More Buyers, More Sellers As Mergers Rebound
The M&A market has gone from empty to crowded, with cash-heavy strategics and overhung private equity firms on the prowl for new deals. "It’s crazy busy," says Orlando Bravo, managing partner of Thoma Bravo. "It’s August and the whole financial industry slows down right before Labor Day, but we’re seeing a lot of activity in investments and portfolio companies." Thoma Bravo, which invests in mid-market technology and services companies, has been particularly busy. The firm closed its $242 million buy of Double-Take Software in July. Last month, it completed a $717 million acquisition of SonicWall, a provider of IT security and data backup and recovery solutions. The downturn provided an opportunity for good deals. Thoma Bravo has completed nine acquisitions, including add-ons, since 2008. It also sold Datatel for $570 million to Hellman & Friedman in 2009, as well as its convertible preferred position in JDA software. Bravo, who himself focuses on software, says firms with a "clean growth business" were selling for 7.5x EBITDA during the downturn. This has since jumped to 9 to 10x EBITDA, he says. Unfortunately, there were
