Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Thoma Bravo
The world's largest software-focused private equity firm. Its lineage runs back to Golder, Thoma & Co. (1980) — one of the inventors of "buy-and-build" — and through Thoma Cressey Equity Partners to Thoma Bravo (2008). Headquartered in Chicago and San Francisco (with Miami and London offices), it manages roughly ~$180bn+ of assets (reported, 2025), virtually all in enterprise software and technology.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1980 (Golder, Thoma & Co.); Thoma Cressey 1998; Thoma Bravo 2008
- Founders / key figures
- Stanley Golder, Carl Thoma, Bryan Cressey, Orlando Bravo
- HQ
- Chicago & San Francisco; offices in Miami, New York, London
- Strategy
- Control buyouts of enterprise software; take-privates; buy-and-build; flagship, Discover (mid-cap), Explore (lower mid-market), Europe, Credit
- AUM
- ~$1bn (2008) → ~$30bn+ (2018) → ~$100bn+ (2022) → ~$180bn+ (2025) (approximate, reported)
- Leadership (2026)
- Orlando Bravo (Founder & Managing Partner); Managing Partners including Seth Boro, Scott Crabill, Holden Spaht and others
14 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2003
Prophet 21
Take-Private / Software Consolidation Platform
2012
Blue Coat
Take-Private
2015
SolarWinds
Take-Private, Re-IPO and Second Take-Private
2016
Qlik
Take-Private and Data Platform Build
2017
Barracuda
Take-Private
2018
Imperva
Take-Private
2019
Ellie Mae
Take-Private and Sale to ICE
2021
Medallia
Take-Private
2021
Proofpoint
Take-Private
2021
RealPage
Take-Private
2022
Anaplan
Take-Private with Mid-Deal Price Cut
2022
Ping Identity
Take-Private and Combination
2024
Darktrace
UK Public-to-Private
2025
Dayforce
Take-Private