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New owner for Tampa company

Software company Intuit Information Technology Solutions sold for $200-million.

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published October 6, 2005

Intuit Information Technology Solutions, a Tampa business formerly known as Blue Ocean Software, is getting a new owner in a $200-million deal announced Wednesday.

TA Associates, a private equity firm headquartered in Boston, said it will pay cash to buy ITS from Intuit Inc., which acquired it three years ago for $177-million.

ITS produces Track-It! software used by computer help desks at small and medium-sized companies. Intuit said it wanted to sell the unit to focus on its core business of tax and accounting software, such as TurboTax and QuickBooks.

The latest transaction is good news for the Tampa Bay area, said Tom Wallace, chief executive of RedVector.com and a director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.

"Any time there's an acquisition, there's a risk that it doesn't work out, but the price means that the business is still growing and still doing well," he said. "It seems to me that this (transaction) means that it's going to stay here, grow here and hopefully become a public company."

ITS was founded as Blue Ocean Software in 1991 and was one of the Tampa Bay area's fastest-growing companies at the time of the Intuit purchase. That growth has continued under Intuit's ownership. TA said ITS employs 120 people and has 45,000 customers, up from 78 employees and 31,000 customers three years ago. The company has between $60-million and $75-million in annual revenue, TA said.

"We are confident that with TA's resources, we will have greater opportunities to grow by developing and acquiring additional products and broadening our international reach," said David Weiss, vice president and general manager of ITS, who will become its chief executive.

Brian Conway, a managing director at TA, called ITS an attractive acquisition in an $866-million market that is growing at the rate of about 11 percent a year.

"ITS is well positioned to gain additional market share among small and medium-sized companies," Conway said.

The change in ownership should not bring major changes for customers and employees, although the company is likely to change its name, he said. The new name may incorporate the Track-It! brand name, Conway said.

"We hope that with equity incentives and with independence that the company will be entrepreneurially managed and will have real growth opportunities," he said. Although there are no plans to take the company public, he said, "We take a long-term view, and if a public offering makes sense, we'll certainly do that."

TA manages about $6-billion for investors, which it invests in private companies and buyout deals. Prior investments in the software sector include BMC Software, Cadence Design Systems, Hyperion Solutions and McAfee Associates.

Helen Huntley can be reached at huntley@sptimes.com or 727 893-8230.

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:13:15]