ConnectWise to be Acquired by Thoma Bravo

ConnectWise has announced its acquisition by Thoma Bravo, LLC, a private equity investment firm based in Chicago and San Francisco.

ConnectWise founder and CEO Arnie Bellini will transition into an advisory role, and Jason Magee, will become CEO. Magee, who has been with ConnectWise since 2011, was named COO in 2016. During his tenure as COO, ConnectWise grew at a 21 percent cumulative annual growth rate with more than 81 percent growth in EBITDA.

“Five years ago, we began exploring all of the financial options to accelerate the ConnectWise mission and our partners’ success,” said Bellini. “Thoma Bravo was the clear and obvious choice over an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and seven other private equity firms.”

Bellini added that Thoma Bravo’s position in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology was among the elements that made the firm a good fit. Bellini also expressed satisfaction with the selection of Magee as his successor. “Jason has more than 20 years of deep industry experience with MSPs and VARs. Because Jason’s been in their shoes, he is committed to ConnectWise’s partners.”

“Our success has been founded on deep interactions with our partners through our IT Nation events and peer groups,” said Magee. “I believe the Thoma Bravo partnership will accelerate our ability to continually develop the platform our partners need to succeed through acquisitions and innovation.”

Identified priorities include enhanced cybersecurity solutions, education, and go-to-market tools. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Channel Impact^®
Thoma Bravo’s software position and capital will enable ConnectWise to pursue a strategy focused on both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. It will also be interesting to see how the strategy for ConnectWise will mesh with that of Continuum, another Thoma Bravo company.