UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Systems, Inc., a leading provider of software that powers the business of insurance, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by investment funds advised by Hellman & Friedman LLC.
The company is being acquired from the global private investment firm Bain Capital in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion. JMI Equity, a growth-oriented private equity firm that focuses on building market-leading software and technology-enabled services businesses, will be investing alongside H&F and, under the terms of the agreement, members of Applied Systems’ senior management will continue to maintain a significant ownership position in the company.
Applied Systems is a leading provider of insurance software and a recognized pioneer of agency management systems and data exchange between agencies, brokerages, carriers and their clients. The company supports an extensive customer base of over 12,000 agencies and brokerages and 350 insurers across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Hellman & Friedman LLC is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London and is currently investing its seventh fund, which has over $8.9 billion of committed capital. H&F has extensive experience in the software and insurance industries through current and previous ownership of large scale agencies, insurance carriers and software providers.
“All of us at Applied are pleased to be partnering with H&F 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.”
“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.”
Anupam Mishra, managing director of Hellman & Friedman, added, “We are enthusiastic to support Reid and the Applied Systems employees as they extend their impressive track record of growth for years to come with mission critical products and services which are at the heart of the insurance agency and carrier businesses.”
“We have enjoyed a very productive partnership with Applied Systems, working closely with the management team to expand market share and significantly enhance the product suite,” said Andrew Balson, managing director at Bain Capital. “We wish Reid and the new ownership group great success as they continue to build the business.”
The transaction is subject to customary conditions to closing and is expected to be completed in early 2014.
About Applied Systems
Applied Systems is a leading provider of software that powers the business of insurance. The company is recognized as a pioneer in agency management systems and data exchange between agencies, brokers, carriers and their clients. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applied Systems software enables millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most. To learn more, please visit www.appliedsystems.com.
About Hellman & Friedman
Hellman & Friedman LLC is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Since its founding in 1984, H&F has raised and, through its affiliated funds, managed over $25 billion of committed capital. The firm focuses on investing in superior business franchises and serving as a value-added partner to management in select industries including financial services, insurance, software, business & marketing services, internet & digital media, media, healthcare and energy & industrials. For more information on H&F, please visit www.hf.com.
About JMI Equity
JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software and technology-enabled services companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in 110 businesses in its target markets and has over $2.1 billion of committed capital under management. JMI provides capital for growth, recapitalizations, acquisitions and buyouts. Representative investments include DoubleClick, Eloqua, Halogen (TSX: HGN), PointClickCare, PowerPlan and ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW). For more information on JMI Equity, please visit www.jmi.com.
About Bain Capital
Bain Capital, LLC is a global private investment firm that manages several pools of capital including private equity, venture capital, public equity, credit products and absolute return with approximately $70 billion in assets under management. Bain Capital has a team of over 300 professionals dedicated to investing and to supporting its portfolio companies. Since its inception in 1984, Bain Capital has made private equity, growth, and venture capital investments in over 450 companies around the world, including such leading technology and software companies as BMC Software, Inc., SunGard Data Systems, NXP, LinkedIn, SolarWinds, SurveyMonkey, SevOne, DynaTrace Software, WorldPay, Skillsoft, MYOB, and Cerved Group SpA. The firm has offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, Palo Alto, London, Munich, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Mumbai. For more information on Bain Capital, please visit www.baincapital.com.