Singapore-based ST Telemedia intends to acquire a controlling interest in 2nd Watch Inc., a cloud computing company founded in Liberty Lake.

The transaction is pending regulatory approval. Jeff Aden, a co-founder of 2nd Watch and its executive vice president of strategic business development and marketing, says ST Telemedia’s pending acquisition isn’t expected to change the future of 2nd Watch.

Aden says ST Telemedia wants to increase its investment opportunities in the U.S. The company is an active investor in the communications, media, and tech-based sectors, according to its website.

Aden declines to disclose the terms of the proposed acquisition.

“This a validation of what we’ve done at 2nd Watch,” Aden says. “It’s been past and present employees that have gotten us to this point; it will be future employees that will help us continue to grow.”

Aden says he’s staying on at 2nd Watch and adds that he isn’t expecting any personnel changes with ST Telemedia as the company’s majority owner.

In the first quarter of 2017, 2nd Watch had roughly 80 employees. The company now has more than 200 employees, with close to half working in 11,000 square feet of office space at 2310 N. Molter, in Liberty Lake. The company is headquartered in Seattle, where less than 10 employees are stationed. Other employees are located in Atlanta and New York, he says.

 Aden co-founded 2nd Watch with former chief technology officer Kris Bliesner in 2010. The two left their jobs with now defunct Ambassadors Group Inc. to start 2nd Watch. Aden says Bleisner has since left the company to pursue other ventures.

2nd Watch provides managed cloud services and consulting and managing of information technology infrastructure. With the investment, Aden says 2nd Watch will be able to expand its overseas efforts. In recent years, ST Telemedia has invested heavily in artificial intelligence technology, cloud-based businesses, and data centers.

The term “cloud” refers to remote servers used to store, manage, and process data, as opposed to local, on-premises servers or computers.

Founded in 1994, ST Telemedia says on its website that it now has business assets in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

“ST Telemedia has extensive experience in helping companies accelerate their global scale and reach and successfully operate in multiple regions,” contends Stephen Miller, president and group CEO of ST Telemedia, in a press release.

He adds, “Combining our infrastructure technology portfolio with our position in data centers, ST Telemedia has a unique presence in the global cloud IT ecosystem to ignite adjacent growth across our portfolio.”