Thoma Bravo’s Nearmap to buy insurance tech firm itel for over $1.3 billion

Audio By Carbonatix

By Ateev Bhandari and Pritam Biswas

(Reuters) -Thoma Bravo-backed Nearmap has agreed to buy insurance technology provider itel from private equity firm GTCR, the companies said on Tuesday, as it looks to expand its offerings across property portfolios.

The deal values itel at over $1.3 billion, including debt, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. GTCR declined a comment on the deal value.

The deal highlights the revived deployment of dry powder by buyout firms as the industry’s recovery from high interest rates was disrupted by tariff-driven turbulence.

The exchange of private assets in the secondaries market has also come to the forefront, with the freeze in IPO market, the traditional liquidity source for private equity, forcing many managers to sell their holdings at a discount.

Founded in 1993, itel uses its proprietary database and technology to reduce costs for insurance companies in the property and casualty segment. The company also assists policyholders with damage assessments through its mobile platform.

Jacksonville, Florida-based itel provides its services to all of the top 100 insurance carriers in North America.

GTCR, which manages over $45 billion in capital, bought itel in August 2021 from PNC Riverarch Capital. The firm, in a release on Tuesday, said that the insurance tech firm had doubled its revenue over the past three years.

“GTCR has been a great partner to us as we have built itel into a leading data and analytics company in the property claims ecosystem,” said itel CEO Brian Matthews in a statement.

The sale to Thoma Bravo comes just over a month after GTCR achieved a rare, significant return by selling its 55% stake in payments processor Worldpay to Global Payments in a $24.25 billion three-way deal.

In an environment where private equity firms have been compelled to hold onto their investments for longer periods, Thoma Bravo has also been active, liquidating its holding in exchange operator Nasdaq in two separate block trades earlier in the month.

Thoma Bravo had acquired Australia-based insurance technology firm Nearmap in December, 2022.

Raymond James and Bank of America acted as the financial advisers to itel, while Latham & Watkins served as its legal counsel.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)