Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has acquired a stake in financial services automation company SMA Technologies — though details of the ownership percentage and dollar amounts were not disclosed.
This is technology M&A deal number 873 covered by ChannelE2E so far in 2022. See more than 2,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs, and IT service providers listed here.
SMA Technologies: Workload Automation Software Capabilities
SMA Technologies, founded in 1980, is based in Houston, Texas. The company has 139 employees listed on LinkedIn.
SMA developed OpCon, an Enterprise Workload Automation platform for financial services companies, banks, insurers, credit unions and retailers. Workload automation and orchestration software can “eliminate manual tasks and manage workloads in business-critical operations.” The software works with multiple third-party cloud, virtualization, database management, ERP, identity management, IT service management (ITSM) and operating system platforms.
Besides software, SMA also offers automation consulting and managed automation services.
We don’t know if SMA somehow plans to compete against ServiceNow’s workflow automation or third-party Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software.
SMA Technologies’ former majority investor, ParkerGale Capital, will retain a minority stake in the software business, the parties said. When ParkerGale acquired the SMA stake in September 2020, the software company had 600 customers in 27 countries and territories. Fast forward to October 2022, and ChannelE2E doesn’t know if the installed base has changed significantly
The investment in Thoma Bravo is “expected to enable SMA to significantly expand its offering of automation solutions for its clients while accelerating growth geographically and in tangential industries over time,” it said of private equity firms.
Thoma Bravo Invests In SMA Technologies: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the Thoma Bravo-SMA deal, SMA CEO Todd Dauchy said:
“SMA has been a pioneer in the workload automation space for over four decades and we are excited to continue our journey with Thoma Bravo. With Thoma Bravo’s operational expertise and financial resources, we will be better positioned to drive global growth while continuing to provide our clients and their employees with seamless solutions to automate processes, application and workflow.”
Adds Adam Solomon, a partner at Thoma Bravo:
“As an increasingly digital workplace multiplies IT workloads, SMA is mission-critical in helping businesses better manage today’s complex IT environment. Todd and the SMA team have built exceptional trust by consistently delivering products and solutions that meet clients’ ever-changing business needs and priorities. We are excited to partner with a company that values innovation and operational excellence as well as strong relationships with its clients.”
Kristina Heinze, a partner and co-founder at ParkerGale concluded:
“Throughout its growth, SMA has remained a product-oriented and employee-driven software business with a laser focus on the client experience. We are proud of what we have accomplished throughout our majority ownership with Todd Dauchy and the SMA team and look forward to continuing to support the company in partnership with Thoma Bravo.”
Thoma Bravo: Business and Technology Automation Expertise
Thoma Bravo has extensive experience in the IT automation software market.
For example, Thoma Bravo also owns stakes in information management software provider Hyland Software, and intelligent process automation provider Nintex. Those software companies, in turn, made RPA (robotic process automation) and DPA (digital process automation) acquisitions in 2020.
Thoma Bravo also owns ConnectWise, which develops IT management and business automation software for MSPs in the SMB market. Thoma also owns a minority stake in N-able, another MSP-focused software provider.