The March Group Announces the Acquisition of Aspiration Software by the Shawmark Group.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- The March Group, a leading private mergers and acquisitions firm specializing in selling middle market businesses, released details today regarding the acquisition of its client, Aspiration Software Inc., by The Shawmark Group, a private equity company that invests in service providers to the United States intelligence community.

Aspiration Software Inc. provides information technology (IT) services to United States government agencies. Its acquisition by The Shawmark Group highlights the increasing mergers and acquisitions activity in the software/defense sector and the pivotal role that The March Group can play in facilitating such transactions.

"From my perspective, I think this union was a perfect balance of knowledge, skills and personality," said The March Group's Vice President of Capital Markets, Lynn von Hollander, who put the deal together. "The Shawmark Group came to the table as an equity firm that had specialized in acquiring companies in the government space while Charles Asper was looking for someone he could trust as a partner."

"We are very enthusiastic about The Shawmark Group investment as well as the expansion of management capabilities that are offered by Shawmark," Asper said. "This investment allows us to continue to better support our current customers and to expand our capabilities and skill sets into new areas of the intelligence community."

The Shawmark Group's Shawna L. Stout, Vice President, stated in a recent press release, "The Aspiration Software LLC investment is a natural enhancement to our intelligence community business. The acquisition is part of our overall strategy to create a company that provides the highest quality IT services to the intelligence community. We were particularly interested in the quality of Aspiration Software's employee base and technical skill sets."

Charles Asper originally put Aspiration Software Inc. up for sale because he wanted to spend more time with his family. "I was working 80 hour weeks," Asper said. "My primary reason for selling my business was so I could focus more on my children."

Under the terms of the acquisition, a new business will be created, Aspiration Software LLC, which will be managed by Jon M. Stout, a managing partner at The Shawmark Group, as CEO. The new entity will also retain Charles Asper, founder of the original Aspiration Software Inc., as President.