Autotask To Be Acquired By Private Equity Firm

Autotask, a New York State-based maker of front and back office business management software, has become the latest to be acquired by a private equity investment firm.

The company announced on Monday it is to be acquired by San Francisco-based Vista Equity Partners, which says it has about $11.5 billion (£6.8bn) in cumulative capital commitments in software, data and technology-enabled services companies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

‘Innovation and growth’

“We are devoted to our clients’ ongoing success and are confident that our partnership with Vista will drive innovation and growth and deliver dynamic solutions as the traditional IT landscape evolves,” stated Autotask president and chief executive Mark Cattini.

Last year content-security specialist Websense agreed to be purchased by Vista in a cash-for-stock deal worth approximately $907m.

Autotask’s hosted software automates functions such as service ticketing, tracking billable hours, meeting service level agreements, tracking expenses and aggregating customer and employee data. The platform includes service desk, CRM, dispatch, billing, project management and contracts management.

Buyout trend

The company’s offerings include an application programming interface that allows the software to integrate with mobile and business intelligence tools.

Autotask has more than 300 employees, with about 150 based in East Greenbush, near New York State’s capital, Albany.

Fairfax Financial Holdings has recently invested heavily in smartphone maker BlackBerry, in January buying $250m of the company’s debt. Fairfax is BlackBerry’s largest shareholder.

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