1Funds, advisers and operating partners
analysisThe acquisition documents identify the relevant funds and vehicles rather than a single undifferentiated Thoma Bravo owner. Firm biographies identify managing partners and operating partners in different capacities. The firm’s own qualification says operating partners are independent contractor-advisers, not employees or affiliates of its entities; the network preserves that distinction. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
documentedThe merger proxy identifies Thoma Bravo Fund XIII, L.P. and Thoma Bravo Fund XIV, L.P. as affiliates of the acquisition vehicles and the intended indirect owners with certain affiliates. The funds committed $7.36 billion of equity and supplied a limited guarantee; the proxy also described $4 billion of debt commitments. 1
- qualification
- Commitments in the proxy are not amounts ultimately drawn or a complete post-closing ownership table.
documentedOrlando Bravo, Scott Crabill and Holden Spaht appear as Thoma Bravo managing partners; Tara Gadgil as a partner. Charles Goodman, Erik Akopiantz and Evan Lorch are described as operating partners. The firm explicitly describes operating partners as independent contractor-advisers rather than employees or affiliates of its entities. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
- qualification
- Job labels should not be converted into unproved legal ownership or employment relationships.
analysisFund XIV’s Form D names officers/promoters and a target offering amount, while the Form ADV for Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc. describes a separate adviser and its control relationship. A fund target is not money invested into RealPage, and the ownership of one adviser is not an ultimate-owner register for every affiliated fund or portfolio company. 9 10 11
documentedThoma Bravo Fund XIV, L.P.’s May 2020 Form D identifies a Delaware private-equity fund and names Carl Thoma, Lee Mitchell, Orlando Bravo, Samuel Scott Crabill, Seth Boro and P. Holden Spaht as executive officers/promoters. The target offering amount with related funds was $16.5 billion; the form reported no amount sold at that filing date. 9 10
- qualification
- A target offering amount is not proof of funds raised or of investment specifically in RealPage.
documentedThe retained Form ADV for Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc. identifies Carl Dee Thoma as sole shareholder and lists Orlando Bravo and Scott Crabill in management roles. It uses the related-adviser exemption tied to common control with Thoma Bravo. 11
- qualification
- Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc. is a separate legal entity; its shareholders are not automatically shareholders of Thoma Bravo, L.P. or RealPage.
sources in this section
- RealPage merger proxy statement, February 2021 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Company statement source · s-d109 identified by category only · Company statement
- Company statement source · s-d122 identified by category only · Company statement
- Company statement source · s-d123 identified by category only · Company statement
- Company statement source · s-d22 identified by category only · Company statement
- Company statement source · s-d24 identified by category only · Company statement
- Company statement source · s-d25 identified by category only · Company statement
- Company statement source · s-d38 identified by category only · Company statement
- Regulatory record concerning the identified participant or proceeding U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Thoma Bravo Fund XIV Form D, May 2020 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Thoma Cressey Bravo Form ADV, March 2024 Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
2Second-level connections have limits
analysisInstructure’s proxy records Goodman, Spaht and Akopiantz in board roles, providing concrete second-level professional connections to people also listed at RealPage. It attributes an Instructure shareholding to Thoma Bravo funds, which is more precise than attributing the entire percentage personally to the adviser. Common board members alone do not establish coordinated commercial conduct. 1
documentedInstructure’s 2024 proxy lists Charles Goodman as chair and Holden Spaht and Erik Akopiantz as directors; it attributes 83.6% of Instructure stock to Thoma Bravo funds at 4 April 2024. These provide documented second-level governance connections to people also identified at RealPage. 1
- qualification
- Fund-attributed ownership is not a claim that Thoma Bravo, L.P. personally owns that percentage, and common directors do not establish coordinated conduct.
sources in this section
- Instructure Holdings 2024 proxy statement U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
3Separate episodes, separate outcomes
analysisDOJ’s 2022 announcement described director resignations responding to interlock concerns involving SolarWinds and Dynatrace; it was not a court judgment against RealPage. The retained FTX material likewise establishes litigation and transfer/consolidation involving Thoma Bravo, without supplying a final outcome for that party. Discovery snippets about later settlements are not substituted for unread originals. 1 2 3
attributedDOJ announced in October 2022 that directors associated with Thoma Bravo resigned from SolarWinds in response to concerns about interlocking directorates involving Dynatrace. 1
- qualification
- The announcement described a response to enforcement concerns, without a judicial finding of liability. It is a separate sponsor-related episode, not an allegation against RealPage.
attributedA June 2023 multidistrict-transfer order identifies Thoma Bravo among investment-firm defendants in FTX-related litigation and addresses consolidation in the Southern District of Florida. Closing an individual docket following transfer did not decide the allegations. 2 3
- qualification
- The retained transfer order does not establish a final outcome for Thoma Bravo. Discovery snippets suggesting later settlements are not treated as read originals or confirmed outcomes; RealPage is not attributed responsibility for FTX.
analysisThe reported QAD buyout settlement is another separate shareholder dispute. It does not establish liability on the reported allegations or show that a similar alleged mechanism occurred in RealPage’s buyout. These connections provide bounded context for the sponsor; they do not transmit an accusation to RealPage or to every person shown nearby in the graph. 4
attributedA reported August 2023 account described a proposed $65 million settlement involving Thoma Bravo, QAD and QAD’s founder in shareholder litigation over the 2021 buyout. 4
- qualification
- The reported settlement was not a merits finding, and the retained account does not establish final approval. Similar transaction features do not prove the same alleged conduct occurred in the RealPage acquisition.
sources in this section
- DOJ announcement on director resignations, October 2022 U.S. Department of Justice
- Court record source · s-d201 identified by category only · Court record
- JPML FTX transfer order, June 2023 Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
- Media source · s-d227 identified by category only · Media
Recorded connections
- Thoma Bravo, L.P. to Thoma Bravo Fund XIII, L.P.Adviser affiliated with acquisition funddocumented · 2021 proxy · current or historical not established
- Thoma Bravo, L.P. to Thoma Bravo Fund XIV, L.P.Adviser affiliated with acquisition funddocumented · 2021 proxy · current or historical not established
- Orlando Bravo to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Founder and managing partnerdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Scott Crabill to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Managing partnerdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Holden Spaht to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Managing partnerdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Tara Gadgil to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Partnerdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Charles Goodman to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Operating partner; independent contractor-adviserdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Erik Akopiantz to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Operating partner; independent contractor-adviserdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Evan Lorch to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Operating partner; independent contractor-adviserdocumented · Retained firm biographies · current or historical not established
- Thoma Cressey Bravo, Inc. and Thoma Bravo, L.P.Related advisers under disclosed common-control exemptiondocumented · 2024 Form ADV · current or historical not established
- Thoma Bravo, L.P. to RealPage Rental Software Antitrust Litigation (MDL 3071)Named defendant in this proceedingdocumented · 2023–2026 · current or historical not established
- Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Financial adviser on take-private transactiondocumented · December 2020 transaction announcement · historical
- Kirkland & Ellis LLP to Thoma Bravo, L.P.Legal counsel on take-private transactiondocumented · December 2020 transaction announcement · historical