Software & SaaS

Owned by Silver Lake

Silver Lake and Permira took Ancestry.com private for $1.6B in 2012. Sold to Blackstone for $4.7B in 2020. Ancestry raised subscription prices and faced privacy criticism for its DNA database practices and law enforcement cooperation policies during PE ownership.

Owned by The Blackstone Group

Blackstone acquired Ancestry.com from Silver Lake and Permira for $4.7B in 2020. Ancestry has 23M subscribers and one of the world's largest consumer DNA databases. Blackstone's ownership has raised ongoing concerns about data privacy practices and law enforcement cooperation.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired Barracuda Networks, an email and network security company, for $1.6B in 2017. Sold to KKR in 2022 for $4B. During Thoma Bravo ownership, the company transitioned customers from perpetual licenses to subscriptions, raising costs for many SMBs.

Owned by Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners acquired Barracuda Networks for $1.6B from Thoma Bravo in 2022 and sold it to KKR for $4B that same year. Rapid PE-to-PE transfers like this are common in enterprise software and often accompany pricing and product changes.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

AWS cloud services consultancy. A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by Hellman & Friedman

Hellman & Friedman is a major investor in Checkr, a background check platform used by gig economy companies including Uber and Lyft. Checkr settled FTC charges in 2023 for $5.5M for Fair Credit Reporting Act violations — including reporting inaccurate criminal records that caused workers to lose gig jobs.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired ConnectWise, a business management platform for MSPs (managed service providers), in 2019. Post-acquisition the company rapidly raised prices, angered its MSP customer base, and acquired several competitors. MSP forums document widespread dissatisfaction with support quality declines.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners took Cvent, an event management SaaS platform, private for $1.65B in 2016. Re-IPO'd via SPAC in 2021 at $5.3B valuation. Vista then re-acquired it again for $4.6B in 2023. Cvent customers report aggressive price increases during Vista ownership.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners acquired Datto, a backup and business continuity platform for MSPs, for $1B in 2017. Vista took it public in 2020, then Kaseya (itself PE-backed by Insight Partners) acquired it for $6.2B in 2022. MSP customers reported major pricing and support disruptions post-acquisition.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners acquired DealerSocket, a dealer management system (DMS) for auto dealerships, and merged it into Solera. Auto dealers report significant pricing increases and support degradation. DMS lock-in is a documented issue in the auto retail industry.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners created EngageSmart by acquiring and consolidating customer engagement and payment software companies. Vista took it public in 2021; Insight Partners acquired it for $4B in 2023.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired Entrust Datacard (digital identity and credential issuance) in 2018. The company was rebranded Entrust and expanded into digital certificates and passwordless authentication. Thoma Bravo sold it in 2023.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

Cloud security and federal compliance assessment firm (FedRAMP). A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired Imperva, a cybersecurity company specializing in data and application security, for $2.1B in 2019. Shortly after acquisition, Imperva disclosed a data breach affecting 100M+ customer records — the company had failed to update security certificates.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners acquired JAMF, Apple device management software used by schools and enterprises, for $733M in 2017. Vista took JAMF public in 2020 (NASDAQ: JAMF). K-12 schools using JAMF reported pricing increases post-IPO.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners acquired Marketo, a marketing automation platform, for $1.8B in 2016. Vista sold Marketo to Adobe for $4.75B in 2018. Post-Adobe integration was widely criticized for pricing changes and product degradation. A cautionary case of PE prep-for-sale optimization.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

Online testing and exam proctoring platform for higher education and professional credentialing. A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

ServiceNow implementation and consulting partner. A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

Data and AI engineering services firm. A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired Ping Identity, an enterprise identity platform, for $2.8B in 2022 and merged it with ForgeRock. Combined entity serves large enterprises and government agencies for identity and access management.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired Proofpoint, an enterprise cybersecurity and compliance company, for $12.3B in 2021 — one of the largest software buyouts ever. Post-acquisition, Proofpoint laid off hundreds of employees and significantly raised prices on enterprise email security products.

Owned by Silver Lake

Silver Lake led a $7.5B take-private of Qualtrics (experience management software) from SAP in 2023, partnering with Canada Pension Plan. Qualtrics had been acquired by SAP for $8B in 2019. The deal illustrates the revolving-door PE model in enterprise software.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired RealPage, apartment management and revenue management software, for $10.2B in 2021. RealPage's YieldStar algorithm has been at the center of a major DOJ antitrust investigation and class-action lawsuits alleging landlords used the software to coordinate rent increases — driving up rents across U.S. apartment markets.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

Regulatory compliance software for financial services firms. A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by Mountaingate Capital

Market research data collection platform. A current Mountaingate Capital portfolio company.

Owned by Gryphon Investors

Cloud ERP software for manufacturers, built on the Salesforce platform. A current Gryphon Investors portfolio company.

Owned by TPG Capital

TPG Capital and Roper Technologies (private equity-style industrial conglomerate) have invested in Vertafore, insurance agency management software. TPG acquired Vertafore for $5.35B in 2020. Insurance agents report subscription price increases and service degradation.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired SailPoint, an enterprise identity security company, for $6.9B in 2022 — taking it private from NYSE. SailPoint re-IPO'd in 2025.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake took SolarWinds private for $4.5B in 2016. In 2020, SolarWinds was the victim of the most significant supply-chain cyberattack in U.S. history — the Orion hack compromised 18,000+ organizations including U.S. government agencies. The SEC later charged SolarWinds with fraud for misleading investors about its security practices.

Owned by Silver Lake

Silver Lake co-invested with Thoma Bravo in the $4.5B take-private of SolarWinds in 2016. Silver Lake sold its stake after SolarWinds re-IPO'd in 2018. Both firms faced scrutiny after the 2020 Orion supply-chain hack compromised U.S. government systems.

Owned by Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners acquired Solera Holdings, an auto insurance claims and vehicle data platform, for $6.5B in 2016 — one of the largest software LBOs at the time. Solera raised prices and reduced support for auto insurers and body shops after going private.

Owned by Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo acquired Sophos, a UK-based cybersecurity company, for $3.9B in 2019. Post-acquisition restructuring included significant layoffs and pricing increases for managed threat response products.

Owned by Permira

Permira acquired TeamViewer, a remote desktop and support software company, for €870M in 2014. TeamViewer IPO'd in 2019. Remote work tool widely used in IT support, criticized for aggressive pricing changes that affected SMBs and personal users.

Owned by EQT Partners

EQT Partners and CPPIB acquired Waystar, a healthcare payments and revenue cycle management software company, for $2.7B in 2019. Waystar IPO'd in 2024. Healthcare revenue cycle software extracts fees from hospitals and providers — costs ultimately passed to patients and insurers.

Owned by Bain Capital

Workforce scheduling and time-tracking SaaS platform for hourly workers. Bain Capital Tech Opportunities led a $200M growth investment in 2021. The platform serves 200,000+ workplaces. Growth investment (minority stake), not a control acquisition.