Partners Group sells UK software maker Civica to Blackstone

Ownership of London-based public-sector software solutions provider Civica is to change hands as Blackstone acquires the company from Swiss PE firm Partners Group.

While the financials of the deal were not officially disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the deal was valued at close to $2.5 billion.

With $1 trillion in AUM, New York-based Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager.

Civica was acquired by Swiss private equity firm Partners Group in 2017 from OMERS Private Equity in a deal valued at approximately $1.3 billion. 

In 2021 Bloomberg reported that the firm had been shopping for potential buyers for Civica and had been working with Goldman Sachs. In 2019, reports circulated that Partners Group was weighing the sale of Civica just prior to the onset of the global pandemic

Founded in 2001 Civica is one of the UK’s largest software companies, specifically targeting the public sector, The firm offers local, central, and federal government, health and social care providers, and the education sector a range of services including workflow and automation, risk and compliance, workforce management, financial management, and data analytics and insights.

“Civica is a leader in the ‘GovTech’ space, with an excellent brand and an enviable market position and we are excited to be partnering with a stellar management team to help the business in this next phase of growth.

"This investment is a testament to our long-standing software experience, a significant focus area for the firm globally, and builds on our strong track record of investing here in the UK” - Jonathan Murphy, a Managing Director at Blackstone and Miguel García Gómez, a Principal at Blackstone

Civica counts over 6,000 customers, ultimately involved in the servicing of more than 100 million people across the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the United States, and Canada.

The acquisition of Civica is just the first of Blackstone’s big moves into Europe as reports circulated yesterday that in conjunction with London-based PE firm Permira, Blackstone had summited a €14 billion bid that would see eBay backed, publicly listed Norwegian online classifies platform Adevinta go private.

If successful this transaction would mark one of the largest leveraged buyouts this year. 

Lead image: Photo by Leo