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Thoma Bravo
Orlando Bravo's Thoma Bravo runs over $130B, executing tech buyouts and take-privates of enterprise software platforms like Anaplan and Proofpoint.
Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo traces its lineage to the partnership of Carl Thoma and Orlando Bravo, who formalized the firm in 2008 after Thoma Cressey Bravo split into separate entities. The firm is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in San Francisco and Miami. Thoma Bravo operates as a buyout specialist with an unwavering thesis: acquire mature, cash-generative enterprise software and technology companies, then apply a rigorous operational toolkit to boost margins and accelerate recurring revenue models. The wealth origin is purely institutional; the firm is not backed by a single family fortune but by decades of compounding investor returns. The firm's strategy spans large-cap buyouts, take-privates, and growth-equity investments within application, infrastructure, and cybersecurity software. Thoma Bravo is not a venture investor — its entry point is established companies with sticky customer bases. Confirmed portfolio positions have included Anaplan (taken private for $10.7 billion in 2022), Proofpoint ($12.3 billion take-private in 2021), SailPoint Technologies, and Ping Identity. The firm is also known for orchestrating major divestitures from conglomerates, including the acquisition of ConnectWise and the carve-out of Barracuda Networks. Its geographic focus is North America, but portfolio companies often serve global enterprise customer bases. The firm announced in early 2023 an agreement to acquire Coupa Software for $8 billion, adding a significant spend-management platform to its portfolio. Thoma Bravo's funds have grown substantially with each vintage; Fund XV closed at $24.3 billion in early 2023, the largest tech-focused buyout vehicle at that time (per Bloomberg, 2023). The firm also operates Thoma Bravo Discover, a lower-mid-market fund targeting smaller enterprise software deals, and maintains an active strategy around acquiring public companies at premiums in partnership with existing management teams. What distinguishes Thoma Bravo structurally is its refusal to diversify beyond technology buyouts — a single-sector concentration that its LPs underwrite for the depth of operating expertise it creates. The firm's partners sit on portfolio company boards and deploy a standardized value-creation plan that front-loads pricing optimization, sales-force restructuring, and product rationalization. Its succession architecture is visible but not imminent: Bravo, still younger than most peers running $130-plus billion platforms, has elevated Seth Boro and Holden Spaht into managing partner roles alongside him, embedding institutional continuity into the partnership's governance model.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2008
AUM
> $130B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Additional offices
San Francisco, CA · Miami, FL
Principals
Orlando Bravo
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Carl Thoma
Co-Founder
Seth Boro
Managing Partner
Holden Spaht
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Thoma Bravo?
Orlando Bravo, as co-founder and managing partner, sits at the top of the firm's investment committee and is the public face of its largest decisions. Day-to-day deal leadership is shared among managing partners including Seth Boro and Holden Spaht, who each oversee discrete verticals and fund strategies. The partnership model ensures no single-decision-maker risk, but Bravo's thesis — consolidating mature software assets — shapes every major deployment.
How does Thoma Bravo source proprietary deal flow?
The firm sources deals through a combination of long-standing CEO and founder relationships, direct outreach to boards of public software companies, and a track record that makes it a preferred buyer for founder-led carve-outs. Because Thoma Bravo only buys in one sector, investment professionals develop deep sub-vertical expertise — cybersecurity, healthcare IT, financial software — that surfaces targets before broad auction processes begin. The firm's reputation for closing take-privates smoothly gives it an edge in competitive situations.
Does Thoma Bravo participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
Thoma Bravo exclusively invests through its own flagship funds, co-investment vehicles, and its lower-mid-market Thoma Bravo Discover fund series. It does not act as a limited partner in other managers' funds. The firm's investors — primarily pensions, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and insurers — gain exposure solely through Thoma Bravo's direct control positions in portfolio companies.
What investment stages does Thoma Bravo typically target?
The firm targets mature, cash-generative companies — not startups. Its flagship funds pursue large-cap buyouts and take-privates of public companies typically valued between $1 billion and $15 billion. The Discover funds target smaller enterprise software companies with strong recurring revenue but requiring operational scale-up. Growth-equity minority deals are rare; the preference is for board control.
Which sectors does Thoma Bravo explicitly avoid?
Thoma Bravo does not invest in consumer technology, marketplaces, hardware-centric businesses, or pre-revenue software startups. The firm's thesis requires recurring, subscription-based revenue models, high switching costs, and established customer bases — characteristics almost exclusively found in enterprise-grade software sold to businesses, not individuals.
What is Thoma Bravo's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
Thoma Bravo routinely offers co-investment opportunities directly to its own limited partners, particularly in large take-privates requiring equity syndication. It does not typically co-invest alongside unaffiliated general partners. The firm's internal co-investment team manages allocation among its LP base, making it a self-contained syndication machine rather than a collaborator with competing firms.
How is Thoma Bravo related to predecessor firms like Thoma Cressey Equity Partners?
Thoma Bravo was created in 2008 when the partnership split from Bryan Cressey, who left to form Cressey & Company focused on healthcare services. The legacy of shared history traces further back to Golder Thoma & Co., founded in 1980 by Stanley Golder and Carl Thoma. Orlando Bravo joined the firm in 2003, and the current brand reflects his transformation of the platform into a software-only buyout specialist.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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