Bain Capital, Vista Equity Buy Agency Technology Firm Vertafore from TPG

May 2, 2016 by

Bain Capital Private Equity and Vista Equity Partners have agreed to acquire insurance agency technology firm Vertafore from TPG Capital.

The parties did not disclose terms of the transaction. Reuters, citing anonymous sources, said it was for $2.7 billion

TPG had acquired Vertafore in 2010 from buyout firms Hellman & Friedman LLC and JMI Equity for $1.4 billion.

“We are thrilled to be working with two great private investors like Bain Capital Private Equity and Vista Equity Partners to fuel the future growth of Vertafore, and are looking forward to a great partnership that will benefit our customers, our employees, and our industry,” said Jeff Hawn, Chairman & CEO at Vertafore. “We are also thankful for the strong leadership and support from TPG over the past six years and appreciate all they’ve done to prepare us for the next phase of our company’s growth.”

Vertafore’s product portfolio includes the AMS360 and Sagitta management systems, ImageRight, and Sircon agency and carrier solutions. The company has 500,000 users.”Vertafore is a market leader with mission critical product offerings for insurance brokers and a compelling business model,” said Ian Loring, a managing director at Bain Capital Private Equity.

“The company has been at the forefront of product innovation and bundling solutions to help make agency management more efficient. We look forward to partnering with Vertafore to drive further growth and customer satisfaction.”

The acquisition of Vertafore comes a month after Vertafore acquired Keal Technology in Canada, and less than a year after it purchased QQSolutions in Florida, both providers of cloud software to independent insurance agencies. The company said it delivered 250 new product releases in 2015 for agencies, carriers, managing general agencies and underwriters, and U.S. state regulatory agencies.

The sale is expected to close during the third quarter.

Bain Capital Private Equity reports having $75 billion of assets under management. It invests in vertical industries including consumer/retail, financial and business services, healthcare, industrials, and technology, media and telecommunications. Among the companies in Bain Capital Private Equity’s portfolio are Beacon Health Options, BMC Software, Bright Horizons, The Weather Group, Rise, TOMS and Toys ‘R Us.

This is not Bain’s first foray into insurance software. In 2006, Bain Capital acquired a majority stake in Applied Systems, a Vertafore competitor, from Vista Equity Partners in a buyout that was reported to be worth $675 million. Bain sold Applied Systems for a reported $1.8 billion to Hellman & Friedman in 2014.

TPG Capital invested in Vertafore six years ago. TPG purchased the company from Hellman & Friedman and its co-investor JMI Equity for a total consideration of $1.4 billion. Additional terms of that transaction were not disclosed.

TPG Capital is the global buyout group of TPG, a private investment firm founded in 1992, that reports having $70 billion of assets under management. TPG’s technology investments have included SunGard, Fidelity National Information Services, Sabre Holdings, Alltel, Aptina, Avaya, Intergraph and Lenovo, among others.

Vista Equity Partners has made $20 billion of investments in firms including Eagleview, Main Street Hub, Solera and Zywave.

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