Thoma Bravo Buying Ping Identity for $2.8 Billion, Taking It Private in Q4

Thoma Bravo is buying Ping Identity in a $2.8 billion, all-cash deal, taking the enterprise identity management company private.

The offer represents a premium of approximately 63% over Ping Identity’s closing share price on Aug. 2, the last full trading day prior to the acquisition announcement.

Ping Identity‘s board of directors unanimously approved the acquisition. It should close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Those include approval by Ping Identity shareholders and regulatory approvals.

Upon closing, Ping Identity’s common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It will become a privately held company and will remain headquartered in Denver.

Ping Identity tells us it’s “excited to take this opportunity to deepen relationships with partners.”

“Ping and Thoma both recognize that identity security and frictionless user experiences have become essential in the digital-first economy,” it said. “Our shared commitment to growth and innovation will enable Ping to accelerate its cloud transformation and deliver industry-leading identity security experiences for customers, to the benefit of partners.”

Thoma Bravo has deep knowledge of and expertise in the identity and security sectors, Ping Identity said. In addition, it’s known for investing in high-growth cloud and cybersecurity businesses, and supporting companies with initiatives to turbocharge innovation and open new markets.

“Ping will continue to work very closely with partners to ensure these advantages translate to customer wins,” it said.

‘Compelling’ Transaction

Andre Durand is Ping Identity‘s CEO.

Ping Identity’s Andre Durand

“This compelling transaction is a testament to Ping Identity’s leading enterprise identity solutions, our talented team, and our outstanding customers and partners,” he said. “Identity security and frictionless user experiences have become essential in the digital-first economy. And Ping Identity is better positioned than ever to capitalize on the growing demand from modern enterprises for robust security solutions. We are pleased to partner with Thoma Bravo, which has a strong track record of investing in high-growth cloud software security businesses and supporting companies with initiatives to turbocharge innovation and open new markets.”

Other Thoma Bravo cybersecurity acquisitions include Sophos, Proofpoint and Sailpoint Technologies.

Rik Turner is principal analyst at Omdia, which shares a parent company with Channel Futures (Informa).

Omdia’s Rik Turner

“This is an interesting acquisition, in that Ping is in an expanding sector (IDaaS, both for B2E/B2B and B2C use cases), so it clearly has potential to grow its market share,” he said. “That said, Okta currently dominates that segment, growing from $500 million in revenue in 2020 to $835 million in 2021, to $1.3 billion in 2022. That compares very favorably with Ping, which is around the $300 million-plus mark and growing at a much slower rate.”

Thoma Bravo Likely Has Plans for Ping Identity

Thoma Bravo is not the asset-stripping type of private equity (PE) firm, Turner said.

“Nor is it content to manage decline, as we’ve seen with behemoths like Symantec (now Broadcom),” he said. “I suspect it will want to do some corporate engineering with Ping. Maybe slimming it down here and there. And perhaps adding some other assets, with a view to making it more competitive in its chosen market(s).”

Turner sees no major drawbacks to Thoma Bravo buying Ping Identity.

“I would caution, however, that if Thoma Bravo sells Ping on to another [private equity] firm within a year or two, that will be bad news, suggesting that it has given up on its plans for the company and is cutting its losses,” he said.

Seth Boro is a managing partner at Thoma Bravo.

Thoma Bravo’s Seth Boro

“A tectonic shift is occurring in intelligent identity solutions for the enterprise,” he said. “Ping Identity’s unique capabilities and strong position in enterprise identity security make it a great platform to deliver customer outcomes, expand into new use cases and support digital transformations. We are highly impressed with the talented Ping Identity team and look forward to working collaboratively in the years to come.”

Vista Equity Partners owns approximately 9.7% of Ping Identity’s outstanding shares. It has agreed to vote its shares in favor of the transaction.