Vista Equity may soon sell Qualcomm carve-out Omnitracs

Vista Equity Partners may be nearing a deal to sell Omnitracs to a multinational company about two years after it purchased the portfolio company from Qualcomm, the firm’s founder said Wednesday.

Robert Smith, founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity, mentioned the pending deal during his keynote talk at the PartnerConnect Southwest 2015 conference in Dallas.

Smith didn’t specify the sale price for Omnitracs or identify the potential buyer by name.

Vista purchased the fleet management business for $800 million from wireless technology specialist Qualcomm in November 2013 and moved its headquarters to Dallas. The firm tapped capital from Vista Equity Partners IV for the deal.

Omnitracs was generating about $372 million in annual revenue at the time, from some 2,500 customers that provide products and services to help transportation companies manage their fleets.

It’s one of 21 corporate carve-outs orchestrated by Vista Equity since Smith launched the firm in 2000.

In another fresh example, Vista in July purchased PowerSchool, a provider of software and data services to public schools in the United States and Canada, from Pearson.

Vista wins carve-outs because its experience in the software business allows it to satisfy the needs of customers of the companies being sold, Smith said.

Vista also maintains its own infrastructure for running software businesses, another plus for corporate sellers, he said.

Vista also offers “to pay a fair price” and a list of references from the ranks of corporate America from its earlier carve-outs, he said.

Action Item: Reach Robert Smith can be reached through his assistant Maria Nicholas at 512-730-2480.

David Toll, executive editor, contributed to this report

Photo of Robert Smith courtesy of Vista Equity