Network Instruments sale is Thoma Bravo’s third tech exit in as many weeks

Contact: Scott Denne

While most of the country has been pounded by snow, Thoma Bravo has been making it rain. With today’s sale of Network Instruments to JDS Uniphase for $200m in cash, the private equity firm has announced exits for three portfolio companies in as many weeks.

Two of those deals were turned around relatively quickly and without the bolt-on acquisitions that typically follow a Thoma Bravo investment. The firm owned Network Instruments for less than 18 months, during which time the network performance equipment provider hadn’t announced a single purchase. Though Thoma Bravo’s ROI is unknown, it seems that JDSU was eager to own the asset – the transaction is JDSU’s largest in seven years and at 5x trailing revenue it is the highest multiple we’ve seen the company pay, according to The 451 M&A KnowledgeBase.

Last week, Thoma Bravo landed a five-month flip of Digital Insight that added $625m to the company’s value when NCR agreed to buy it for $1.65bn. The week before, Thoma Bravo sold Roadnet Technologies, formerly known as UPS Logistics, to Omnitracs for well over $100m (subscribers can see our specific price estimate and valuation by clicking here).

The firm could chalk up another exit soon, as it is rumored to be shopping enterprise content management vendor Hyland Software for an asking price of $1.2bn.

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