Austin tech firm sells stake, adds Tom Meredith as chairman

ajc.com

An Austin tech device reseller has sold a majority stake to a New York private equity firm and added veteran technology executive Tom Meredith to its leadership.

Global Resale sold ownership to Brightstar Capital Partners, which has committed $50 million to fund the company's growth.

As part of the deal, Meredith, a Brightstar senior partner, will become Global Resale's chairman. Meredith served as chief financial officer of Dell Inc. for nearly a decade, and held senior positions at Motorola and Sun Microsystems. He now runs investment firm Meritage Capital.

Founded in 2015, Global Resale rebuilds and refurbishes devices for manufacturers, carriers, resellers and corporate accounts. The company sells its equipment through online retail, reseller and wholesale channels.

Brightstar said the investment will allow Global Resale to expand its geographic reach, launch new online marketplaces and expand its service offerings across various product categories.

Global Resale founder Jeff Zeigler will remain in his role as CEO. Brightstar managing partner Andrew Weinberg will join Global Resale's board.

"We are extremely excited about entering the next phase of our company's growth," Zeigler said in a statement. "With the combination of Brightstar's capital, Tom's knowledge of IT and supply chain businesses and Andrew's expertise within the mobile reverse logistics space, we are optimally positioned to build on Global Resale's strong foundation."

Brightstar invests $50 million to $300 million in closely held, mid-market companies over the course of the investment.