BC PARTNERS BUYS 50% STAKE

UK-based software service provider Advanced, which was acquired in 2015 by Vista Equity Partners, has received a £2billion private equity investment from BC Partners.

While Advanced will be using this fund to support its cloud and digital transformation services, Vista Equity Partners will be handing over 50% of its stake in Advanced to BC Partners.

“Vista and BC Partners share our vision for the future and will work to support our growth, benefiting our customers through continued improvement of our cloud-based software solutions and extending our offering through M&A and further innovation,” said Gordon Wilson, CEO, Advanced.

“The funds from BC Partners will support Advanced’s rapid growth aspirations to become the number-one provider of business software solutions in the UK, whilst expanding its global footprint.”

Advanced clients include British Gas, Virgin Atlantic and the NHS (National Health Service). The company boasts of over 2,000 employees and 19,000 clients, which makes it the third largest enterprise software group in the UK.

The company also operates outside the UK region with offices in France, Ireland, United States, India and Australia.

“Advanced has the hallmarks we look for in our investments – a market leader in a growing sector, with a strong management team and multiple levers for growth, both organic and by acquisition,” said Nikos Stathopoulos, partner at BC Partners.

Advanced in April, acquired Kirona – a specialist workforce management and resource scheduling Software Company, and added the solution to its ERP offering.

Still in this year, Advanced signed a reseller agreement with GT Software as part of its plan to increase its range of modernization and integration solutions. GT Software is a US-based specialist in IBM mainframe software that creates a no-code drag-and-drop solution, which can be used to easily establish API integrations for IBM mainframes.

“Since 2015, we have worked closely with Gordon and the Advanced team to transform the Company into a leader in business software solutions,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. “We are proud of the success the company has achieved and we are thrilled to have BC Partners join as an investment partner as we look forward to the Company’s next phase of growth.”