4. Contegix

Target company: Distributed Systems Services

Headcount: 150 employees

Annual revenue: Not disclosed

Purchase price: Not disclosed

Date of announcement: Nov. 29

Cloud computing and managed application hosting provider Contegix merged with managed service provider Distributed Systems Services (DSS) to better capture the growing opportunities in both on-premises and cloud-based hybrid environments.

The merger will marry St. Louis-based Contegix's cloud hosting and application capabilities with the reseller partnerships and managed services expertise of Reading, Penn.-based DSS, No. 416 on the CRN SP 500.  The deal was financed through private equity firm Strattam Capital, which bought a majority stake in Contegix earlier in November.

The merged company will adopt the Contegix name. DSS Founder and CEO Jim Sweeney will join Contegix's board of directors.