Francisco Partners

History

1999–2011

Francisco Partners was founded in August 1999, in Menlo Park, California, during the emergence of dedicated technology buyout firms. Founders Sanford Robertson, Dipanjan Deb, David Stanton, Benjamin Ball, and Neil Garfinkel came from a variety of private equity firms. Robertson had been the founder of the technology-focused investment bank Robertson Stephens, while Deb left TPG Capital in August 1999, in order to help found the firm. Francisco Partners then raised $800 million in 2002 to purchase 90% of Global eXchange Services, a unit of the General Electric Company handling sales operations for about 30,000 multinational companies.

The firm purchased NPTest in 2003, the semiconductor-testing unit of Schlumberger, and by the following year Francisco Partners had more than 30 active portfolio companies. From 2005 until 2010 the firm owned the software company RedPrairie. In 2006 the company led a leveraged buyout of Metrologic Instruments, which makes laser and holographic-based scanners, and also purchased WatchGuard. The firm purchased API Healthcare in 2008, and by 2010 Francisco Partners' other healthcare holdings included AdvancedMD, Healthland, QuadraMed, and T-System.

2012–2015

By 2012, the Francisco Partners' funds had about $7 billion in capital and invested "exclusively in technology companies across sectors including semiconductors, capital equipment and electronics components." That year the company acquired the software company Ichor from American Industrial Partners, as well as Plex Systems, and Kewill. The firm invested in Paymetric in 2013, selling the company to Vantiv in Atlanta, Georgia four years later. After acquiring the e-commerce services company Avangate in 2013, in 2014 the firm invested in the software company Prosper, with Francisco Partners' executive David Golob becoming a Prosper director. Also in 2014, Francisco Partners invested in the information technology company CoverMyMeds, and paid $120 million for a majority stake, in the controversial spy company NSO Group, sold in 2019. The firm completed raising about $2.9 billion for its fourth fund in 2015. That year, the firm also purchased the California-based analytics company Procera Networks for $240 million and the Israeli workplace management company ClickSoftware Technologies for $438 million. The firm invested in GoodRx in 2015 as well.

2016–2019

Francisco joined with Elliott Management in June 2016 to buy the SonicWall, as well as Quest Software, subsidiaries from Dell as part of the spinoff of Dell Software. The SonicWall investment attracted some controversy in the press, as Francisco Partners had also invested in the competitor WatchGuard, going against norms in the private equity industry. Also in 2016, the firm sold Aesynt to Omnicell for $275 million and took Ichor Holdings public with an initial public offering. In late 2016, Francisco Partners launched its Agility fund, raising approximately $600 million of committed capital to focus on smaller technology deals. Shortly afterwards, Francisco Partners invested in Dynamo Software, Pet Circle, Discovery Education, and myON, the latter of which was sold in 2018. Additional investments in 2016 and 2017 included companies such as SmartBear Software, iconectiv, and others.

In 2017, Francisco Partners sold CoverMyMeds to McKesson Corporation, and Paymetric to Vantiv, and also sold PayLease and Corsair Gaming. Francisco Partners bought, and subsequently sold, James Allen.com in 2017. In June 2017, Francisco Partners also acquired Sandvine, a Canadian public company that was combined with Procera, for $444 million. Francisco Partners was named Private Equity Firm of the Year by Mergers & Acquisitions in 2017. The firm's fifth fund, Francisco Partners V, was formed at the end of 2017 with approximately $4 billion of committed capital. The year after Francisco Partners V's launch, the firm acquired Bomgar Corporation, Renaissance Learning, and LegalZoom. In June 2018, Francisco Partners purchased VeriFone for $3.4 billion. Also in 2018, Blackstone Inc.'s Strategic Capital Group and Goldman Sachs' Petershill program acquired a minority stake in Francisco Partners.

On September 30, 2019, Francisco Partners announced its intent to acquire Orchard Software Corporation, a privately owned company specializing in medical laboratory software.

2020–2021

In June 2020, Francisco Partners wrapped up fundraising for three funds: $7.45 billion for its VI LP fund, $1.5 billion for its Agility II fund and $750 million for Francisco Partners Credit.

In August 2020, Francisco Partners joined Diligent Corporation's Modern Leadership Initiative and pledged to create five new board roles among its portfolio companies for gender or ethnically diverse candidates. On August 31, 2020, the deal closed for Francisco Partners to buy LogMeIn, most known for LastPass password manager, for $4.3 billion together with Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., a private equity affiliate of Elliott Management. In September 2020, Francisco Partners investment GoodRx went public on the Nasdaq, with a market cap of about $19.4 billion.

