insurance software

Thoma Bravo Acquires iPipeline

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Thoma Bravo has acquired iPipeline, a provider of cloud-based software used in the life insurance industry, from three venture capital firms: NewSpring Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures and Volition Capital.

iPipeline’s software is used to automate the life insurance sales process in order to reduce the time, cost and error rate of processing insurance applications.  The software provides automated processing from pre-sale, point-of-sale, and post-sale support, to reporting, consumer delivery and agency management. Customers include insurance carriers and agents (such as financial advisors and independent insurance agents), and distributors (such as banks, broker-dealers and general agencies).

“Both carriers and distributors of insurance and annuity products alike are seeking to streamline their customer onboarding workflows, and make the process of purchasing these products easier and more intuitive for the end consumer,” said A.J. Rohde, a principal at Thoma Bravo. “iPipeline is at the forefront of this movement, and we’re excited to be able to invest in a business with such an excellent market opportunity.”

iPipeline has approximately 400 employees and is headquartered west of Philadelphia in Exton, PA with additional offices in Fort Lauderdale, Huntersville (NC), Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Tokyo, Vancouver, Denmark and Cheltenham (UK).  iPipeline was founded in 1995 and has annual revenues of about  $70 million (www.ipipeline.com).

“iPipeline typifies what we look for in an investment opportunity,” said Holden Spaht, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo. “The company is a market leader with a mission critical product offering and has a strong secular growth opportunity from the continued migration of life insurance applications from print to digital.”

iPipeline will look to grow through both organic and add-on acquisitions.  “We’re pleased to be joining Thoma Bravo, which has a track record of picking exceptional high-growth vertical market technology companies,” said Tim Wallace, chief executive officer of iPipeline. “Our relationship with Thoma Bravo will help fuel organic growth and allow us to pursue complementary acquisitions.”

Thoma Bravo provides equity and strategic support to management teams building growing companies. The firm originated the concept of industry consolidation investing, which seeks to create value through the strategic use of acquisitions to accelerate business growth.  Thoma Bravo currently manages approximately $8.5 billion of equity capital and is led by managing partners Orlando Bravo, Seth Boro, Scott Crabill, Lee Mitchell, Holden Spaht and Carl Thoma; and partner Robert Sayle.  The firm was founded in 1981 and has offices in Chicago and San Francisco (www.thomabravo.com).

Golub Capital and Ares Capital Corporation provided financing for the transaction. Credit Suisse served as lead financial advisor to iPipeline with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and William Blair as co-advisors.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 8-6-15

Hellman & Friedman Acquires Applied Systems

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Applied Systems, a provider of insurance software and a portfolio company of Bain Capital, has signed an agreement to be acquired by Hellman & Friedman in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2014.

JMI Equity will be investing alongside Hellman & Friedman. Members of Applied Systems’ senior management will continue to maintain a significant ownership position in the company. Bain Capital first invested in Applied Systems in 2006.

Applied Systems develops, sells, and supports insurance agency and broker management systems and provides services for accounting, customer, policy, claims management, and all related agent and broker functions. The company has a customer base of over 12,000 agencies and brokerages and 350 insurers across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Applied Systems was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in University Park, IL (www.appliedsystems.com).

“All of us at Applied are pleased to be partnering with Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity as they share our commitment to revolutionize the global business of insurance by investing behind the company’s unique product vision for the benefit of our customers,” said Reid French, CEO of Applied Systems. “This is an exciting time in the 30-year history of Applied Systems. Our senior management team and I are extremely appreciative of Bain Capital’s unwavering support in executing our growth mission over these past seven years. This acquisition represents an endorsement of Applied Systems’ talented employee base, strategic plan and product vision that have made the growth of our company possible.”

Bain Capital manages several pools of capital, including private equity, venture capital, and public equity and leveraged debt assets. The firm has more than $66 billion in assets under management. Since its inception in 1984, Bain Capital has made private equity investments and add-on acquisitions in more than 300 companies in a variety of industries around the world. The firm has offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Munich, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Mumbai, with over 800 employees worldwide (www.baincapital.com).

“We believe Applied Systems is a uniquely positioned company in the global insurance software market,” said David Tunnell, managing director of Hellman & Friedman. “It combines the largest user base in the industry with Applied Epic, the fastest growing new agency management system, to be the market leader in insurance technology for deployments both on premise and in the cloud.”

Hellman & Friedman invests from $200 million to $750 million in companies across a range of industries including energy & industrials, software, business & marketing services, internet & digital media, financial services, insurance, media, and healthcare. Founded in 1984, the firm has raised and managed over $25 billion of committed capital and invested in over 60 companies. The firm is currently investing its sixth fund, with $8.4 billion of capital commitments. Hellman & Friedman is based in San Francisco with additional offices in London and New York (www.hf.com).

JMI Equity is a growth equity firm that invests in software and technology-enabled services companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in 110 businesses and has over $2.1 billion of committed capital under management. The firm has offices in San Diego and Baltimore (www.jmi.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-2-13

Aurora Capital Exits Mitchell International

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Aurora Capital Group has completed the sale of Mitchell International, a provider of property & casualty insurance claims technology and software, to KKR. Aurora acquired Mitchell in March 2007 along with co-investors Norwest Equity Partners and GE Pension.

Mitchell is a provider of claims technology and software designed to automate and optimize property and casualty claims and related workflows. Mitchell offers a range of products and services that are designed to assist insurance carriers, third-party administrators, collision repair facilities, and other claims payers in managing automotive and workers’ compensation claims. The company is headquartered in San Diego (www.mitchell.com).

“Aurora’s strategy of identifying outstanding companies and partnering with strong management teams to accelerate growth and profitability is exemplified by the success of Mitchell International,” said Josh Klinefelter, head of Aurora’s Software & Information Services practice. “Mitchell’s management team, led by CEO Alex Sun, has done a fantastic job of enhancing the company’s strategic position, and we wish them and KKR the very best in the future. We will continue to identify opportunities in the middle market that leverage our team’s unique ability to help a company reach its potential and create value for all of our stakeholders.”

Aurora Capital focuses principally on control-investments in middle-market industrial, manufacturing and service oriented businesses. The firm, founded in 1991, has $2 billion of capital under management and is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.auroracap.com).

KKR makes private equity, fixed income and other investments in companies in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The firm has $83 billion in assets under management. In addition to its New York headquarters the firm has offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Houston, Washington DC, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, Dubai and Sydney (www.kkr.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-14-13