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Thoma Bravo announces debut deal of the year; Matt Leeds featured in new Dealmakers to Watch series

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with the Wire.

The dealmaking week is off to a good start with a big-take private deal from Thoma Bravo.

Speaking of Thoma Bravo, I’m looking forward to conducting a Fireside Chat with firm co-founder Orlando Bravo next month at PEI Group’s NEXUS 2024. Our summit promises to be the most influential private equity meeting of the year. I’ll share more details below.

And today, PE Hub is launching a new series of profiles called Dealmakers to Watch. We’ll be featuring folks who are at a pivotal point in their private equity careers. In the first installment, we spotlight Matt Leeds, a former L Catterton investor who’s launched a new firm to back consumer products companies.

Deal of the day

Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire Everbridge Inc, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based enterprise software firm in a take-private deal valued at $1.5 billion, as Iris Dorbian reports.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire and to learn about other deals Thoma Bravo has closed in 2024.

Where investments are made

I’m looking forward to discussing all of these Thoma Bravo deals - and the tech dealmaking landscape - with Orlando Bravo, co-founder and managing partnerof the firm, at NEXUS 2024. The summit will take place March 6 - 8 at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes.

Amid unprecedented macro pressures on fundraising and deals, distributions and liquidity, there’s never been a greater need for the private equity industry to come together.

The NEXUS 2024 summit will connect the investors responsible for more than $30 trillion of LP capital with the managers that matter to take stock of portfolios, make allocation decisions and build manager pipelines.

Headliners include: Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray, Carlyle’s David Rubenstein, KKR’s Scott Nuttall and Oaktree’s Howard Marks.

I’ll be chairing the dealmaking track and moderating a panel on “The dealmaking sweet spot – Life in the lower middle market.” We’ll be exploring where to find the most compelling returns and flexibility in exit plans, sale drivers, and sectors ripe for dealmaking. Speakers on that panel include: Suzanne Yoon, founder and CEO of Kinzie Capital Partners; Andi Klein, managing partner, head of Triton Smaller Mid-Cap; and Kate Faust, partner, Rockwood Equity Partners.

And I’ll be talking with Michael Chang, partner, private equity, BC Partners. With many exit routes blocked – most notably the IPO path – private equity firms are turning to other PE firms for help in growing big businesses. BC Partners discusses its co-investment with Apollo Global Management to take a minority stake in PetSmart, a business BC bought in a take-private deal back in 2015.

For a preview, watch a video interview I did with Chang here.

And register for NEXUS 2024 here.

Dealmakers to watch

After spending over eight years at private equity firm L Catterton based in Greenwich, Connecticut, Matt Leeds went out on his own and founded  Forward Consumer Partners in 2023. The nascent Greenwich-based PE firm specializes in branded consumer businesses and announced in January that it has raised $425 million for its inaugural fund.

Leeds spoke to PE Hub’s Rafael Canton in an interview that marks our new Dealmakers to Watch series.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read the interview and discover how Leeds found his path to private equity.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back next Monday. And in the meantime, you can reach me at [email protected].

PE Hub Europe editor Craig McGlashan will write to you tomorrow.

Happy dealmaking,

MK

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

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The democratization of private equity poses an interesting challenge for managers, investors and banks alike: in an asset class traditionally open only to massive institutional LPs, how can the door to smaller, less experienced investors be safely unlocked? Private Equity International is out with a special report.

Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement System plans to commit $375 million to private equity funds this year, which is more than 50 percent higher than the amount it committed to 2023 vintage year funds. (Buyouts)

Xerox’s corporate venture arm has spun out and raised just over half of its $200 million target for its debut fund, anchored by the corporation. (Venture Capital Journal)

How the heightened risk of conflict around the world is creating major shifts in real estate capital flows. (Private Equity Real Estate)