 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private credit [1] |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder | Robert F. Smith [2] |
| Headquarters | , US |
Number of locations | 5 |
Key people | David Breach (president) |
| AUM | US$100.1 billion (2025) [3] |
Number of employees | 700 (2025) [4] |
| Website | vistaequitypartners |
Vista Equity Partners Management, LLC (Vista) is an American private equity firm that invests in software businesses [2] and manages over $100 billion in assets. [5]
Vista Equity Partners was founded in 2000 by American businessman Robert F. Smith, who is chairman and CEO. [2] Vista opened its first office in San Francisco in 2000. [6] In November 2008, the company closed a funding round for its first institutional fund, Flagship Fund III, and raised a total of $1.3 billion. [7]
In 2010, Vista closed its First Foundation Fund that targeted middle-market companies. [8] Also in 2010, Brian N. Sheth was promoted to president and awarded the title of co-founder of the firm. He remained in this role until in 2020. [9] [10]
In 2011, the company opened an office in Austin, Texas. [2] Since then, Vista has added several private equity and credit funds to its portfolio. Its first credit fund raised $196 million. [11] [12]
In 2017, the firm raised $560 million for its first fund to invest in early-stage enterprise software companies. [13]
In September 2019, Vista Equity Partners raised $16 billion for its flagship fund, which was the largest technology-focused fund raised by an independent private equity firm at the time. [14] That same year, Vista started a permanent capital investment fund and took its first company public with Ping Identity. [15] [16]
In October 2020, Vista's CEO Robert F. Smith and investor Robert T. Brockman were named in a tax evasion case. [17] [18] That month, Smith signed a non-prosecution agreement with the IRS, agreeing to pay $139 million and testify against Brockman. [17]
In August 2021, Vista's chief operating officer David Breach was announced as president of Vista. [19] In August 2022, the firm agreed to acquire tax automation software platform maker Avalara for $8.4 billion including debt. [20]
In August 2023, Vista Equity Partners had over $100 billion in assets. [21]
In September 2023, the company launched Vista Credit Strategic Lending, a company focused on investments in enterprise software, data, and credit. [22]
In October 2023, Vista, along with Blackstone acquired Energy Exemplar, an Australian energy software company for approximately $1.6 billion. [23]
In 2025, Vista launched VistaOne, opening direct access to its private equity platform for eligible private investors outside the United States. [24] Later, in June 2025, the company ranked 20th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking of the largest private equity firms in the world. [25] In July 2025, the company sold its minority stake in Cvent to Blackstone in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. [26] On 27 October 2025, Vista reached a deal to purchase majority investment in Nexthink from Permira—valuing the Swiss software company at $3 billion. [27]
