In December 2019 Accelya was acquired by Vista Equity Partners, a leading investment firm focused on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled companies. Vista’s investment in Accelya is the first made by the firm’s permanent capital investment fund Vista Equity Partners Perennial, which is focused on growing industry-leading vertical software companies through long-term investments in product expansion and feature enhancement.
Partnership and Progress
Before the Investment
Before leading global investment firm Vista Equity Partners (Vista) invested in the company, Accelya had a strong and proven track record within the global airline industry and a more than 40-year history. Based in Barcelona, Accelya was formerly known as ADP Clearing as part of Automatic Data Processing (ADP), before becoming Accelya in 2019. Notable former investors in Accelya include Chequers Capital, who invested in 2007, followed by Warburg Pincus, who invested in 2017.
During its ownership, Warburg Pincus helped Accelya acquire and merge with Dubai’s aviation software company Mercator, a transformational deal that expanded Accelya’s transportation product offerings and suite of innovative technological solutions for customers in the airline, cargo or travel industries.
The Farelogix Acquisition
In July 2020, now backed by Vista, Accelya acquired Farelogix. The airline retail software solutions platform further diversified Accelya’s offerings of industry centered merchandising and distribution for airline customers and helped to further cement the company as a leading solutions and service provider to the global airline industry.
To learn more about Accelya, listen to The Airline Voice Radio podcast, led by Accelya Chief Product Officer Jim Davidson, which hosts airline-industry thought-leaders for discussions about how to transform the future of airline commerce.
Accelya and Vista on Innovation
Accelya was the first investment from Vista’s permanent capital investment fund, Vista Equity Partners Perennial, a longer-term private equity investment strategy.
When Accelya announced Vista’s investment in 2019, CEO John Johnston remarked on the value Accelya brings to clients, from data-driven insights and managing risk to compliance and customer experience. He added, “Vista shares with us a long-term view and focus on product innovation that will allow us to accelerate the expansion of our solutions to propel our clients forward in the dynamic travel marketplace.”
In April 2021, Accelya launched the Air Transformation Lab, which explores “the current state of airline commerce and the path to long term profitability.” Accelya is dedicated to finding innovative solutions to critical business problems. Vista champions this mindset, empowering its companies to stay ahead in the digital economy through investment in research and development to support product innovation and by providing other tools, expertise and capital for smart growth.
Explore in-depth expertise from a range of software industry leaders whose key ideas keep the spark of innovation flowing through Vista’s partnerships on the Vista Equity Partners YouTube channel, Linkedin and Instagram.