Thoma Bravo Acquiring ForgeRock in $2.3 Billion Deal, Taking It Private

Thoma Bravo is shelling out $2.3 billion for ForgeRock, an identity management company. The acquisition will take ForgeRock private.

The offer represents a premium of about 53% over ForgeRock’s closing share price on Oct. 10, the last full trading day prior to the transaction announcement.

Thoma Bravo most recently was interested in acquiring Darktrace. That would have taken Darktrace private. However, Thoma Bravo lost interest in pursuing a deal.

The all-cash transaction should close in the first half of 2023 pending customary closing conditions. Those include approval by ForgeRock’s shareholders and the receipt of required regulatory approvals. ForgeRock’s board of directors unanimously approved Thoma Bravo acquiring ForgeRock.

‘Exciting’ Chapter for ForgeRock Customers, Partners

Fran Rosch is ForgeRock‘s CEO.

ForgeRock’s Fran Rosch

“We are pleased to partner with Thoma Bravo to build on the strength of our comprehensive platform,” he said. “The transaction offers a unique opportunity to create value for all of our stakeholders, and is a clear validation of our team’s outstanding work and the start of an exciting new chapter for ForgeRock, our customers and our partner ecosystem. We are confident that Thoma Bravo’s resources and insights will help us continue to drive innovation in our platform and deliver even more value for customers.”

Upon completion of the transaction, ForgeRock’s common stock will no longer be publicly listed and it will become a privately held company.

Chip Virnig is a partner at Thoma Bravo.

“Identity-centric cybersecurity solutions are a critical enabler for businesses to digitally transform their operations,” he said. “And ForgeRock’s solutions combine both the advanced security and customer usability needed in the market. We look forward to partnering with ForgeRock to leverage our deep sector expertise and support the company to capitalize on this tremendous market opportunity.”

Thoma Bravo is also buying Ping Identity in a $2.8 billion, all-cash deal, taking the enterprise identity management company private. Other Thoma Bravo cybersecurity acquisitions include Sophos, Proofpoint and Sailpoint Technologies.