27 Oct API Software to be acquired by Francisco Partners, will remain in Wisconsin
Hartford, Wis. – Healthcare software firm API Software, Inc. will remain in Wisconsin after announcing a definitive agreement to be acquired by Francisco Partners II, a technology-focused private equity firm based in San Francisco.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close within approximately 30 days.
Longtime healthcare technology executive J.P. Fingado has succeeded Luis Garcia, who has led the company since its inception, as president and chief operating officer.
Garcia was not available for comment, but the company released the following statement from the man who founded it 25 years ago:
“I am very proud of API’s consistent growth for over 25 years,” Garcia said. “We have built a strong culture focused on service and for many years have been recognized as the category leader in time and attendance by KLAS, the healthcare industry’s leading rating company. I believe the future is very promising for API and I wish the team all the best.”
The Hartford-based API sells a variety of software products to healthcare organizations, including time and attendance, staffing and scheduling, patient classification, payroll, human resource, productivity management, education tracking, and access control systems.
Samantha Ehley, API’s marketing manager, said the company hopes to expand its current staff of 300 but an expansion in product lines has not been determined. API has more than 500 installations in American healthcare facilities, and clients range in size from 500 employees to more than 30,000 employees.
For now, Ehley said it would be “business as usual” at API.
“We’re not sure about that [product expansion] yet,” she said. “We will have a 10-year visioning [program] soon.”
New boss
Ezra Perlman, a partner at Francisco Partners, praised Garcia’s leadership. Perlman said API is an attractive acquisition because it has demonstrated a solid record of growth in the healthcare human resources market, while maintaining excellent client satisfaction.
“We intend to leverage this success to allow API to accelerate its growth and solidify its leadership position in the healthcare human resource market,” Perlman said in a statement released by API.
Fingado has more than 18 years of senior level healthcare information technology experience, including a stint as president and chief operating officer of the publically held Dynamic Healthcare Technologies, which was acquired by Cerner Corp. in 2001.
During his six-year tenure with Cerner, Fingado held several executive level positions accountable for sales, operations, and research and development. He said API is committed to driving new innovations and increasing its market presence through web-based solutions.
“With 60 percent of a healthcare organization’s cost related to labor, API’s solutions have a significant impact and are viewed as critically important by healthcare providers’ senior management and boards,” he noted.
Francisco Partners
Francisco Partners, which also owns the Wisconsin-based Red Prairie Corp., focuses exclusively on investments in technology companies and divisions of private companies. Transaction values have ranged from $30 million to $3 billion.
The partnership now has approximately $5 billion of committed capital, and has invested in excess of $4 billion of equity capital in more than 50 companies.
Interim CFO
In a related matter, API announced that Jack Kane has been appointed as its interim chief financial officer.
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