Middle Market Investment Banking Firm FOCUS LLC Represents TelStar Hosted Solutions in Acquisition of Assets by Williams & Gallagher, LLC and Grindstone Partners, LLC

By Kahla CooperPublished On: February 15, 2010

Washington DC (February 15, 2010) – FOCUS LLC, a national middle market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, announced today that assets from TelStar Hosted Solutions, www.telstarhosted.com, a division of TouchStar Software Corporation, have been acquired by Williams & Gallagher and Grindstone Partners. FOCUS represented TelStar in this transaction.

TelStar Hosted Services provides world class Communication-as-a-Service hosted contact and call center solutions to over 200 corporate clients, including enterprise and small and medium sized businesses. Specific offerings include: hosted contact and call center solutions, hosted VoIP telecommunications, on demand predictive dialing, automated voice messaging, advanced ACD & IVR, recording, and call compliance management.

Williams & Gallaher and Grindstone Partners worked with D Partners, a Washington, DC based boutique management firm specializing in helping emerging growth companies. James Dunn and Ralph Peluso, founding partners of D Partners, will serve as CEO and CFO/COO respectively. Dunn and Peluso bring more than 60 years of industry experience to TelStar.

Chris Rieple, formally of TouchStar, has joined the TelStar Hosted Services executive team as Vice President of Sales. Rieple comments, “We have built our business by exceeding our customer’s expectations. The additional financial resources and new executive leadership enable us to expedite our growth plans while continuing to provide an uncompromised client experience.”

According to John Bradshaw, partner at FOCUS, “TelStar has been a significant competitor in the Hosted Call Center Technology market, and its new management team and partnership with Williams & Gallagher and Grindstone Partners will provide the growth capital and expertise to continue to build a world class Communication-as-a-Service hosted call center business.”

For more information about FOCUS, visit www.focusbankers.com.

About FOCUS LLC

FOCUS LLC provides a range of middle market investment banking services with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate finance. FOCUS is a national firm serving clients from offices in major cities across the United States. FOCUS specializes in business units with transactions or revenues in the $5-300 million range, serving entrepreneurs, corporate owners and various types of investors across a broad range of industries, throughout the U.S. and worldwide. FOCUS bankers are seasoned operating and financial executives with extensive transaction experience. Securities transactions conducted by FOCUS Securities LLC, an affiliated company, registered Broker Dealer member FINRA/SIPC. For more information on FOCUS, visit www.focusbankers.com.

Kahla Cooper is the Director of Marketing at FOCUS. In this role, Ms. Cooper designs and implements the overall marketing strategy. Ms. Cooper works with each industry team leader to define programs in order to promote and brand FOCUS’ suite of capabilities.