of GreatAmerica Financial Services, and iCoreIT, the healthcare-focused managed services division of the Nasdaq-listed iCoreConnect. In June 2026 Conkle described membership as optional for a sale and still the central source of acquisition candidates.
The first deals added revenue and new metropolitan areas; by November 2025 The 20 said it was looking for skills in AI, cybersecurity, compliance and industry-specific software. Healthcare clients came with two deals in 2023 and 2024, Red Level brought five software applications it had built for customers, and Sundance’s founder now leads AI services. The written criteria are those of a buyer that integrates fully: operational maturity, revenue above its threshold, recurring revenue of 70 percent or more as a target, diversified clients and low dependence on the owner. Conkle told ChannelE2E in 2024 that an MSP has to be willing to change and to integrate into the community to be of use to The 20.
Where The 20 MSP Buys
The 20 buys in one country: all 39 of its deals are in the United States, and the 42 companies they brought in sit in 22 states. California leads with 5, then Texas with 4, Florida, Michigan and Kansas with 3 each, and Wisconsin, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, Virginia, Tennessee and Massachusetts with 2 each. By region, 20 were in the South, 12 in the Midwest, 8 in the West and 2 in the Northeast. The 2026 deals added Oregon and Pennsylvania.
The map follows the sequence Conkle described to CRN in 2023: first buy into metropolitan areas where The 20 had yet to build a presence, then buy again in the same markets and stack them; Red Level was its third deal around Detroit. The aim is a footprint in every US state, and Canada, where The 20 already has members, is the next market Conkle named in November 2025.
What The 20 MSP Pays: MSP Valuation Multiples
The 20 keeps its prices out of the public record. A sweep of releases, trade press and filings turned up one price: a carve-out from a listed seller, whose filing gives the price and leaves out the division’s revenue. The count of deals with a computable multiple is therefore zero, and this section relies on market benchmarks in its place.
Conkle’s own arithmetic shows how he frames value. In November 2025 he described to CRN fifty MSPs, each with $1M of revenue and $200,000 of EBITDA, worth $1M apiece at a 5x multiple, and argued that combined they would be worth $100M. That is the roll-up’s logic: buy small at a low multiple and own something larger valued at a higher one. On his numbers a $1M-revenue MSP is worth five times its EBITDA on its own; the median for IT services deals under $5M in our research is 6.7x.
In our own research, across 83 disclosed MSP acquisitions from 2015 to mid-2026, the median price was 10.7x EBITDA, and across 143 it was 1.1x revenue, against 10.4x and 1.1x for IT services as a whole. Size moves the number most: deals under $5M sold at a median of 6.7x EBITDA and 0.6x revenue, and deals of $5M to $20M at 7.9x and 1.0x. Across IT services, strategic acquirers paid a median of 9.8x EBITDA, and financial sponsors and their platforms 11.5x. Disclosed prices skew large: the median MSP deal in the EBITDA sample is $37M, far above the businesses The 20 buys, so the size bands are the better guide.
The two MSP medians imply an EBITDA margin of about 10 percent, and an MSP buyer will price on EBITDA, with revenue as a cross-check. For a business with $3M of revenue and a 15 percent margin, $450,000 of EBITDA, the MSP median of 10.7x gives $4.8M, the under-$5M median of 6.7x gives $3.0M and the $5M-to-$20M median of 7.9x gives $3.6M, while 1.1x revenue gives $3.3M. That range, $3.0M to $4.8M, is the negotiation, and recurring revenue, client concentration, margin and growth decide where you land. These figures describe a market; your company will be priced in a negotiation.
Have an offer from The 20 MSP?
If you have an offer from The 20 MSP on your desk, talk to us before you answer it. The 20 is a great buyer for a member MSP: it keeps most former owners in leadership roles, lets sellers reinvest and says its deals carry zero earnouts. It also pays at the low end of the market: by its chief executive’s own numbers a $1M-revenue MSP is worth five times its EBITDA, against 6.7x for IT services deals under $5M in our research, and PE-backed platforms paid a median of 11.5x EBITDA in our IT services data. Our job is to find the buyers who pay more, a PE-backed MSP platform or a strategic acquirer, and to put their bids next to The 20’s. Call us before you sign a letter of intent.
How The 20 Structures a Deal
The 20 says its acquisitions carry zero earnouts, which it describes as setting buyer against seller and protecting the buyer at the seller’s expense, and it pays at closing from operating cash flow and bank debt. Sunflower Bank, sole lead arranger of a reducing syndicated credit facility, has provided the funding tranche on deals since March 2024, and Omdia reports leverage well below that of many PE-backed platforms, per The 20’s leadership. Pinecrest Capital Partners has acted as The 20’s exclusive financial advisor on its acquisitions and financing since the first deals in 2022.
The one deal with a public filing shows how terms can bend for a corporate seller. When iCoreConnect sold its managed services division to The 20 in October 2024, the asset purchase agreement added a capped payment to the seller if recurring revenue held above a threshold in the second quarter of 2025, so the agreement itself is the place to check how a price is paid.
