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Planview
Planview is a Thoma Bravo and TPG-backed enterprise platform for Agile planning and PPM, acquired for $1.6B in 2020 and led by CEO Razat Gaurav.
Planview
Planview launched in 1989, co-founded by Pat Durbin in Austin, Texas, as a project-portfolio management (PPM) software provider. Over three decades, it evolved from on-premise tools into a cloud-based platform spanning strategic planning, enterprise agile, and collaborative work management. In 2020, Thoma Bravo acquired Planview in a $1.6 billion take-private deal, and in 2021, TPG Capital joined Thoma Bravo in a recapitalization that valued the business at roughly $3 billion (per Bloomberg, 2021). The firm deploys capital primarily through M&A, folding adjacent capabilities into its platform. Since 2020, Planview has acquired Clarizen, Changepoint, and Tasktop, expanding into professional-services automation and value-stream management. These roll-ups serve its base of over 4,500 enterprise customers globally, with concentrations in North America and Europe. The product suite consolidates traditional waterfall PPM with Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) planning, a direct response to large organizations managing hybrid IT environments. Planview operates dual headquarters in Austin and Stockholm, with roughly 1,200 employees. The board includes representatives from Thoma Bravo and TPG. In 2022, the firm appointed Razat Gaurav as CEO, succeeding Greg Gilmore — Gaurav had been executive chair since the Thoma Bravo acquisition. The company does not self-manage third-party capital; it is a private equity-backed operating company rather than a fund structure. Structurally, Planview is a roll-up platform inside Thoma Bravo's portfolio, not a traditional asset manager — its differentiator is the private equity thesis applied directly to a single software vertical. The Thoma Bravo-TPG co-ownership creates a concentrated governance model with shared exit incentives, while the Stockholm presence, inherited from the 2016 acquisition of Swedish firm Projectplace, gives it a genuine European development footprint distinct from most Texas-based PE-backed operators.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1989
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Austin
Corporate office
Austin, TX, United States
Principals
Razat Gaurav
Chief Executive Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Planview, and how does its governance work?
Private equity firms Thoma Bravo and TPG Capital co-own Planview following a 2021 recapitalization that valued the business at roughly $3 billion (per Bloomberg, 2021). Thoma Bravo took Planview private in a $1.6 billion deal in 2020, with TPG joining as a co-investor the following year. Governance runs through a board with representatives from both sponsors; Razat Gaurav was named CEO in 2022 after serving as executive chair.
How does Planview source deal flow for its acquisitions?
Planview sources acquisitions through its private equity partners at Thoma Bravo and TPG, targeting software companies that extend its portfolio-management and work-management capabilities. The firm has executed three known acquisitions since 2021 — Clarizen, Changepoint, and Tasktop — each selected to add professional-services automation or value-stream management to the core PPM platform. Deal flow is a function of the buyout sponsors' M&A pipeline rather than an independent origination team.
Is Planview a single-family office or does it operate more like a venture firm?
Planview is neither — it is an enterprise-software operating company majority-owned by two private equity firms. It does not run outside capital or make third-party investments; its capital deployment is limited to acquiring adjacent software businesses that fold into its own product suite. The structure is a PE-backed roll-up platform, not an investment vehicle.
What investment stages does Planview typically target in its acquisitions?
Planview targets mature, revenue-generating software companies with established enterprise customer bases. Recent acquisitions — Clarizen, Changepoint, Tasktop — were all later-stage businesses with existing product-market fit in work management or IT planning software. The firm does not invest in seed, early-stage, or speculative technology bets.
Which sectors does Planview explicitly avoid?
Planview stays within enterprise work-management and portfolio-planning software and does not venture into adjacent verticals like ERP, CRM, or infrastructure IT. The firm does not deploy capital into non-software operating businesses, real estate, or financial instruments — its deployment is exclusively M&A within its defined software niche.
What is Planview's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
Planview does not co-invest alongside external general partners because it is an operating company, not a fund. Its capital structure is provided entirely by Thoma Bravo and TPG; acquisition financing is arranged at the sponsor level rather than through club deals or syndicated equity. There is no known precedent for Planview inviting outside co-investors into its M&A transactions.
Who runs investment decisions at Planview?
M&A decisions are governed by Planview's board, which includes representatives from Thoma Bravo and TPG, in conjunction with CEO Razat Gaurav. The firm does not maintain an internal investment committee or CIO role dedicated to external capital allocation, as its deployment is confined to strategic software acquisitions.
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