Win-Win Acquisition
Photos by John Burns
Spend time in the business world, even just briefly, and it quickly becomes evident that competition is the name of the game. Large companies swallow up smaller companies, and then even larger companies try to squeeze their growing competitors out of the market.
Such a zero-sum reality is what makes the story of two values-based companies finding a way to close a win-win acquisition all the sweeter.
60+ YEARS AND GROWING
Founded more than 60 years ago in western Kansas, Nex-Tech has never been a stranger to pushing boundaries—geographically or technologically. What started as a small, single-location business with the purpose of providing communication services to rural communities quickly grew into a cutting-edge technology company.
“In the 90s, we layered on services like television and internet as they became more widely used, leveraging a fiber network to deliver a lot of those services,” said Nex-Tech Director of Sales Steve Riat. “Then in the late 90s and early 2000s, we diversified into technical services, servicing the data and equipment of customers we were already serving.”
Along the way, Nex-Tech continued to expand across the state, opening locations throughout Kansas and even one in California. Today, the company prides itself as a turnkey technology and cloud solution provider with products and services ranging from streaming devices and PCs to internet and disaster recovery support. Like many businesses, some of the company’s offerings were developed and brought to market internally, while others were added to its portfolio through acquisitions.
“We delivered equipment like servers and phone systems, too, which is how we began developing a relationship with Inland Computer Systems,” Riat said. “They were one of our phone and equipment customers for quite a long time.”
ENTER INLAND
A couple of years ago, the owners of Inland Computer Systems, Bob Raymer and Pam Gies, attended one of the tech conferences Nex-Tech hosted in Salina. After getting a chance to meet some of the Nex-Tech team and see the solutions the company offered, Raymer and Gies realized they may have found what they were searching for. Unbeknownst to Riat or any senior Nex-Tech management at the time, Raymer and Gies were not attending the conference for the products, industry knowledge or networking opportunity. No, the owners of Inland, in truth, were on a clandestine mission to find a potential buyer for their company.
Prior to attending the TechEdge conference, Raymer and Gies had made the decision that it would soon be time to step away from Inland Computer Systems and start a new chapter in each of their lives. While the timing felt right, it was by no means a small decision.
“I started with Inland right out of college—right out of KU—and went to work. Inland was owned at the time by a company in Lenexa named Inland Industries,” Raymer reminisced. “Inland Industries owned a variety of companies in this area. IBM Corporation, at the time, was authorizing dealerships across the U.S. to sell its typewriter line and authorized Inland to open a dealership in Topeka.”
Inland would become one of the first five authorized IBM dealerships in the U.S. Raymer got his start as a typewriter salesman in 1983 and helped grow the dealership “from the ground up.” Then, about a decade later, Raymer and Gies partnered up to purchase Inland Computer Systems—the computer division of Inland Industries—from its parent company.
“We began taking the company from typewriters and word processors into the computer age,” Raymer said. “We began selling computers, got into networking and became an internet service provider.”
A PERFECT MATCH
The two-and-a-half-decade road leading up to that fortuitous TechEdge conference was full of hopes, challenges and wins—or in a word, fulfillment—meaning that Raymer’s standards for a potential new owner of Inland would be sky high. At the conference, Raymer had theopportunity to meet Nex-Tech team members, learn more about the company's offerings and glean insight into the company’s culture. By the end of the conference, everything he had seen gave him hope that this longtime phone system provider could be the perfect group to acquire his company.
“We always wanted to grow our services,” Raymer said, “but that takes a lot more people, and we were never able to get that piece off the ground. Nex-Tech could offer that missing piece, so shortly after that seminar I called the CEO, Jimmy Todd, and asked him if they would have any interest in acquiring a computer dealership in Topeka. He said ‘yes’ and redirected me to Steve Riat.”
From there, Riat and Raymer began conversations around a potential acquisition, which included an even deeper dive into each company to make certain it was a good match for the other. A strong culture fit was at the top of both business leader’s lists throughout the conversations.
“Do they treat their customers like we want customers to be treated? Are the expectations right?” Raymer said, sharing the questions he was looking to have answered. “And do they treat their team members well? Is there a good, healthy relationship? We’ve found that if you treat your team members right, your customers will be treated right.”
There was, of course, more to the discussion than just culture. Alignment in product offerings and due diligence around financials played a large role as well, but as each area of focus was explored, both parties’ confidence in the fit only grew. Before they knew it, and in a relatively short time frame—at least as far as acquisitions go—Raymer had learned everything he needed.
“We found that we shared a lot of the same values, especially around how we treat our customers and how we treat our employees,” Raymer said. “I was really impressed with Nex-Tech, so we felt really good about having them acquire our business not only for our customers, but for our employees as well.”
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
The deal closed in May 2020, and on October 1 Nex-Tech officially acquired Inland Computer Systems, bringing aboard their team members and customer base.
“Change is always a unique challenge,” Riat said. “Customers have had the same faces for over 30 years, so we have had a lot of folks dropping in to ask, ‘My people are still here, right?’ And we can say ‘Yeah, absolutely,’ and let them know we still offer the same solutions.”
Riat says the months since the acquisition have gone exceptionally well.
“It’s been above expectations,” Riat shared. “We’ve helped several customers add new solutions. One of the things that Inland offered was retail customer service options such as buying or repairing PCs, installing software and removing viruses. Inland taught us a lot about how to be better at that. They brought a lot to us, and I’m sure there’s much more to come.”
In addition to the people and products that joined Nex-Tech, the Inland store at 5220 SW 17th St. is now proudly rebranded as the Nex-Tech Topeka branch.
ON THE HORIZON
With operations in full motion for Nex-Tech and growth on the horizon as always, Riat finds the new Topeka location a nice respite in his interoffice travels. A Topeka native and graduate of Seaman High School, Riat takes advantage of every opportunity to stop by the new branch in his hometown.
Gies is finally getting to enjoy a well-earned retirement, and as for Raymer, the next chapter of his business ventures is just starting. Bright days are ahead for both of them, to be sure, but letting go of the company they grew from scratch made for some bittersweet moments.
“It was hard. We had put a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of sweat equity into it,” Raymer recalled. “So, to reach a point where it was finally done, we almost didn’t know what to do.”
Fortunately, Raymer can rest much easier knowing that his life’s work is in good hands, due in no small part to the care and diligence he poured into his search for a buyer.
“We were very lucky in that we found an organization that shared many of the same values,” Raymer said. “The people at Nex-Tech are very caring and trusting, and that’s what made Pam and I feel good about this acquisition.”
Unsurprisingly, the feeling is mutual for Riat.
“It is so hard to find similar business cultures and technical expertise in this industry, so the new team members are amazing.” Riat said. “And Bob and Pam were so enjoyable to work with. Even though they’re not in the office anymore, we still see them and they drop by time to time. We’ve gained some lifetime friends in them.”
