Thoma Bravo , a US-based private equity and growth capital firm, has acquired Ping Identity , an identity management company, in a USD 2. 8 billion deal.

The offer represents a premium of approximately 63% over Ping Identity's closing share price on August 2, 2022, the last full trading day prior to the transaction announcement, and a premium of 52% over the volume weighted average price of Ping Identity stock for the 60 days ending August 2, 2022. This is the second time that Ping Identity has bounced into the hands of a PE firm. Prior to going public, it was majority-owned by Vista Equity.

Vista retained a share of the company, currently 9. 7% of its outstanding shares. Thoma Bravo has been one of the groups of PE firms that has been scooping up tech companies in recent months capitalising on the current climate.

Companies that are targets have included those that have been struggling to perform well in the public markets, those finding it a challenge to scale and raise money in later-stage rounds, and those that had been planning to go public but have not been able to due to market conditions and the general cool state of the IPO market. Thoma Bravo has bought a number of cybersecurity firms in recent years, with its acquisitions including Sophos, Proofpoint, and Sailpoint Technologies. Why cybersecurity firms? As stated by TechCrunch, identity management remains an important area in the world of enterprise IT, given the increasing number of cyberattacks and breaches that started by hackers entering networks through credential stuffing and other tactics that leverage weaknesses in log-in procedures.

Almost every new technological innovation that includes sensitive data or communications requires a corresponding cybersecurity innovation to protect that data and innovation, and the scale of corporate and geopolitical threats against critical infrastructure may mean cybersecurity stocks should be valued more like defense stocks than like technology stocks, Gordon said. Ping Identity missed analysts’ estimates at a time when a lot of other technology companies are struggling to meet numbers. This means that even while Ping’s been growing, it has not been fast enough.

It was in a tough spiral, and given the state of capital markets today, Ping might have been running out of options for raising funding as an independent company to bolster itself for more growth and profitability. The board of Ping has unanimously approved the deal, the two firms said. The deal, pending regulatory and other approvals, is expected to close in Q4.

To find more about Ping Identity, check their profile in our company data base. .