Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo, LP, is an American private equity and growth capital firm headquartered in Chicago with an additional office in San Francisco.
Thoma Bravo has done 230 software deals worth over $68 billion since 2003 and oversees a portfolio of 38 software companies that generate some $12 billion in annual revenue and employ 40,000 people. In October 2019, Forbes estimated the value of the firm, which is owned entirely by Bravo and a handful of his partners, at $7 billion. In January 2019, Thoma Bravo was managing private equity funds representing over $30 billion in equity commitments. Thoma Bravo is the successor to the firm Golder Thoma & Co., which was established in 1980 by Stanley Golder and Carl Thoma.
In February 2019, the French business school HEC Paris, in conjunction with Dow Jones, named Thoma Bravo the best-performing buyout investor in the world after studying 898 funds raised between 2005 and 2014. According to public data analyzed by Forbes, its funds returned 30% net annually, and since the beginning of 2015, Thoma Bravo has sold or listed 25 investments worth a total of $20 billion, four times their cost.
In October 2019, Thoma Bravo co-founder and managing partner Orlando Bravo was named the first Puerto Rican-born billionaire as he debuted at 287th place on the Forbes 400 ranking of the richest Americans.
History
In 1980 Stanley Golder and Carl Thoma established Golder Thoma & Co. Golder Thoma & Co. has been credited as creating the “consolidation” or “buy and build” investment strategy. In 1984, after recruiting Bryan Cressey to join the firm from First Chicago, the firm's name was changed to Golder Thoma Cressey and with the promotion of Bruce Rauner to partner, it became Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner, Inc..In 1998 the firm became two firms: GTCR Golder Rauner to raise larger funds and pursue larger investments; and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, to continue the firm's longstanding focus on the "middle market".
Thoma Cressey Equity Partners began investing in the enterprise software sector in 2002 with the acquisition of Prophet21, a provider of software for durable goods distributors.
In 2008, Bryan Cressey established a separate healthcare services fund, forming Cressey & Co, a small healthcare-focused private equity firm.
Thoma Cressey Bravo became Thoma Bravo after Cressey’s departure. Led by managing partners Carl Thoma, Orlando Bravo, Lee Mitchell and Scott Crabill, the firm was established as a successor to Thoma Cressey Bravo. The firm closed its 12th fund in September 2016, with $7.6 billion. In August 2017, Thoma Bravo acquired Malvern-based Frontline Education. Thoma Bravo raised $12.6 billion for its 13th fund, which was announced in January 2019.
Operations
Thoma Bravo is led by managing partners Carl Thoma, Orlando Bravo, Lee Mitchell, Scott Crabill and Holden Spaht, along with a team of approximately 35 investment staff and 70 total employees.Thoma Bravo focuses on application and infrastructure software and technology-enabled business service sectors, and uses a "consolidation" or "buy and build" investment strategy.
Investment funds
Thoma Bravo invests through a series of private limited partnerships, and its investors include a variety of pension funds, endowments and other institutional investors. Since Thoma Bravo’s establishment in 2008, it has raised 13 flagship private equity funds and its second Discover midmarket focused fund.| Fund | Founded | Committed Capital |
| Fund XII | 2016 | $7,600 |
| Discover Fund | 2015 | $1,074 |
| Special Opportunities Fund II | 2015 | $1,065 |
| Fund XI | 2014 | $3,650 |
| Special Opportunities Fund | 2013 | $ 418.4 |
| Fund X | 2011 | $1,250 |
| Fund IX | 2008 | $ 822.5 |