On October 26, 2020, Francisco Partners announced the acquisition of Forcepoint, a cybersecurity company formerly owned by Raytheon Technologies. Shortly thereafter, the firm bought MyFitnessPal from Under Armour for $345 million. The acquisition completed on December 1, 2020.

On January 11, 2021, Francisco Partners completed acquisition of Forcepoint. In March 2021, the firm entered into a partnership with Zenefits that gave them full control of the company.

Also in early 2021, Francisco Partners acquired MyHeritage for a reported $600 million. In May 2021, Francisco Partners and TPG Capital agreed to acquire cloud-based integration business Boomi from Dell for $4 billion. In July 2021 Francisco Partners acquired STARLIMS from Abbott Informatics. They also completed an acquisition for the EHR vendor OfficeAlly in December 2021. In October 2021, Francisco Partners raised $2.2 billion in its FP Credit Partners II fund.

2022–2025

On January 21, 2022, Francisco Partners acquired health data assets from IBM's Watson Health unit. These assets included Health Insights, MarketScan, Clinical Development, Social Program Management, Micromedex, and imaging software offerings. The assets were valued at a reported $1 billion. In July 2022, raised $13.5 billion for its VII LP fund and $3.3 billion for its Francisco Partners Agility III LP fund.

Also in 2022, Francisco Partners announced the acquisition of bswift from CVS Health. Bswift (stylilzed as "bswift") is a provider of software and services for benefits and human resources administration.

In May 2023, Francisco Partners completed the acquisition of Sumo Logic for $1.7 billion.

In July 2023, together with TPG Inc., Francisco Partners agreed to acquire web tracking and analytics firm New Relic in an all-cash deal valued at $6.5 billion.

In August 2023, IBM agreed to sell The Weather Company to Francisco Partners for an undisclosed sum. The sale was finalized on February 1, 2024, and the cost was disclosed as $1.1 billion, with $750 million in cash, $100 million deferred over seven years, and $250 million in contingent consideration.

In September 2023, American investment management firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts sold the audiobook publisher RBmedia to private equity firms H.I.G. Capital and Francisco Partners in a transaction valued at over $1 billion. In December 2023, Francisco Partners completed its purchase of British data security provider Blancco Technology Group, in a deal worth £175 million.

In February 2024, Francisco Partners and TA Associates signed an agreement to become co-controlling shareholders of Orisha, a European software company. In March 2024, Francisco Partners announced the acquisition of Jama Software, an industry leading requirements management and traceability solution provider, for $1.2B. In October 2024, Francisco Partners and Clearlake Capital completed their acquisitions of American software company Synopsys' Software Integrity Group (later renamed Black Duck Software), for $2.1 billion. That same month, Global Payments sold its medical software business, AdvancedMD, to Francisco Partners for $1.13 billion.

In January 2025, Francisco Partners announced the final closing of FP Credit Partners III, L.P., an opportunistic credit fund worth $3.3 billion, which exceeded the target fund amount of $2.3 billion. In February 2025, Francisco Partners earned the number one spot on the 2025 HEC Paris Dow Jones "Large Buyout" performance rankings.

In March 2025, Francisco Partners acquired Quorum Software, a leading provider of energy software worldwide. With this investment, it hopes to further strengthen its platform and provide customers with world-class software and services.

In October 2025, Francisco Partners agreed to acquire Jamf in an all cash-deal valued at roughly $2.2 billion.

Business model

Francisco Partners specializes in financing divisional buyouts, taking public companies private, sponsored mergers and acquisitions, growth equity financing, recapitalizations, and restructurings. The firm primarily invests in maturing or mature technology and technology-related companies in areas such as software, internet, healthcare, communications, hardware, and technology services. The firm typically acquires a majority or controlling stake in its portfolio companies, but will occasionally acquire a minority interest in a company with board representation. Specializing in technology buyouts, Francisco has acquired former venture capital-backed companies, as well as many divisions of large conglomerates and IT companies worldwide.

Offices and employees

The firm is based in San Francisco, California, with additional offices including one in London, United Kingdom. Francisco Partners is currently led by CEO Dipanjan Deb, one of the firm's founders, along with Ezra Perlman and Deep Shah, co-presidents, and David Golob, the chief investment officer.

