Managed services and colocation provider Thrive is working with Moelis on a sale process, said sources familiar with the matter.

The auction kicked off in mid-September, said the first source.

In an August 2023 interview with trade news magazine MSP Success, Stephenson said Thrive generated revenue greater than USD 300m annually. A second source told Infralogic that number was roughly USD 450m.

Out of its managed services segment, the Boston-based company controls 15 colocation facilities in North America, Asia and Europe, according to its website.

Private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners recapitalized the company in January 2021, taking a majority position. Shareholder M|C Partners maintained a stake in Thrive. The asset manager had originally established the company through a carve-out of Thrive Networks and Corporate IT Solutions in 2016.

M|C called Thrive one of the US’s largest privately held managed service providers.

Thrive’s management team also holds a stake in the company.

In November 2022, Thrive CEO Rob Stephenson told Mergermarket that the company would focus on managed services provider M&A in some regions of the US and abroad. The company pursued that strategy since Court Square’s investment, buying The Longleaf Network, 4IT, IT Freedom, Storagepipe Solutions, Custard Technical Services and others.

Aside from colocation facilities, Thrive also offers cybersecurity, cloud and networking solutions as part of its managed services menu that targets the financial services, life sciences, healthcare, education and other industries, according to its website.

Moelis and Court Square declined to comment. Thrive and M|C did not respond to requests for comment.