*Billionaire investor Robert Smith has boosted his private equity firm’s revenue.
Smith’s Vista Equity Partners plans to sell Apptio to IBM for $4.6 billion, Markets Insider reports. The sale of the software maker has doubled the firm’s money after acquiring it for $1.9 billion back in 2019.
As AfroTech reports, IBM said it “will use cash on hand to fund the deal, which it expects to complete in the second half of 2023.”
“With over $96 billion in assets under management and over 20 years of investing exclusively in enterprise software, we believe the transformative power of technology is the key to an even better future — a healthier planet, a smarter economy, a diverse and inclusive community, and a broader path to prosperity,” the Vista Equity Partners’ website states.
Here’s more from Markets Insider:
The deal with IBM could also mark a personal win for Smith, who’s battling to show his investors that the company has moved on from his admission of tax evasion.
The tech investor, who founded Vista in 2000, paid a $139 million fine to settle a four-year-long investigation into his personal taxes in 2020.
“The Apptio transaction is an example of Vista’s investment discipline and focus on value creation,” the company said in a statement released Monday.
“Apptio chose to partner with Vista because of our growth mentality, commitment to innovation and deep operational expertise. We believed that together, we could build a comprehensive platform for companies to better manage their technology spend while positioning Apptio for long-term growth and success,” the statement continues.
Smith is not only focused on software but also plays an active role in education through the Student Freedom Initiative (SFI).
“We’re bringing solar panel systems to one of the HBCUs, which will actually power 20,000 homes,” Smith told AfroTech. “Our plan is that as we offset our greenhouse gases across our portfolio companies, we actually enable the building and construction of solar arrays in underrepresented minority neighborhoods we use for our HBCU students to learn, train and develop their capacity to participate in that part of the industry as well.”
READ MORE: Black Billionaire (Robert Smith) Has to Pay Back $140M After Admitting to Tax Evasion / VIDEO