Investments

Francisco Partners has been top ranked by the HEC Paris Dow Jones Private Equity Performance Rankings from 2020 to 2024 and among tech specialist private equity firms, and has a list of portfolio companies that changes frequently. Francisco Partners has invested in or acquired companies including GoodRx, BeyondTrust, Renaissance Learning, and MyHeritage.

In the past, Francisco Partners has held, among others, investments or ownership of ClickSoftware Technologies, Comodo Group, and Connecture.

References

References

1. Kreutzer, Laura. (August 12, 2024). "Francisco Partners to Sell QGenda to Hearst in a More Than $2 Billion Exit". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
2. (March 31, 2022). "Form ADV - Uniform Application for Investment Adviser Registration and Report by Exempt Reporting Advisers". [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission]].
3. (June 2, 2020). "Francisco Partners Raises Nearly $10 Billion for Tech Deals". The Wall Street Journal.
4. (June 5, 2020). "Francisco Partners Raises Almost $10 Billion In Capital For Tech Investments". San Francisco News.
5. [https://www.privateequityinternational.com/pei-300-kkr-beats-the-crowd-to-claim-pes-throne/ "PEI 300 2022: KKR beats the crowd to claim PE’s throne"]. ''Private Equity International'', June 1, 2022.
6. [https://www.privateequityinternational.com/pei-300/ "PEI 300"]. ''Private Equity International'', June 1, 2022.
7. "2024 PEI 300 by Private Equity International - Infogram".
8. (January 1, 2000). "You ain't seen nothing yet". [[EDN (magazine).
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10. (May 23, 2000). "Company News; Advanced Micro to Sell Most of Communications Unit". [[New York Times]].
11. (June 25, 2002). "G.E. Is Selling Off Most of Electronic Commerce Business". [[New York Times]].
12. (September 28, 2002). "Citing a Tight Bond Market, G.E. Makes a Loan to a Buyer". [[New York Times]].
13. (June 25, 2003). "Company News; Schlumberger to Sell Semiconductor-Testing Unit". [[Bloomberg L.P..
14. (April 26, 2011). "Smart Modular Technologies in $645 Million Buyout". [[The New York Times]].
15. Bolton, Guy. (August 14, 2010). "Firm's tracking software attracted new CEO". [[Journal Media Group.
16. (September 13, 2006). "Francisco Partners to Lead Metrologic Buyout". [[The New York Times]].
17. Xavier, Jon. (October 25, 2010). "PE firm buys Quantros majority". [[American City Business Journals.
18. (May 2, 2012). "UPDATE 1-PE firm Francisco Partners to buy Kewill for 89.5 mln stg". [[Reuters]].
19. Siemers, Erik. (January 5, 2012). "Francisco Partners acquires Tualatin's Ichor Systems". [[Portland Business Journal]].
20. Empson, Rip. (December 18, 2012). "Plex Systems Lands $30M From Accel To Help Global Manufacturing Transition To The Cloud". [[TechCrunch]].
21. (May 2, 2012). "Kewill agrees to US private equity buyout". [[Financial Times]].
22. Karkaria, Urvaksh. (August 28, 2013). "San Francisco Partners Takes Majority". [[American City Business Journals.
23. Hudson, Phil W.. (April 26, 2017). "Francisco Partners backed Atlanta tech company Paymetric to be acquired by Vantiv". [[American City Business Journals.
24. Lara-Cinisomo, Vincent. (October 7, 2013). "Francisco Partners acquires Avangate". [[American City Business Journals.
25. J. de la Merced, Michael. (May 4, 2014). "Prosper, a Peer-to-Peer Lender, Raises $70 Million". [[The New York Times]].
26. Suttell, Scott. (November 9, 2014). "CoverMyMeds receives 'growth investment' from California-based FranciscoPartners". [[Crain Communications.
27. Yadron, Danny. (August 1, 2014). "Can This Israeli Startup Hack Your Phone?".
28. Thomas Fox-Brewster. (August 25, 2016). "Everything We Know About NSO Group: The Professional Spies Who Hacked iPhones With A Single Text".
29. (November 2, 2015). "Secretive cyber warfare firm NSO Group explores sale: sources". [[Reuters]].
30. "Israeli Cyberattack Firm NSO Bought Back by Founders at $1b Company Value". Haaretz.
31. (October 8, 2015). "Term Sheet -- Thursday, October 8". Fortune.
32. (20 June 2016). "Francisco Partners and Elliott Management to Acquire the Dell Software Group". DELL.