The 20 also offers former owners the chance to reinvest part of their proceeds and, in its words, a “second bite of the apple” if and when The 20 itself is acquired. That second bite depends on a future transaction, and Omdia reports that Conkle expects The 20 may eventually consider a private equity investment or another deal that lets shareholders reduce risk. Before rolling equity, ask what class of shares you receive, what they are worth today and who decides when they can be sold.
Speed is part of the offer: The 20 says it moves from letter of intent to closing and full integration in 90 days or under, and Conkle has said that 80 percent of the diligence and integration work is done before a member’s deal starts, because the member already runs The 20’s stack. It also says it waits for members to approach it, and it offers MSP owners a confidential valuation. A quick, quiet sale to a buyer that knows the business has real advantages; it also means the buyer prices the deal with more information than any outside bidder.
What Happens After Closing
An acquired MSP becomes The 20 MSP. The company has used the line “One Team. One Dream. One Brand.” since its first deals, and Omdia describes it as fully rebranding and integrating employees, technology and processes, in contrast to roll-ups that keep a federation of local brands. Collabrance is the exception that kept its own name. Integration takes 60 to 90 days by The 20’s account, and clients see the support desk they already used through their provider’s membership.
In April 2023 Conkle told CRN that the owners of every MSP bought until then but one were still with the company, the exception being a couple who retired, and The 20 says its practice is to give owners management positions if they plan to keep working. Former owners now hold titles from regional vice president to head of sales, and Sundance’s founder leads AI services. Each deal turns an owner into an employee and, with reinvestment, a minority shareholder, so ask former owners how their roles changed after the first year.
By The 20’s account staff stay too: Conkle has claimed a perfect record of keeping employees through its acquisitions, and all 44 Collabrance employees joined. The integration runs on The 20’s systems, so the business you sell keeps its people and clients and gives up its tools, processes and name.
The 20’s Competitive Position
In our view The 20 has built the most distinctive acquisition engine among US MSP consolidators: a paid peer group that standardizes its future targets years before it buys them. It made 38 MSP acquisitions from 2015 to 2025, second to Evergreen Services Group in our ranking of MSP buyers, with Thrive next, and Omdia also ranks it second behind Evergreen.
A PE-backed platform buys across the market and integrates afterwards, while The 20 buys from a pool it has trained, at sizes where Omdia sees fewer well-funded bidders, and finances itself with bank debt. Omdia’s test for the next stage is whether those advantages hold as The 20 pursues larger deals, new geographies and outside capital. For a member, The 20 hears first, and a second bidder comes only through a process the owner starts.
Is This a Good Time to Sell to The 20?
The 20 is buying again after a pause in early 2026: it closed new deals in June and July, its leadership set a target of 12 to 15 for the year, and Conkle wants a membership of 600 to feed a pace of 25 or more a year. A buyer with a target to meet has reason to move on terms for a strong business.
The wider market is cooler than it was. In our IT services research the median EV/EBITDA multiple was 8.8x in the fourth quarter of 2025, against 10.4x across 2015 to mid-2026, and the 22 deals of the first half of 2026 point to a partial recovery in revenue multiples, at 1.3x. The 20’s own guidance to owners is that buyers have become pickier and that the balance will tilt further toward buyers of smaller MSPs over the next five years. For an owner at $1M to $3M of revenue who is ready to step back, the buyers that pay well reward recurring revenue and low dependence on the founder, both worth building before a sale.
If your MSP is growing and you can carry the risk, keeping it is a sound option too, and joining a peer group to grow is a separate decision from selling to its owner. The latest prices are in our múltiplos de valoración de servicios de TI investigación.
Why You Need an M&A Advisor When The 20 MSP Approaches You
The buyer made 39 acquisitions from 2022 to 2025 and, if you are a member, has watched your numbers for years; you are selling one business, once.
Establish what the business is worth before the first conversation, on EBITDA, from comparable deals of your size, with the adjustments documented: owner pay, one-off costs and the recurring share of revenue. The 20’s model makes a quick bilateral deal easy, and The 20 has its own financial advisor on its side. Bring in at least one other bidder with a different model, a PE-backed platform or a regional strategic, so the price is tested; our MSP buyer research lists the most active.
Negotiate what a zero-earnout structure leaves open: the cash at closing, the working capital and debt adjustments, the price and rights of any reinvested shares, your role, title and pay after closing, and the restrictions you accept. Ask The 20 for references among the owners it has bought from, and ask them how the first year went. For how an approach fits into a wider sale, see compradores estratégicos frente a compradores financieros.
That is the work we do for owners of IT services businesses while they keep running the company, and running it well through the process matters, because how the business performs ends up in the price.
Sobre Aventis Advisors
Aventis Advisors is an M&A advisor for software and technology companies. We believe the world would be better off with fewer but better quality M&A deals, done at the right moment for the company and its owners. Our goal is to provide honest, insight-driven advice that lays out all the options clearly, including the option to keep the status quo.
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