General Atlantic Partners, the global private equity specialist, has put £34m (€49.3m) into iSoft, a supplier of software applications for the health sector. This is one of the first substantial private placements in public equity (Pipe) seen in the UK.

A Pipe, characterised as a private placement involving equity and typically debt, allows private equity firms to take minority holdings in public companies. A spokesman for General Atlantic says it rarely considers taking public companies private, as public markets provide many advantages, such as access to additional funding.