Hellman & Friedman buys Applied Systems from Bain Capital for $1.8 bln

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• JMI Equity investing alongside H&F

• Deal expected to close in early 2014

• Bain bought the company from Vista Equity in 2006

JMI Equity, a growth-oriented private equity firm focused on building software and technology-enabled services businesses, will be investing alongside H&F, it said, without giving details.

The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2014.

Under the terms of the agreement, members of Applied Systems’ senior management will maintain a significant ownership position in the company, H&F said.

Reuters reported on Monday that Bain was in talks to sell the company and that a deal could be sealed this week. 

Applied Systems, founded in 1983, sells its software to insurance agencies and brokerages. Bain acquired the University Park, Illinois-based company from Vista Equity Partners LLC in 2006 for an undisclosed price.

The company has a customer base of more than 12,000 agencies and brokerages and 350 insurers across the United States, Canada and the UK.

“We believe Applied Systems is a uniquely positioned company in the global insurance software market,” said David Tunnell, managing director of H&F.

“It combines the largest user base in the industry with Applied Epic, the fastest growing new agency management system, to be the market leader in insurance technology for deployments both on premise and in the cloud.”

Insurance software companies have been growing in recent years on the heels of technological advances that allow customers instant access to their insurance information.

Earlier this month, Vista’s financial software company Zywave Inc agreed to sell its insurance solutions division to another buyout firm, Aurora Capital Group LLC, for an undisclosed amount.

H&F is currently investing its seventh fund, which has more than $8.9 billion of commited capital.The firm focuses on industries, including financial services, insurance, software, business and marketing services, Internet and digital media, healthcare and energy and industrials.

 Nicola Leske is a reporter for Reuters News in New York

Additional reporting by Buyouts Magazine