VFX software firm The Foundry has been acquired by private equity firm HgCapital for £200m.

The Carlyle Group acquired The Foundry in 2011 from Advent Venture partners, which had backed a management buyout of the London-headquartered firm in 2009.

In December, The Foundry confirmed that the Carlyle Group was searching for a buyer for the company.

The Foundry chief executive Bill Collis said: “Knowing the direction we plan to take The Foundry, we identified that HgCapital was the ideal partner to build on what The Carlyle Group have helped us achieve.

“Nic (Nic Humphries, HgCapital managing partner) and his team have such deep software experience, take a long term view on investing and have an amazing track record in taking already solid companies to even greater levels of success.

“HgCapital achieve this through investment, both in R&D and people, with a deep respect for customer loyalty and satisfaction.

“With this deal, we remain one of the few independent companies solely focused on creative industries. This lets us pursue our best-in-class strategy, prioritising research and innovation; and teaming with other companies to create powerful collective solutions.”

The Foundry will sit within the Technology, Media & Telecommunications division of HgCapital.

Under the terms of the deal, HgCapital will assume majority ownership from The Carlyle Group for an enterprise value of £200 million.

HgCapital managing partner and the head of the TMT team Nic Humphries said: “There are so many elements about The Foundry that we find attractive, not the least of which is the core management team.

“This is a company that constantly innovates, both in terms of their technology, as well as their business.

“Bill and his team love nothing more than running head on into the challenges facing creative industries, developing exciting disruptive technologies that have huge potential.”