Executives share why HighPoint saw Primescape as the right M&A target

HighPoint Global has acquired Herndon, Va.-based Primescape Solutions to further expand its digital transformation services focused on how citizens interact with government through technology.

This comes as agencies are increasingly seeking to make citizen interactions with government resemble those they have every day with commercial companies in spaces such as insurance or health care, HighPoint executives told me.

That trend requires federal contractors to take commercial best practices and technologies into the public sector and make citizen interactions more seamless, they said.

HighPoint’s portfolio includes contact center services and customer service training. Where Primescape comes in is through its digital strategy and software development work to create a “nice package (in) a focal point for government,” HighPoint CEO Ben Lanius said.

“The primary drivers for this are how to take Primescape’s digital solutions and apply those to the broader scope inside government,” Lanius said. “Historically, the government has been challenged with low customer satisfaction scores, this is a great opportunity to focus on improving this for all citizens.”

Terms of the transaction were undisclosed. HighPoint expects the combined company’s revenue to be around $140 million with 90 percent of that as a prime contractor. Lanius told me HighPoint’s revenue prior to the deal was in the $95 million-$100 million range.

HighPoint is headquartered in Indianapolis with offices in Reston, Va., and Baltimore.

The deal seeks to create a larger company that can support all points of contact citizens have with government that include websites, mobile applications, video, social media and call centers.

HighPoint Chief Growth Officer Cal Shintani told me that HighPoint employees have worked with major banks and credit card organizations on customer and digital experience projects, which fulfills one aspect of bringing commercial practices into government.

“The government is looking for us to help them connect from the first contact a citizen has until they have given them all the service they are looking for with that particular call or click,” Shintani said.

That would translate into an agency knowing a citizen’s information and other prior interactions when inquiring about health insurance or their passport for example, Shintani told me.

HighPoint’s acquisition also increases its total number of federal customers to 15, Lanius said. Its federal customers already included the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Primescape Solutions brings to HighPoint footprints with the Treasury, Department of Health and Human Services, Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and the State Department.

Within the Treasury specifically, Shintani said HighPoint adds work with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. A “large number of (Primescape’s) customers” have some type of service for citizens related to money management, Shintani said.

Primescape Solutions’ advisers for the deal were Bluestone Capital Partners and Holland & Knight LLP. HighPoint’s advisers were Arena Strategic Advisors LLC and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.