U.S. investment firms Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone Inc. have acquired Ottawa-based compliance software company Assent Inc. for approximately US$400 million, valuing the company at roughly $1.3 billion. The deal, which closed in March, involved buying out other venture capital investors including Volition Capital, First Ascent Ventures, Warburg Pincus LLC, and StepStone Group Inc , The Globe and Mail reported Sunday that two early investors in Assent, Boston-based Volition Capital and Toronto’s First Ascent Ventures, recently sold their stake in the company to Vista. Citing unidentified sources, the Globe said Warburg Pincus, which originally invested US$100 million in Assent in 2018, and U.S. investor StepStone Group , Vista first invested near the peak of the pandemic tech bubble in December, 2021, leading a US$350-million deal – mostly buying shares from other shareholders – that valued Assent at US$1-billion., The Assent ownership shift includes a CEO transition to Michael Southworth from Andrew Waitman. The Assent purchase, which quieted closed in March 2025, valued the company at $1.3 billion, the report said. Key sellers included Volition Capital, First Ascent Ventures, Warburg Pincus, and U.S. investor StepStone Group Inc., the report added., Vista Equity Partners increased its investment in Ottawa-based supply chain management software firm Assent, in a deal that reportedly values the company at $1.3bn, according to The Globe and Mail., .