From John Pletz and Crain's Chicago
Texas company buys Pritzker-backed insurance-software firm
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Solera Holdings Inc., based in Westlake, Texas, didn't disclose terms of the deal. But it means a payday for HyperQuest and New World Ventures, the venture fund run by J.B. and Tony Pritzker, which invested in HyperQuest five years ago.
HyperQuest, founded in 1999 by Jeff Hogan, makes software that helps auto-insurance carriers process claims. Of the 20 million auto claims annually, more than 25 percent come through HyperQuest. In the past five years, the company has been increasing revenue about 50 percent a year and has tripled its headcount to more than 90, he says.
Solera, a holding company, owns Audatex, one of the three big platforms for estimating auto-repair claims, along with Chicago-based CCC Information Services Inc. HyperQuest will remain based in Buffalo Grove and operate as a separate unit run by Mr. Hogan.
Although the company had been approached by suitors before, Mr. Hogan wasn't interested. But with operations in 60 countries, Solera was attractive. “It gives us great global reach we wouldn't have had.”
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