In less than a decade, Thoma Bravo has transformed from a middle-market manager into a genuine buyout giant, an ascent driven largely by the firm's investments in the software sector.
That dealmaking continued in recent days, as the Bay Area-based investor announced plans to remake its portfolio with a pair of software deals related to hotels and energy.
In the hospitality space, Thoma Bravo agreed to offload hotel booking business TravelClick to Spanish tourism specialist Amadeus for $1.52 billion, lining up the sale of a portfolio company with 25,000 customers across more than 175 countries. Thoma Bravo bought TravelClick, which is located in New York, from Genstar Capital for $930 million in 2014. A Bloomberg report from earlier this month had indicated an exit from the company could fetch as much as $3 billion.
And in a separate move, Thoma Bravo signed a pact to buy Quorum Software, a developer of software for the oil & gas industry, from Silver Lake. The company offers products focused on finance, operations and accounting for clients throughout North America. For Silver Lake, the sale will mark an exit from an investment made in 2014, when the firm bought the Texas-based Quorum from The Carlyle Group and Riverstone.
Thoma Bravo is reportedly raising up to $10 billion for a new buyout fund, representing a stunning increase in size from the $822.5 million flagship vehicle it closed just 10 years ago. That growth has mirrored a huge increase in private equity activity in software companies—a sector in which Thoma Bravo has some expertise.
Deal count in the US software space more than doubled between the start of 2012 and the end of 2017, according to the PitchBook Platform, rising from 272 to 555. Last year brought a 24% YoY increase in investments, and this year firms are on pace to top 600 total PE deals in the sector for the first time.
For more on the rapid rise of Thoma Bravo this decade, check out our Investor Spotlight.