PE Hub has reported that PPM provider Planview is up for sale by Thoma Bravo. Planview, acquired by Thoma Bravo for an estimated $800 million in January 2017 is generating around $120 million in EBITDA and would fetch between $1.5 and $2 billion according to PE Hub. While PE Hub reports that Thoma Bravo acquired the company from Insight Partners, the latter did retain a minority shareholding in the company. It is not known whether this portion is also up for sale.
Planview has grown substantially during the Thoma Bravo ownership. In July 2020 it acquired AI/ML project and portfolio management firm Aptage. It also acquired Spigit in 2018 and LeanKit in 2017. Planview is a recognised leader by Gartner in the Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Agile Planning Tools 2020.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
With the acquisition said to be in the second round, which PE company will invest? Work Management and PPM software are in high demand by organisations currently. They need to better manage workloads as the world of work changes because of COVID. This is also a competitive market with Changepoint resurgent and companies like Workfront and Monday.com growing rapidly.
Thoma Bravo is selling at a time when the potential market is at its peak. The question is whether any investor can make a real difference in the short term to cement market position.
According to Market and Markets the PPM market, worth $4.2 billion in 2020 is set to grow at a CAGR of 6% to $5.6 billion by 2025. Thoma Bravo is no doubt hoping to realise maximum value from its investment. With Thoma Bravo already accepting bids according to PE Hub, it seems an announcement, subject to due diligence is likely imminent. Planview has more than 4,000 customers with more than a million users on its solution. It has a substantial footprint however is not always the most vocal in the market.
