Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has closed a $1.065 billion fund – dubbed Thoma Bravo Special Opportunities Fund II – with plans to invest in companies at the larger end of the software market.
Thoma Bravo, which has offices in Chicago and San Francisco, focuses on technology-related deals. Currently, the firm has more than $8.5 billion in equity commitments and a long history of software investments. It also has been investing in service assurance and network management companies.
In December, Thoma Bravo announced plans to acquire Riverbed Technology in a $3.6 billion deal that will take the network equipment-maker private. San Francisco-based Riverbed saw its revenue climb last year as U.S. telecom carriers spent more to expand and strengthen their networks, but was having trouble sustaining its growth and maintaining its share price. The investment marks Thoma Bravo’s largest in its 35-year-history.
In October 2013, RCR Wireless News reported that service assurance and network management company Empirix would be acquired by Thoma Bravo for an undisclosed amount. Empirix serves mobile operators, service provides and enterprises with network optimization services in the form of end-to-end testing, monitoring and analytics.
It had been growing rapidly, driven by a customer base that includes global tier one mobile operators and service providers, as well as banks, insurance companies and health care companies.
Other recent investments by Thoma Bravo include Network Instruments, InfoVista, Mentum and Solera Networks. The company made headlines in 2014 for its May acquisition of TravelClick. It also recently picked up Sailpoint, GHS, Vision Solutions and Hyland Software.
According to the firm’s website, Thoma Bravo’s current portfolio of software companies has aggregate revenue and profits of approximately $3 billion and $1 billion, respectively. It seeks to invest in companies with revenue between $50 million and $500 million where it can partner with existing management to execute what it describes as its “buy and build strategy.”
In May 2014, Thoma Bravo raised a $3.66 billion fund, its biggest to date. The latest fund was oversubscribed, according to the firm, and will invest side-by-side with Thoma Bravo Fund XI, the fund that closed last May.
“We are very appreciative of the investor support for this supplemental ‘top off’ fund, which we see as an acknowledgment of our team’s strong track record in software investing and the good start we believe we’ve gotten with our Fund XI,” said Orlando Bravo, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo, in a written statement. “We expect the Special Opportunities Fund to give us added flexibility in competing for investments at the larger end of the software market – where we think some of the best opportunities will be found.”
Thoma Bravo is led by managing partners Orlando Bravo, Seth Boro, Scott Crabill, Lee Mitchell, Holden Spaht and Carl Thoma, and partner Robert Sayle.
