US-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group has acquired Bond International Software, a UK-based staffing and recruitment software provider, effective 4 November 2016.

Bond International Software plc reported it sold its recruitment software subsidiaries for the cash consideration of £24.1 million. The company also sold its real estate asset, comprising its registered office and Bond UK’s office, for £1.8 million. It intends to voluntarily cease trading ordinary shares and delist from AIM on 8 December 2016.

Bond approved the disposal of the recruitment software subsidiaries at its general meeting held 31 October 2016.

Tim Richards, managing director at Bond International Software UK Ltd., resigned from the board following the sale to continue his career with the buyer.

“Once we knew we wanted to take the company private, our priority was to find a backer that would work with us and support the development of AdaptUX for the benefit of our customers,” Richards said. “It was apparent very quickly that Symphony had a strong fit with our company, and we are already looking at how we can bring to bear its considerable financial muscle to improve our offering to the recruitment market, while continuing to offer our existing customers the excellent customer service they expect.”

Founded in 2003, Symphony Technology Group has experience in the human capital management space and investments in several assets complementary to Bond’s, including JobRapido; Symphony Talent, which includes the Bernhard Hodes group; background screening provider First Advantage; and Innovantage Group, a UK-based Analytics provider in the talent ecosystem, among others.

The sale of the recruitment software business follows a strategic review by the Bond board in 2015 that investigated the options available to take the group private. In May 2016, Strictly Education was sold to the Bond management team backed by a private equity fund. This was followed by the sale of FMP, Bond Payroll Services and Bond HR & Payroll Software to private equity firm Tenzing in August 2016.