A Baltimore private equity firm and a College Park venture capital firm said Tuesday they bought eCoast Sales Solutions Ltd., a fast-growing outsourced sales and marketing agency, for an undisclosed price. ECoast, which has 150 employees and is based in Rochester, N.H., was acquired by Slate Capital Group, of Baltimore, and New Markets Venture Partners, of College Park. ECoast provides outsourcing support for companies' sales and lead generation efforts, and has several big clients, including Cisco and Microsoft, according to Erik Ginsberg, a managing partner with Slate Capital. Ginsberg said that eCoast has grown into one of the biggest companies in the outsourced sales and marketing industry. Annual sales grew by 50 percent from 2007 to 2008, Ginsberg said, and were in the range of $10 million to $25 million, he said. He said the company's operations would remain in New Hampshire.

- Gus G. Sentementes