Vista gets $50m from Illinois Municipal

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund committed up to $50 million to Vista Equity Partners’ debut credit vehicle at its meeting last week, the public pension system announced in a statement. 

Vista Credit Opportunities Fund I is targeting $600 million for investments in first and second lien loans for enterprise software companies in the US mid-market. 

Illinois Municipal previously committed $15 million to Vista Foundation Fund II, a small-cap software investment vehicle, in May, according to the statement. The $29.7 billion system will invest in the vehicle through its alternative investment allocation, which targets 6 percent. 

Robert Smith

Vista's second Foundation Fund has already surpassed its $500 million target and could raise up to $1 billion, a person with knowledge of the firm told Private Equity International in a prior interview.

Vista closed its fourth equity vehicle on $3.5 billion last year. The firm’s previous vintage vehicle, Vista Equity Partners III, had generated a 34.4 percent internal rate of return and 2.49x total value multiple as of 31 March, according to Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund documents. 

Vista was founded in 2000 by Robert Smith, the former co-head of Goldman Sachs’ Enterprise Systems and Storage business. In March, Vista hired Christine Pastore to lead its investor relations effort. Pastore had previously spent more than seven years as the co-head of alternative investments and private equity for the New Jersey Division of Investment.

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