Thoma Bravo to make more than 5x its investment on Tripwire

On Monday, Thoma Bravo said it completed the sale of the company to Belden Inc for $710 million. The sale will generate a return multiple of more than 5x, a source close to the firm said.

The Chicago and San Francisco-based buyout shop acquired Tripwire in May 2011. It’s unclear how much Thoma Bravo invested. At the time, the buyout shop typically invested $20 million to $100 million equity per deal, according to press reports. Since the sale to Thoma Bravo, Tripwire’s revenue has grown 70 percent while profitability has increased 400 percent, a statement said.

Portland-based Tripwire provides advanced threat, security and compliance solutions. In 2013, Tripwire bought nCircle, a provider of IT security services, for an undisclosed amount.

The Tripwire investment came from Thoma Bravo’s ninth buyout fund, which closed on $822.5 million in 2009. In 2012, Thoma Bravo collected $1.7 billion for its tenth fund and completed marketing for its eleventh fund last year at $3.65 billion.

Fund IX generated an IRR of 42.4 percent while the tenth pool is producing an IRR of 33.7 percent, information from alternative assets data provider Bison said.

Thoma Bravo focuses on companies in sectors such as software and technology-driven services, such as online and mobile banking as well as network security solutions. The PE firm currently invests from $50 million to $300 million equity per deal, according to the Thoma Bravo website.

Photo of Carl Thoma, co-founder, Thoma Bravo LLC, courtesy of Thoma Bravo.