Vista Equity Partners and Apptio

Apptio announced that it would be acquired by Vista Equity Partners (Vista) in November 2018, with the acquisition being finalized in January 2019. This deal took Apptio, which had been publicly traded since 2016, private once again. Apptio’s offering of cutting-edge cloud-based business solutions for IT, budgeting projections and forecasting made it a natural partnership for Vista, a leading global investment firm that actively invests in enterprise software, data and technology-enabled companies.

Apptio had received multiple offers from private investment companies but ultimately chose to partner with Vista because of the firm’s expertise, according to Apptio Co-Founder and CEO Sunny Gupta. At the time the deal was announced, Gupta told Reuters, “In the private construct, we look at leveraging Vista’s playbook. They seem to be very committed to accelerating our product innovation cycle to customers.”

“The resources and financial strength of Vista will allow Apptio to enter our next chapter of growth, maintain our commitment and passion for customers, and cement our leadership position in fueling digital transformation at hundreds of organizations of all sizes around the world,” Gupta said. Gupta added that the acquisition by Vista would allow Apptio to “accelerate [its] growth in the private markets, which sometimes can be harder to do in the public markets because of the fickleness or whatever may happen in the public market.”

Following Vista’s acquisition, Apptio reached several milestones. The company bought Portland-based Cloudability, its first acquisition since partnering with Vista. The deal expanded Apptio’s financial analysis product offerings and has furthered Apptio’s capabilities as an independent provider of cloud-based business solutions. This acquisition also brought 125 former Cloudability employees to Apptio, which helped the company surpass 1,000 employees total. As of 2021, Apptio has completed four acquisitions since going private with Vista Equity Partners.

That same year, Gupta was named to The SaaS Report’s Top 50 SaaS CEOs of 2019. Gupta was one of four Vista portfolio company CEOs named to the annual list. Another 2019 milestone includes Apptio naming Singapore as its Asia headquarters, continuing to drive sales and growth throughout the region.

Vista Equity Partners at a Glance

Founded in 2000 by Chairman and CEO Robert F. Smith, the leading global investment firm Vista is headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices in Chicago, New York, Oakland and San Francisco. Vista invests in companies and works with management teams at these organizations to create individualized plans that will yield maximum results for both the portfolio companies and investors. Responsibly delivering on commitments to investors for over two decades, Vista often celebrates the success of its companies on LinkedIn.

Vista is committed to the pursuit of excellence, both in its work with partner organizations and in its philanthropic endeavors. The firm uses its charitable giving to create educational opportunities for all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, gender or sexual orientation. Organizations such as Code.org offer free learning opportunities for students to learn the basics of computer programming, which can lead to a fruitful career in a STEM field. Vista has partnered with Code.org to host “Hour of Code” events around the country, which consist of days where children can attend free seminars to learn about aspects of coding and develop an interest in pursuing a career in technology.

To learn more about Vista Equity Partners and the organizations it works with, connect with the investment firm online, such as subscribing to Vista’s YouTube channel, or view the firm’s Crunchbase profile.