Thoma Bravo’s Chip Virnig w alks us through one of the firm’s best deals; CohnRezn ick said to test PE interest

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Thoma Bravo’s Chip Virnig walks us through one of the firm’s best deals; CohnReznick said to test PE interest

Good morning, Hubsters. Senior reporter Michael Schoeck here with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

Today we’ve got two PE Hub exclusive stories for you.

The first is editor-in-chief Mary Kathleen (MK) Flynn’s interview with Thoma Bravo partner Chip Virnig about Dynatrace, considered one of the firm’s best deals ever.

The second is my scoop on accounting and tax consulting firm CohnReznick testing the market for new investment sources in the coming months.

I’ll also share an update on companies for sale.

And we’ll take a quick at how Partners Group-backed KinderCare fared in its IPO yesterday.

Let’s start with the Dynatrace deep dive.

Observability factor

Thoma Bravo earlier this year fully exited Dynatrace, a pioneer in the “observability” category of software development tools. The exit marked the end of a 10-year journey that began with the carve-out of Dynatrace from Compuware, which the private equity firm bought for $2.4 billion in a take-private deal in 2014 when many people in the software industry viewed it as a dying dinosaur.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read editor in chiefMK Flynn’s full interview with Thoma Bravo managing partner Orlando Bravo and partner Chip Virnig.

Coming to market

CohnReznick is expected to gauge new capital sources of investment from private equity or other alternative investors in the next few months, sources briefed on the matter told me.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more details.

On the block

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been tracking companies or corporate carveout assets that sources have told me are on the market, or coming to the market in a matter of months, potentially attracting PE buyers.

Prepping a company for sale? I’d love to hear more. Reach out to me at Michael.S@pei.group with tips or scoops.

Going public

All eyes are on the IPO market, as dealmakers hope for a comeback.

Yesterday, Partners Group-backed KinderCare Learning Companies’ shares rose nearly 9 percent on its first day of trading, after the company raised $576 million in an initial public offering.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more insight on KinderCare.

That’s a wrap for me today. Stay tuned for Irien Joseph bringing you the Europe edition of the Wire tomorrow and John R Fischer delivering the US edition.

Cheers,

Michael

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Anthony Catachanas’s career has taken him through investment banking in the heat of the Greek debt crisis to breaking into new markets with a Japanese bank. His latest position as co-founder and CEO of Tower Peak Partners allows him to bring that experience to bear – whether it’s the importance of local knowledge, staying the course through difficult times or backing businesses as well as projects – as the firm readies its first investments. (PE Hub)

New Mexico’s sovereign wealth fund is boosting its annual private equity commitment pace and expanding its co-investment activity to get the program closer to its allocation targets. Buyouts spoke with Charles Wollmann, a spokesperson for the New Mexico State Investment Council, to better understand its strategy.

Details of Pantheon’s latest private credit secondaries fund, including its investment strategy and return targets, have been revealed in documents from a US public pension. (Secondaries Investor)

UBS Asset Management expects to pay out $500 million of the $5.7 billion in redemption requests it faces for its largest open-end real estate vehicle, Trumbull Property Fund, through the end of the year, according to documents from its presentation to the El Paso City Employees’ Pension Fund last month. (Private Equity Real Estate)

Asset manager Russell Investments has launched an evergreen multi-manager fund to provide professional investors with access to private debt. (Private Debt Investor)

While investors have historically placed their climate and biodiversity efforts in different siloes, delegates at the first Global Nature Positive Summit say more value can be achieved by considering them holistically. (Agri Investor)

The rumors are true: Macquarie is putting its offshore wind platform, Corio Generation, up for a partial or full sale, with our sources confirming earlier reports (Macquarie declined to comment). (Infrasturcture Investor)

They said it

“The biggest thing for us as a firm is the pride that we figured something else out that no one else saw at the time and turned it into a highly successful, widely known company that has thrived and created a great brand.”

— Chip Virnig, partner, on Thoma Bravo’s 10-year investment in Dynatrace