Thoma Bravo to acquire Calypso for $3.7bn

June 2021 | DEALFRONT | PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL

Financier Worldwide Magazine

June 2021 Issue

Private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo has acquired financial software provider Calypso Technology from international private equity group Bridgepoint and global growth investor Summit Partners in a transaction valued at $3.7bn.

“We are thrilled to begin the next chapter of our story alongside Thoma Bravo and are grateful to Bridgepoint and Summit Partners for their support and partnership,” said Didier Bouillard, chief executive of Calypso. “Our acquisition by Thoma Bravo is further validation of the unique value Calypso creates for its customers, employees and investors, and a direct reflection of the hard work, collaboration and strong results the team has achieved.”

Founded in 1997, Calypso was devised to drive growth and innovation in capital markets technology. Calypso is a cloud-enabled provider of cross-asset, front-to-back solutions for financial markets with over 35,000 users in more than 60 countries. Its award-winning software improves reliability, adaptability, and scalability across several verticals, including capital markets, investment management, central banking, clearing, treasury, liquidity and collateral. Calypso leverages innovative cloud microservices and blockchain distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based solutions to reduce trading costs and improve time to value.

“For more than a decade, we have admired Calypso’s position as a leader in the global capital markets software space with a highly differentiated and modern, integrated front-to-back technology platform across a wide range of asset classes,” said Holden Spaht, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo. “Calypso’s technology allows its world-class customer base to navigate the highly complex and regulated capital markets with greater transparency and lower costs.”

Thoma Bravo is a firm with a proven track record of supporting its portfolio companies by investing in growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions designed to drive long-term value. Its acquisition of Calypso follows hot on the heels of its $22.4bn purchase of data integration and data integrity company Talend.

Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Calypso is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

“We are thrilled to partner with such a high-quality franchise and management team to help drive continued growth both organically and through M&A,” added Brian Jaffee, a principal at Thoma Bravo. “Calypso’s financial services end market is massive, and it is well positioned to capitalise on the strong trend of technology outsourcing to best-in-class platform vendors, particularly as the move to the cloud accelerates.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, Calypso was acquired by Bridgepoint and Boston-based Summit Partners in 2016. “We are proud to have partnered with Calypso and its management team to achieve a significant transformation of the business,” said David Nicault, partner and global head of digital, technology & media at Bridgepoint. “With this transformation now complete, Calypso is well-placed for the next stage of its evolution under new ownership.”

Serving as legal counsel to Thoma Bravo is Kirkland & Ellis, LLP. Evercore and Jefferies are serving as financial advisers and Latham & Watkins is serving as legal counsel to Calypso, Bridgepoint and Summit Partners.

Mr Spaht concluded: “We look forward to partnering with Calypso to continue building on their great momentum supported by increased investment and innovation and a maniacal focus on customer success.”

Fraser Tennant