Thoma Bravo Plots Next Fund in Red-Hot Market for Tech Deals
Summary
Thoma Bravo, a private-equity firm focused on technology and software, is plotting a return to the fundraising circuit less than a year after it collected $22.8 billion from investors for three prior funds, according to people familiar with the firm’s plans. Thoma Bravo hasn’t yet specified how much it plans to raise for the funds, all of which will focus on software and technology-enabled businesses, according to these people. Thoma Bravo is returning for more capital in an investment market that has been dominated by technology deals. Technology companies accounted for one out of three global buyout deals announced in the first half of this year, up from one out of four in 2018, according to a mid-year private equity report from global consulting firm Bain & Co. Technology’s dominance comes as the global buyout industry is on pace to surpass $1 trillion in deal volume this year in what would be a record for the industry, according to the Bain report. Thoma Bravo already has deployed or allocated much of the capital raised for its three funds, which closed last October, the people said.