Thoma Bravo | Press Releases

IDS Acquired by Software-Focused Private Equity Firm Thoma Bravo

Written by Thoma Bravo | October 8, 2019

Partnership will accelerate strategic plans including expansion of IDScloud™ and further investment in the company’s market-leading products InfoLease® and Rapport®

SAN FRANCISCO and MINNEAPOLIS, October 8, 2019 — Thoma Bravo, a leading software-focused private equity investment firm, announced today that it has acquired majority ownership in IDS, a leading provider of asset finance software solutions, from its current owner, SV Investment Partners.

Nicholas E. Somers, Chairman of SV Investment Partners, said "Having partnered with IDS since 2003 we are immensely proud of its achievements under our ownership and of the benefits enjoyed today by customers of the market-leading IDS solutions. We are delighted that IDS can now look forward to partnering with Thoma Bravo in the next stage of its development. With its exceptional enterprise software expertise, experience and resources, Thoma Bravo could not be better positioned to drive forward the company’s global growth initiatives, further develop and enhance the IDS product suite, and continue to strengthen IDS’ leadership in the asset and equipment finance software market."

Thoma Bravo plans to partner with the existing IDS management team to continue to execute on its strategic growth plans and accelerate the product roadmap. The investment recognizes both the leadership of IDS in serving the world’s largest and most innovative asset and equipment financing businesses as well as the momentum gained by its IDScloud™ solution.

IDS, with its flagship product InfoLease®, provides a solution which streamlines the asset financing lifecycle for loan and leasing portfolios. The solution delivers a mission-critical end-to-end platform encompassing origination and approval workflows and offers unmatched accounting, billing, tax and regulatory compliance capabilities. The solution is available as a 100% software as a service (SaaS) offering in IDScloud™, providing a highly scalable, open architecture, pay-for-what-you-use consumption model. These capabilities, coupled with a seasoned team of industry professionals, data migration specialists and technology leaders, offer unparalleled expertise in serving the global asset and equipment financing community.

"Thoma Bravo provides the resources and operational expertise needed to continue our cloud momentum, accelerate our product vision and support our ability to better serve a global customer base," said David Hamilton, CEO of IDS. "Thoma Bravo has a proven track record of investing in building software companies like IDS to achieve exceptional results. We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the team at Thoma Bravo to bring new levels of innovation to our customers."

Thoma Bravo has provided equity and strategic support to experienced management teams of growing companies for nearly 40 years. The firm’s investment in IDS continues both an active effort in financial technology software, and also more specifically in the loan origination and credit lifecycle management markets.  Other investments by the firm in this area include category leaders like Ellie Mae in mortgage lending and MeridianLink in consumer lending.

"We are major believers in the global asset finance market and the value that the IDS market-leading suite of products can bring to bank, OEM and specialty lending customers," said A.J. Rohde, a Partner at Thoma Bravo. "Having known David Hamilton, the CEO of IDS, for many years, we see a terrific partnership opportunity to work with David and his deep-domain leadership team to scale IDS in the coming years, both domestically and abroad."

"We view IDS as a great platform for global industry consolidation and look forward to adding new products and features to the platform," said George Jaber, a Vice President at Thoma Bravo.

IDS was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati served as its legal advisor. Thoma Bravo was advised by Kirkland & Ellis.

About IDS
Leading asset finance enterprises build their businesses on full lifecycle solutions from IDS. Our software streamlines the entire asset finance process from origination, to portfolio management, to end-of term. Our new cloud-based offerings integrate seamlessly into any asset finance ecosystem. The scalability, flexibility and economy of our cloud solution makes IDS best-in-class asset finance software accessible to banks, independents and captives of all sizes. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, the company also has offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and India. For more information, visit www.idsgrp.com.

About Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors. With a series of funds representing more than $35 billion in capital commitments, Thoma Bravo partners with a company's management team to implement operating best practices, invest in growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings, with the goal of increasing the value of the business. Representative past and present portfolio companies include industry leaders such as ABC Financial, Blue Coat Systems, Deltek, Digital Insight, Frontline Education, Global Healthcare Exchange, Hyland Software, Imprivata, iPipeline, PowerPlan, Qlik, Riverbed, SailPoint, SolarWinds, SonicWall, Sparta Systems, TravelClick and Veracode. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Chicago. For more information, visit www.thomabravo.com.

About SV Investment Partners
SV Investment Partners is a private investment holding company focused on middle market software and technology-enabled business services companies. SV maintains flexibility in evaluating opportunities, seeking to invest for the long-term either in minority positions or in controlling investments that capitalize on the exceptional pedigree of our operational-focused experience. For more information, visit www.svip.com.

For further information, please contact:

IDS:
Ray Wizbowski
rwizbowski@idsgrp.com
(612) 851-3200

Thoma Bravo:
Chris Cunningham
Hiltzik Strategies
ccunningham@hstrategies.com
(212) 430-5053