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Industry News
Solera to be Acquired
Solera to Be Acquired by
Vista Equity Affiliate
Solera Holdings Inc. agreed to be acquired by an
affiliate of Vista Equity Partners in a deal valued
at around $6.5 billion, including net debt.
Solera,
a provider of software to the automobile-claims-
processing industry, said Sunday that an affiliate of
U.S.-based private-equity firm Vista Equity would buy
all shares outstanding of Solera for $55.85 each in
cash, representing a premium of 53% over the com-
pany’s closing share price of $36.39 on Aug. 3.
“This transaction delivers immediate compelling val-
ue to our stockholders and represents a pivotal mile-
stone for Solera in partnering with Vista,” said Sol-
era’s founder and chairman, Tony Aquila. The deal
came after Solera, based in Westlake, Texas, said
last month that it had set up a special committee to
explore strategic alternatives. Solera said Sunday
that the proposed merger had been unanimously ap-
proved by its board of directors and that it expected
to close the deal no later than the first quarter 2016.
The company said financing for the deal would in-
clude a combination of common and preferred equity
contributions by investment funds affiliated with Vista,
Koch Equity Development and Goldman Sach affili-
ate.
Solera is home to brands such as Audatex,
CarweB, and AUTOonline, serving customers that
include car-insurance companies, collision-repair
facilities and independent assessors.
Tesla Mo-
tors Inc., for example, uses Solera’s software to pro-
cess collision-repair estimates and insurance claims
at its collision-repair centers.
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