Vertafore, AMS Owner, Sold To Private Equity Firm
Vertafore, Inc.owner of AMS Services, SilverPlume, AMS Rackley, and Allenbrookhas signed a definitive purchase agreement to be acquired by Hellman & Friedman LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity firm.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year. Terms were not announced.
Vertafore is the management system and information source for over 15,000 independent agencies, 120,000 end-users and 300 insurers.
Under the agreement, Hellman & Friedman will acquire Windsor, Conn.-based Vertafore from Trident II and the MMC Capital Technology Fund, which are managed by MMC Capital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. and other minority investors.
Investing alongside Hellman & Friedman will be JMI Equity, a San Diego-based venture capital firm exclusively focused on the software and business service industries.
"In combination, Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity have a distinguished track record of involvement with not only the software services sector, but also the insurance sector, giving them a unique understanding of the key elements required to make our company successful," said Vertafore CEO Euan Menzies. Hellman & Friedman's prior investments in the insurance sector include Arch Capital Group Ltd. and Mid Ocean Ltd.
"We are also very pleased to be partnering with Euan Menzies and Vertafore's management in this investment. Our goal is to support this very experienced team in executing their proven plan to drive further growth in the business," said David Tunnell, managing director of Hellman & Friedman.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, November 24, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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