M&A Deal Summary

Thoma Bravo Acquires Ellie Mae

On February 12, 2019, private equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired software company Ellie Mae from Alta Partners for 3.7B USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Thoma Bravo’s 35th transaction in the Software sector.
  • This is Thoma Bravo’s 11th largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Thoma Bravo’s 74th transaction in the United States.
  • This is Thoma Bravo’s 20th transaction in California.
Investment Fate
  • Ellie Mae was sold to a publicly-traded strategic buyer in 2020 for 11.0B USD.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2019-02-12
Target Ellie Mae
Sector Software
Buyer(s) Thoma Bravo
Sellers(s) Alta Partners
Deal Type Secondary Buyout
Deal Value 3.7B USD
Advisor(s) J.P. Morgan Securities (Financial)
Cooley (Legal)

Target

Ellie Mae

Pleasanton, California, United States
Ellie Mae automates and digitizes the trillion-dollar residential mortgage industry. Through its Digital Lending Platform, Ellie Mae provides technology services to all participants in the mortgage supply chain, including its over 3,000 customers and thousands of partners and investors participating in the open networks who provide liquidity to the market. Lenders rely on Ellie Mae to securely manage and facilitate the exchange of data across the ecosystem to enable the origination of mortgages while maintaining strict adherence to various local, state, and federal compliance requirements. Ellie Mae was formed in 1997 and is based in Pleasanton, California.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Thoma Bravo

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1980
PE ASSETS 127.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Thoma Bravo is a private equity firm that primarily invests in or acquires US-based middle-market businesses. While Thoma Bravo will consider a variety of transaction situations, including take-privates, buyouts, carve-outs, recapitalizations, and growth equity financings, the Firm has a special interest in tech consolidation opportunities. Target companies generally have a history of profitability with EBITDA of at least $20 million. The Firm's equity commitment size range is $100 to $750 million. Sectors of interest include enterprise and infrastructure software, education, distribution, financial services and consumer goods/services. The Firm will not invest in new inventions or technologies, developmental products or services, start-ups, biotech, motion pictures, distressed businesses, oil/gas, or real estate. Thoma Bravo was formerly known as Thoma Cressey Bravo and before that Golder Thoma & Co. The Firm was originally formed in 1980 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 78 of 139
Sector (Software) 35 of 59
Type (Secondary Buyout) 20 of 31
State (California) 20 of 31
Country (United States) 74 of 120
Year (2019) 2 of 11
Size (of disclosed) 11 of 47
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-02-07 Aucerna

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Aucerna is a provider of solutions for integrated planning, execution, and reserves in the energy industry. Aucerna is a global source of technology and expertise, serving more than 500 customers from 12 global offices including Calgary, Houston, London, and Singapore. Aucerna serves the energy industry’s largest base of customers, from super-majors and emerging operators to energy investors, consultants, and educational institutions. Aucerna is based in Calgary, Alberta.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-02-25 ConnectWise

Tampa, Florida, United States

ConnectWise is a provider of software solutions to the Managed Service Provider (MSP) and SMB ecosystem. The company provides the most comprehensive business automation platform in its industry. This includes Professional Services Automation (PSA); Remote Monitoring and Management (RRM); Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), plus Remote Connection and Security offerings for more than 25,000 partners in more than 65 countries. ConnectWise was founded in 1982 and is based in Tampa, Florida.

Buy -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Alta Partners

Jackson, Wyoming, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Venture Capital Firm
Founded 1996
PE ASSETS 2.6B USD
Size Large
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION

Alta Partners is a venture capital firm that targets investments in early and later stage life science companies, including biopharmaceuticals, medical technology, and information technology businesses. Alta was formed as an early stage investor but has since expanded its investment range to provide later stage growth capital to private and young public companies. Alta was established in 1996 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 82 of 84
Sector (Software) 4 of 4
Type (Secondary Buyout) 1 of 1
State (California) 40 of 41
Country (United States) 72 of 74
Year (2019) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 23
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-11-01 ViroBay

Menlo Park, California, United States

Virobay is a semi-virtual company focused on novel treatments for hepatitis C, pain and auto-immune disease.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-11-30 Sunesis

South San Francisco, California, United States

Sunesis is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel small molecule therapeutics for oncology and other serious diseases. Sunesis was founded in 1998 and is based in South San Francisco, California.

Sell -
Mergr

Product

Company

Legal