Thoma Bravo and Oasis: Potential Upside for Software Portfolio Company Employees?

Imagine the following scenario: You work for a software company that's owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo. In most cases, your company stock is not publicly traded (one notable exception: N-able). As a result, you can't really "profit" from your shares in the software business until some sort of longer-term financial event occurs (say, an IPO or company sale). Alas, such a financial event may be years away.

Amid that backdrop, Thoma Bravo is pitching a new strategy called Oasis. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Oasis strategy will "provide management and founders with opportunities to monetize some of the value they have created in the companies they manage and often own, at least partially."

And as a result: “The management teams and employees of those companies will view the possibility of early liquidity favorably, particularly when compared with the more limited or delayed liquidity options that could be offered by other potential private owners,” the article quoted from a regulatory filing.

Thoma Bravo and Oasis: Key Question Marks

Still, Thoma Bravo and the boards of portfolio companies need to determine which software companies are eligible for the Oasis strategy,  the article notes. The article did not say when the Oasis funds will make an offer to "certain shareholders" to acquire a "portion" of their interests.

We don't know if Thoma Bravo's MSP software portfolio companies -- such as Barracuda, ConnectWise and Sophos, among many others -- will participate in the Oasis program. Stay tuned.