Thoma Bravo to Acquire Calypso Technology from Bridgepoint and Summit Partners

Leading software investor to partner with Calypso to drive further growth and innovation in capital markets technology

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Mar 22, 2021, 07:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors, today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Calypso Technology, Inc. ("Calypso") from international private equity group Bridgepoint and global growth investor Summit Partners. The deal, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in San Francisco with offices around the world, Calypso is a cloud-enabled provider of cross-asset, front-to-back solutions for financial markets with over 35,000 users in 60+ countries. Its award-winning software improves reliability, adaptability, and scalability across several verticals, including capital markets, investment management, central banking, clearing, treasury, liquidity, and collateral. Calypso leverages innovative cloud microservices and blockchain distributed ledger technology (DLT) based solutions to reduce trading costs and improve time to value.

"We are thrilled to begin the next chapter of our story alongside Thoma Bravo and are grateful to Bridgepoint and Summit Partners for their support and partnership. Our acquisition by Thoma Bravo is further validation of the unique value Calypso creates for its customers, employees, and investors and a direct reflection of the hard work, collaboration, and strong results the team has achieved," said Didier Bouillard, Chief Executive Officer of Calypso. "Thoma Bravo has a proven track-record of supporting its portfolio companies by investing in growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions designed to drive long-term value and we are excited to continue delivering innovative solutions to the financial markets while accelerating our growth."

"For more than a decade, we have admired Calypso's position as a leader in the global capital markets software space with a highly differentiated and modern, integrated front-to-back technology platform across a wide range of asset classes," said Holden Spaht, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. "Calypso's technology allows its world-class customer base to navigate the highly complex and regulated capital markets with greater transparency and lower costs. We look forward to partnering with Didier and his team to continue building on their great momentum supported by increased investment and innovation and a maniacal focus on customer success."

Brian Jaffee, a Principal at Thoma Bravo, added, "We are thrilled to partner with such a high-quality franchise and management team to help drive continued growth both organically and through M&A. Calypso's financial services end market is massive and it is well positioned to capitalize on the strong trend of technology outsourcing to best-in-class platform vendors, particularly as the move to the cloud accelerates. We look forward to supporting the company in this next chapter of exciting growth."

"We are proud to have partnered with Calypso and its management team to achieve the significant transformation of the business which led to this exceptional result. Alongside a range of operational initiatives, the transition of the business to a cloud model combined with best-in-class client service was undoubtedly key in accelerating growth. With this transformation now complete and having demonstrated very robust growth throughout the COVID pandemic, the business is well placed for the next stage of its evolution under new ownership," said David Nicault, Partner and Global Head of Digital, Technology & Media at Bridgepoint.

"As the regulatory and competitive environment grows more complex, we have seen financial institutions shift their capital markets technology spend from legacy, internally developed platforms to modern, cloud-based software solutions," said Scott Collins, Managing Director at Summit Partners. "Calypso has supported financial institutions across developing and emerging markets on their modernization journeys. We are grateful for the partnership of the Calypso and Bridgepoint teams, and we look forward to following the company's continued impact in the financial services sector."

Kirkland & Ellis, LLP is serving as legal counsel to Thoma Bravo. Evercore and Jefferies are serving as financial advisors and Latham & Watkins is serving as legal counsel to Calypso, Bridgepoint, and Summit Partners.

About Calypso Technology, Inc.

Calypso Technology, Inc. is a cloud-enabled provider of cross-asset front-to-back solutions and managed services for financial markets with over 40000 users in 60+ countries. Its award-winning software improves reliability, adaptability, and scalability across several verticals, including capital markets, investment management, central banking, clearing, treasury, liquidity, and collateral. Calypso is pioneering innovative technologies (native cloud technology, AI, Big data) that reimagine capital markets.

"Calypso" is a registered trademark of Calypso Technology, Inc. in the U.S., EU and other jurisdictions. Other parties' trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners.

About Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors. With more than $76 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2020, 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. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Chicago, with a planned expansion to Miami in the second half of 2021. For more information, visit thomabravo.com.

About Bridgepoint

Bridgepoint is a major international alternative asset fund management group, focused on the Middle Market providing private equity and private debt lending solutions to the middle market. We focus on acquiring or investing in businesses with strong market positions and earnings growth potential where significant additional value can be created through expansion and operational improvement. With over €26 billion of assets under management, we invest internationally in six principal sectors - business services, consumer, financial services, healthcare, medtech & pharma, manufacturing & industrials and digital, technology & media - via a platform of offices in Europe, US and China.

Bridgepoint has operated in North America since 2016 with a team of 15 investment professionals in New York and San Francisco. In addition to identifying new investment opportunities, the team manages existing Bridgepoint investments and acts as a gateway for Bridgepoint's European portfolio companies where the US market represents a significant source of revenue for them. See www.bridgepoint.eu

About Summit Partners

Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently managing more than $23 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 500 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth industries. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, please see www.summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn.

In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners LLP, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Summit Partners LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC388179 and its registered office is at 11-12 Hanover Square, London, W1S 1JJ, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners' potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies.

SOURCE Thoma Bravo