Vista Equity Partners Buys Israeli Roaming Services Company Starhome

Israel-based private equity firm Fortissimo Capital has sold its portfolio company Starhome GmbH to U.S.-based investment firm Vista Equity Partners Management, LLC for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced Tuesday.

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Fortissimo acquired Starhome in 2012 for $80 million, according to Pitchbook data.

In a statement, the companies said that upon the completion of the deal, Vista will merge Starhome with one of its existing portfolio companies, telecom B2B company Telarix, Inc.

Last month, Calcalist reported that Fortissimo was negotiating the sale of Starhome to an unnamed U.S. company, citing two persons familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity. The company was looking to get around $100 million from the sale, one of the persons interviewed by Calcalist said. Founded in 1999 as a unit of Israeli telecommunications company Comverse Technology Inc., Starhome offers mobile network optimization and roaming services. The company reports a customer base of more than 300 mobile network operators. Headquartered in Zurich, Starhome employs more than 400 people worldwide, 120 of whom in Israel.

In 2013, Starhome merged with Luxembourg-based communications company MACH S.a.r.l. In 2015, Starhome negotiated a merger with its rival Roamware (listed as Mobileum Inc.) but the deal fell through.