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Vista Invests in Allocate Software

Hg has sold Allocate Software, a U.K.-based provider of healthcare workforce management solutions, to Vista Equity Partners.

Allocate, founded in 1991, will use the recent funding to propel it into its next phase of product development and global expansion. Allocate’s products are used to help institutions manage their workforces more efficiently and effectively, by ensuring that the right people are in the right place at the right time. As a result, its platform helps optimize costs and improve the patient experience.

The company lists over 800 customers, with one million staff rostered daily, and serves some of the largest public and private healthcare institutions worldwide. Over 700,000 staff are now managed under the firm’s “Optima” SaaS platform, intended to aid enterprises with their operational and administrative needs.

While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Vista is currently investing via its sixth fund, which typically targets companies with enterprise values in excess of $400 million. In November 2014, Allocate was bought by European mid-cap private equity firm Hg in a deal worth £109.6 million, or about $153.2 million, which completed the company’s public-to-private transaction from the London Stock Exchange.

Since the acquisition by Hg, Allocate has grown its employee base from 300 to 500, has enhanced its software suite’s capabilities and has initiated a program of international growth, seeding the future roll-out of Optima in France, Germany, Spain and Denmark. Outside of the UK, Allocate’s largest markets are Sweden and Australia, while the firm has opened up offices in Spain and Germany and has acquired Paris-based GeoCom Software.

“Allocate’s market-leading platform and products with next-generation technology uniquely address the needs of the healthcare, defense and maritime sectors,” said Alan Cline, Principal and Co-Head of the Foundation Fund at Vista. “We are excited to work with the Allocate team to help them continue providing trusted and valued solutions to healthcare providers and professionals across the globe.”

The transaction is slated to close in the second quarter of 2018.