KKR & Co to buy Mitchell International for around $1.1 bn

US private equity firm KKR & Co yesterday agreed to buy car and property claims software company Mitchell International Inc from Los-Angeles based buyout firm Aurora Capital Group, for an undisclosed sum.

KKR & Co did not reveal the financial terms of the deal, but several media said that the deal was finalised for around $1.1 billion.

A investor consortium led by Los Angeles-based Aurora Capital had acquired Mitchell International in 2007 from another private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for about $500 million.

San Diego, California-based Mitchell International provides a comprehensive range of products and services that assist insurance carriers, collision repair facilities and other claims payers in efficiently managing automotive and workers' compensation insurance claims.

With approximately 2,000 associates, Mitchell processes more than 50 million transactions annually for over 300 insurance companies and over 30,000 collision repair facilities worldwide.

Its Mitchell Medical unit processes over half of the automotive-related medical bills in the US.

Mitchell recently expanded its international footprint through an investment in GT Motive, a company dedicated to the development of claims management solutions for the automotive sector in Spain and throughout Europe.

Earlier this week, Mitchell also announced a strategic alliance with Guidewire, the leading claims system provider to the P&C industry.

We have built Mitchell into a great company by investing in our products, people and infrastructure. KKR shares our vision of being a growth-oriented, customer-driven company built on strong values,'' said Alex Sun, president and CEO of Mitchell.

Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global investment firm with $83.5 billion in assets under management.

The firm has invested over $9 billion in technology investments. Its investments span a broad range of segments, including software, hardware, internet, digital media, information services and outsourced support services to corporate and public sector customers.