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January 23, 2017

South Portland software firm acquired by ARCOM

Photo / Tim Greenway Gilles Letourneau, president and CEO of InterSpec, is shown in this 2015 Mainebiz file photo. The South Portland-based software company announced today it has been acquired by ARCOM, a company headquartered in Salt Lake City.

InterSpec, a South Portland-based company that creates software solutions for the building industry, announced Monday it has been acquired by ARCOM, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The purchase price was not disclosed.

ARCOM is owned by Alpine Investors, a private equity firm.

Gilles Letourneau, who founded InterSpec in Portland in 1998, told Mainebiz in a telephone interview this morning that the deal closed in early January. His company was a finalist in the small business category of Mainebiz’s 2015 Fastest Growing companies list, reporting 57% sales growth between 2012 and 2014. InterSpec’s 20 employees will continue working out of the company’s South Portland office.

“Our plan is to continue growing as we have been,” Letourneau said, noting that the two companies’ product lines are complementary, which will create a kind of “one stop shopping” opportunity for InterSpec’s existing client base that extends from Hawaii to the Middle East.

He anticipates future growth in InterSpec’s South Portland office.

“At InterSpec we have a very experienced and professional specs team and so does ARCOM,” Letourneau said. “Together we can serve our specification clients more efficiently because we will be working side-by-side with the authors of the content.”

Jim Contardi, ARCOM CEO, will lead the combined entity while Letourneau will continue with the combined entity as general manager, A/E product and will also provide strategic direction to the company. The combined entity will operate under the ARCOM brand.

“This deal benefits our customers because it brings together complementary assets that they have been asking for,” Contardi said in a written statement accompanying the announcement. “It makes it easier for them to be productive and ultimately allows them to build better buildings.”

Plans to accelerate innovation

In a FAQs posting on InterSpec’s website, the companies stated:

  • Alpine Investors specializes in lower middle-market (i.e., valuations of $10 million to $150 million) companies in the software, online and business services industries.The firm has raised more than $900 million of committed capital and has invested in 52 companies since its inception in 2001.
  • The two companies plan to integrate “to accelerate innovation and make it easier to do business as a customer with both companies’ products and services.”
  • For existing customers, the companies stated it will be “business as usual when working with either ARCOM or InterSpec.” In the longer term, the companies expect “to leverage their combined assets to deliver best-in-class technology, rich specification content, and the highest levels of customer service.”

Maine Venture Fund's role

Matt Hoffner, chairman and managing director of InterSpec, said 90% of both companies’ clients already use their respective products. “Making the integration tighter and the renewal and service process easier is a good thing for all,” he said.

Both Hoffner and Letourneau credited Maine Venture Fund, a venture capital fund that invests exclusively in Maine companies, with supporting InterSpec’s growth.

“We wouldn’t be here without the patience of our investors,” said Hoffner.

Letourneau said equally important to the infusion of capital that came with Maine Venture Fund’s 2006 investment in his company has been the opportunity it created for him to learn from other companies in MVF’s portfolio. “For me, that really was a big plus,” he said. “I don’t think I could have done it without them.”

Editor’s note: For a short video to learn more about the acquisition click here.

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