# QAD Inc.

QAD Inc. is an ERP / Manufacturing & Supply Chain Software based in Santa Barbara, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** ERP / Manufacturing & Supply Chain Software
- **Headquarters:** Santa Barbara, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 1979
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** qad.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/qad-inc-

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Pamela Lopker started writing manufacturing resource planning code in the late 1970s and incorporated QAD in 1979. The company's original product, MFG/PRO, helped midsize manufacturers manage supply chains and production schedules in an era when mainframe-based systems dominated. Lopker retained the chairman role across decades of ownership transitions. QAD's platform suite now spans discrete and process manufacturing ERP, supplier management, and demand-planning modules. The company's installed base concentrates on automotive, industrial, consumer goods, and life sciences manufacturers. Thoma Bravo acquired QAD's predecessor public entity in 2006, took it private, then re-listed it on Nasdaq in 2010 before completing the second take-private in 2021 (per the firm's SEC filings and Thoma Bravo's press release, November 2021). The take-private valued QAD at roughly $2B inclusive of debt. Post the November 2021 transaction, QAD operates as a private portfolio company wholly owned by affiliates of Thoma Bravo. Headcount at the time of going private was approximately 2,100 employees with satellite offices globally. The firm's ownership and governance now sit entirely within Thoma Bravo's portfolio, where QAD is managed as a standalone entity with a management team appointed by the sponsor. QAD's structural differentiator is its role as a single-product ERP company inside a large-cap private equity portfolio — a governance model closer to a Thoma Bravo operating platform than an independent family office or diversified allocator. The firm's future capital allocation decisions are shaped by the sponsor's hold period and value-creation plan, which typically runs three to six years before an exit or recapitalization.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- Industrial Tech

## People

- Pamela Lopker — Founder & Chairman

## Questions

### Who controls investment decisions at QAD now?

Since the November 2021 take-private, strategic and capital allocation decisions rest with Thoma Bravo as the sole equity sponsor. Operational management, led by the CEO appointed post-acquisition, executes within the sponsor's value-creation mandate.

### What is Thoma Bravo's stated hold-period strategy for QAD?

Thoma Bravo's typical enterprise software hold period runs three to six years. The sponsor has not publicly disclosed specific exit timing, but reacquisitions by the same sponsor — the firm took QAD private in 2006 and again in 2021 — indicate a long-term sector thesis around manufacturing ERP.

### What investment stage or asset class does QAD represent?

QAD itself does not invest. It is an operating company within Thoma Bravo's buyout portfolio. The relevant asset class for allocators considering the Thoma Bravo funds that hold QAD is large-cap enterprise software buyouts.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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