Iris sold to create £500m software group

Hg Capital sells Iris and Computer Software Group to Hellman & Friedman for £500m, with Iris chief Martin Leuw heading the enlarged group

Written by Kevin Reed

Accountancy software company Iris has been sold as part of the formation of a new £500m IT group.

Iris , which recently announced it was up for sale after months of speculation about its future, has been sold by owners Hg Capital to Hellman & Friedman.

H&F has created an enlarged business by merging Iris with another UK company, Computer Software Group.

The group, which cost H&F £500m, has combined revenues of £100m and will operate under the Iris Software Group brand. Iris chief executive Martin Leuw will be the group chief executive of the enlarged business.

Computer Software Group is strong in the law profession.

Hg Capital will remain a 'significant shareholder' in the group.

'It is excellent news for our customers as it significantly expands our R &D capabilities and service infrastructure as well as providing tremendous scope for career opportunities for our employees,' said Leuw.

He led a £102m MBO of Iris with funding from Hg Capital in July 2004.

The group would not reveal how much H&F has paid for Iris, although industry insiders had previously suggested Iris was up for sale at about £250m.

Further reading:

Iris goes up for sale

Enjoyed this article? Help spread the word:

Comments

Reader comments for this story

White papers

Related jobs

Spotlight

Richard Solomons, FD of Intercontinental Hotel Group

Profile: Richard Solomons, FD of InterContinental Hotel Group

Richard Solomons is masterminding Intercontinental Hotel Group's strategy of ownership,...

PwC 10-year anniversary special report

Relive how the controversial mega-merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers...

Make partner fast with YP

The latest edition of Young Professional features our definitive guide...

Find your next job

Find your next job
Salary Checker

Newsletters

Sign up here for the very latest news delivered to your inbox. Choose from the following options:

Search white papers

Search white papers

Have your say

Job of the week

More finance jobs...

Your next job