Warburg Pincus sells Accelya to Vista Equity Partners

Unquote understands that the deal gives the company an EV of around $1.3bn, which equates to approximately 14x its EBITDA.

This is the first investment made by Vista via its permanent fund, Vista Equity Partners Perennial, which targets software companies through long-term investments in product expansion and feature enhancement.

In addition, Vista is currently managing its seventh buyout vehicle, Vista Equity Partners Fund VII, which held a final close on its $16bn hard-cap in September 2019. The vehicle invests in North American and European companies operating in enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses.

Warburg Pincus acquired Accelya from French mid-cap private equity house Chequers Capital for an enterprise value of around €650m in February 2017. The GP deployed capital from its $11.2bn fund Warburg Pincus Private Equity XI.

Chequers fully exited the business, having held the company for 10 years. Following the transaction, Warburg Pincus retained a majority stake in the combined group, while representatives from the management teams held the remainder.

As part of the deal, Warburg merged Accelya with its portfolio company Mercator, a Dubai-based travel services provider. The GP acquired a majority stake in the business from the Emirates Airlines Group in 2014, which retained a minority stake following the transaction.

Under Warburg Pincus's ownership, the company boosted its organic and acquisitive growth, increased its revenues and client base, and became one of the largest providers of airline financial and commercial technology globally.

Warburg Pincus launched a new vehicle, Warburg Pincus Global Growth Fund, in May 2018 and has raised $14.8bn so far, Unquote understands.

Previous funding
Chequers acquired a majority stake in Accelya (formerly known as ADP Clearing) as part of the company's MBO from its parent company, ADP, in October 2007. IKB underwrote a senior facility, while Indigo Capital provided a mezzanine loan to support the transaction. The acquisition was done on a 35:65 equity-debt ratio. The French GP was reported to have received a dividend payment as part of a refinancing transaction worth $190m in February 2014.

Company
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Barcelona, Accelya provides financial and commercial analytics and software to the airline and travel industries. The company's proprietary technology aims to support clients to manage costs, risk, revenue leakages and cash flows.

It processes more than 5 billion financial transactions annually and serves around 400 clients, including 275 airlines, such as British Airways, EasyJet, Ryanair, Flybe, Delta, Alitalia, American, FinAir, United Airlines, Lufthansa and Aeroflot.

Accelya has operations spread across 14 countries and 24 offices worldwide, and employs a staff of 2,500. The company generates EBITDA of around $90m from revenues of $200m.

People
Vista Equity Partners – Robert Smith (CEO, chair).
Warburg Pincus – Adarsh Sarma, David Reis (managing directors).
Accelya – John Johnston (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Goldman Sachs (corporate finance); Houlihan Lokey (corporate finance); Simpson Thacher (legal).
Company – Bank of America Merrill Lynch (corporate finance); Evercore (corporate finance); Kirkland & Ellis (legal); Squire Patton Boggs (legal).

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