33. Gillian Tan. (July 12, 2016). "How's This for a Private Equity Conflict?".
34. [https://pitchbook.com/newsletter/francisco-partners-to-sell-aesynt-for-275m Francisco Partners to sell Aesynt for $275m]. Pitchbook, November 2, 2015
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36. (October 3, 2017). "Term Sheet -- Tuesday, October 3". [[Fortune (magazine).
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38. (February 27, 2018). "Discovery to shed education business for $120M as it prepares to leave Silver Spring". [[Washington Business Journal]].
39. (March 22, 2018). "Renaissance Learning Turns the Page with Purchase of Minnesota Firm". [[Xconomy]].
40. (March 7, 2017). "UPDATE 1-Ericsson says Francisco Partners to invest $200 mln in iconectiv". [[Reuters]].
41. Kirchen, Rich. (March 14, 2016). "Connecture receives $52M investment from Francisco Partners-led group". [[American City Business Journals.
42. Chparro, Frank. (July 21, 2017). "Betterment just landed an $800 million valuation". [[Business Insider]].
43. (March 1, 2018). "Columbus-based CoverMyMeds to be acquired by McKesson for $1.1 billion". [[Cleveland.com]].
44. (April 26, 2017). "Francisco Partners backed Atlanta tech company Paymetric to be acquired by Vantiv". [[Atlanta Business Chronicle]].
45. (July 3, 2017). "Vista Equity Partners Invests in Paylease". [[San Diego Business Journal]].
46. (July 26, 2017). "Term Sheet -- Wednesday, July 26". [[Fortune (magazine).
47. (August 24, 2017). "Signet Buys James Allen; Comp Sales Rise". jckonline.com.
48. (11 September 2020). "U.S. Company Faces Backlash After Belarus Uses Its Tech to Block Internet". Bloomberg.com.
49. "Francisco Partners earns Private Equity Firm of the Year". Mergers & Acquisitions.
50. (July 13, 2018). "Goldman, Blackstone Buy Minority Stake in Francisco Partners". [[Bloomberg L.P..
51. (April 3, 2018). "Term Sheet -- Tuesday, April 3". [[Fortune (magazine).
52. (May 4, 2018). "Renaissance Learning to Get New Private Equity Owner, Change CEOs". [[Xconomy]].
53. "LegalZoom reaches $2 billion valuation". [[L.A. Biz]].
54. . (2019-09-30). ["Francisco Partners to Acquire Orchard Software"](https://www.franciscopartners.com/news/francisco-partners-to-acquire-orchard-software).
55. (June 2, 2020). "Francisco Partners Raises Nearly $10 Billion for Tech Deals". Wall Street Journal.
56. Gara, Antoine. (2020-09-17). "Inside The Massive New Effort To Get Minorities On Corporate Boards".
57. (17 February 2021). "Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Complete Acquisition of LogMeIn".
58. (December 17, 2019). "LogMeIn agrees to be acquired by Francisco Partners and Evergreen for $4.3B".
59. Bursztynsky, Jessica. (September 23, 2020). "GoodRx closes up 53% in market debut". [[CNBC]].
60. "Francisco Partners to Acquire Forcepoint from Raytheon Technologies".
61. Low, Cherlynn. (October 30, 2020). "Under Armour is selling MyFitnessPal for $345 million".
62. (2020-12-18). "Under Armour Completes Sale Of The MyFitnessPal Platform To Francisco Partners".
63. (11 January 2021). "Francisco Partners Completes Acquisition of Forcepoint".
64. Feldman, Amy. "Zenefits, Once Worth $4.5 Billion, Does Deal With Private-Equity Firm That Gives It Control".
65. (24 February 2021). "Francisco Partners is acquiring MyHeritage, sources say for $600M".
66. Gottfried, Miriam. (May 2, 2021). "Dell Reaches Deal to Sell Boomi to TPG, Francisco Partners". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
67. (2021-07-07). "Francisco Partners to Acquire STARLIMS".
68. "Francisco Partners - Investments - Office Ally".
69. "Francisco Partners - News - Francisco Partners Acquires Office Ally to Accelerate Growth".
70. Weinman, Aaron. (October 13, 2021). "A new $2.2 billion tech-focused credit fund headed up by a former Blackstone exec is hunting for opportunities in payments and supply-chain systems".
71. Ron Miller. (January 21, 2022). "Francisco Partners scoops up bulk of IBM's Watson Health unit".
72. (2022-01-23). "IBM Sells Some Watson Health Assets for More Than $1 Billion". [[Bloomberg News]].
