Details on new Thoma Bravo fund

Happy Wednesday!

Just a reminder for you Dear Reader, that our 20th annual Buyouts Deal of the Year awards nominees are due by Feb. 10. But there’s no time like the present to get us your submissions so we can get them ready to vet. Send submissions my way at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com. And check out our Awards page here for more info.

Update: Thanks to our research crew here at PEI, I have some additional info about Thoma Bravo’s debut small-company fund called Explorer fund. The leadership group on the fund will include Principal Carl Press, two vice presidents and two associates, along with the firm’s broader managing partner group, according to a preliminary investment report from Arkansas Teacher Retirement Association. Press joined Thoma Bravo in 2015, before which he was a tech investor at HighBar Partners, an associate in the special situations group at Oaktree Capital and an analyst at UBS.

Explorer fund will target companies with revenues ranging from $30 million to $150 million, the investment report said. Check out my story here.

Investment group: I’m working on a feature about the rise of large investment groups in the secondaries market, where lead investors are representing a smaller percentage of the total purchase price. A few years ago a lead buyer would be expected to be a quarter if not a third of the deal.

“What surprises me is in some billion-dollar deals, you even see this on the fund portfolio side, the lead could be $150 million,” a secondary buyer told me.

Interesting study from Lazard on full-year 2018 deal volume showed that, between 2015 to 2018, the number of deals that included at least three or more co-investors increased. A third of the adviser’s closed deals in 2018 had three or more co-investors, the report said.
The maximum number of co-investors on a deal for 2018 was 18, the Lazard report said.
I’m looking for recent deals that have included large investment groups. Hit me up if you have some thoughts on this topic at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com.

Top Scoops
Sheridan Capital’s investment in TarryTown ExpoCare assigns the specialty long-term pharmacy business an enterprise value of $160 million, Sarah Pringle wrote on PE Hub. Check it out here.

OMERS Growth Equity promoted Saar Pikar, who joined the group in mid-2019, to managing director, Kirk Falconer wrote on Buyouts. Read it here.

That’s it! Have a great Tuesday. Hit me up as always with tips n’ gossip, feedback, book recommendations or just to chat at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com, on Twitter or find me on LinkedIn.