73. Kreutzer, Laura. (2022-07-12). "Francisco Partners Collects Nearly $17 Billion to Back Technology Deals". Wall Street Journal.
74. "Francisco Partners acquires bswift from CVS Health".
75. (May 12, 2023). "Francisco Partners Completes Acquisition of Sumo Logic". [[Sumo Logic]].
76. Rogoway, Mike. (July 31, 2023). "New Relic, a major Portland tech employer, sells to private equity for $6.5 billion". The Oregonian.
77. Field, Hayden. (August 22, 2023). "IBM selling The Weather Channel and the rest of its weather business".
78. (February 1, 2024). "Francisco Partners Completes Acquisition of The Weather Company". Francisco Partners.
79. "FORM 10-Q FOR THE QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30, 2024, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION".
80. Milliot, Jim. "With a Twist, Sale of RBmedia Completed".
81. Murphy, Ian. (2023-12-06). "Francisco Partners completes Blancco acquisition".
82. (July 17, 2024). "Francisco Partners, TA to take co-controlling stakes in Orisha". PE Hub.
83. (2024-03-18). "Francisco Partners to Acquire Jama Software® for $1.2B".
84. Dorbian, Iris. (2024-10-01). "Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners acquire Black Duck Software for $2.1bn".
85. Sweeney, Erica. "AI is helping one software security company send 5 times the number of threat alerts in record time".
86. (October 30, 2024). "Global Payments sharpens core focus with $1.1 bln medical software unit sale". Reuters.
87. Taylor, Isaac. (2025-01-23). "Exclusive {{!}} Francisco Partners Banks $3.3 Billion for Private-Credit Bets". Wall Street Journal.
88. McCarthy, Sebastian. "Rankings: The top 20 large-cap buyout firms revealed".
89. "Francisco Partners to Acquire Quorum Software from Thoma Bravo".
90. Hart, Connor. (2025-10-29). "Jamf to Go Private in $2.2 Billion Deal".
91. "Company Overview of Francisco Partners Management LLC". [[Bloomberg L.P..
92. Porter, Kiel. (May 22, 2017). "Francisco Said to Target More Than $3 Billion for Tech Buyouts". [[Bloomberg L.P..
93. (May 15, 2004). "Bring Us Your Small, Unloved Start-Ups". [[The New York Times]].
94. Staff. (January 27, 2021). "Francisco Partners tops 2020 HEC-DowJones Private Equity Performance Ranking". Private Equity Wire.
95. (January 25, 2021). "Francisco Partners crowned 2020's top money maker". Private Equity News.
96. McCarthy, Sebastian. "Rankings: The top 20 large-cap buyout firms revealed".
97. Staff. (September 22, 2020). "GoodRx sells shares above target in latest U.S. IPO success". Reuters.
98. (September 23, 2020). "GoodRx closes up 53% in market debut". CNBC.
99. (September 13, 2018). "Bomgar to acquire fellow access management company BeyondTrust". CyberScoop.
100. (May 7, 2018). "Renaissance Acquired by Francisco Partners, and New CEO Takes Helm". EdWeek.
101. (February 24, 2021). "Francisco Partners to buy Israeli co MyHeritage". Globes.
102. (February 24, 2021). "Francisco Partners to acquire genealogy company MyHeritage in $600 million deal". CTECH.
103. (October 28, 2020). "Austin cybersecurity company Forcepoint to be bought by California investment firm". Austin Business Journal.
104. (October 27, 2020). "Raytheon Unloads Security Subsidiary Forcepoint To Private Equity". CRN.
105. Wiggers, Kyle. (2019-02-19). "Redis Labs raises $60 million for its NoSQL database". [[VentureBeat]].
106. "Francisco Partners to Take VeriFone Private for $3.4 Billion". Bloomberg.com.
107. "Investments".
108. (30 April 2015). "ClickSoftware to Be Bought by Francisco Partners for $438 Million". Wall Street Journal.
109. (31 October 2017). "Francisco Partners Announces Acquisition of Comodo's Certificate Authority (SSL) Business".
110. (2019-12-17). "LogMeIn, Inc. - LogMeIn Enters into Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Affiliates of Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital for $86.05 per Share in Cash".
111. (2019-12-17). "LogMeIn agrees to be acquired by Francisco Partners and Evergreen for $4.3B".
112. (2019-05-01). "Francisco Partners, Clearlake link on Perforce deal".
113. Pender, Terry. (2017-07-17). "Sandvine accepts $562M takeover bid". TheRecord.com.
114. "Boston Startups That Were Acquired or Shut Down in May".