SolarWinds to go private in $4.4bn deal with Turn/River Capital

SolarWinds, a provider of IT management and observability software, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Turn/River Capital in a deal valued at approximately $4.4bn. The company, which serves organisations across multiple sectors, offers hybrid and cloud network environment solutions. It has been publicly traded since 2018, following a period of private ownership under Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake.

Under the terms of the agreement, Turn/River Capital will acquire SolarWinds at $18.50 per share. This consideration represents a 35% premium over the company’s volume-weighted average closing stock price for the past 90 trading days.

Upon completion of the transaction, SolarWinds will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and transition to private ownership. The company will continue operating under its existing name and remain headquartered in Austin, Texas.

The transaction has received unanimous approval from SolarWinds’ board of directors and is expected to close in Q2 2025, pending regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

SolarWinds has undergone multiple ownership transitions. Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake initially took the company private in 2016 before relisting it on the public market nearly three years later. Reports in 2023 suggested that the company was considering a potential sale, leading to the latest agreement with Turn/River Capital.

The acquisition comes more than four years after a cybersecurity breach linked to Russian state actors in 2020. The attack impacted US government agencies, including the State Department, the FBI, and branches of the US military, as well as private sector organisations. The breach raised concerns over software supply chain security and affected the company’s stock performance at the time.

Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake, which collectively hold approximately 65% of SolarWinds’ voting securities, have provided written consent for the acquisition, eliminating the need for additional shareholder approval.

SolarWinds’ role in IT management and observability

SolarWinds provides software solutions for monitoring distributed and hybrid network environments, used by organisations across different sizes and industries. The company collaborates with IT service and operations teams, DevOps and SecOps professionals, and database administrators to address challenges in managing hybrid IT infrastructures, applications, and networks. “We now look forward to partnering with Turn/River to deliver operational resilience solutions for our customers on our SolarWinds Platform, leveraging our premier observability, monitoring, and service desk solutions,” said SolarWinds president and CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna.

Based in San Francisco, Turn/River Capital focuses on investments in software businesses, applying a growth-oriented operational strategy. The firm’s approach includes scaling marketing, sales, and customer engagement efforts for its portfolio companies. Founded in 2012, Turn/River Capital primarily invests in North America and Europe, targeting software firms seeking expansion under private ownership. “We are incredibly excited to partner with SolarWinds,” said Turn/River Capital founder and managing partner Dominic Ang. “By pairing our team of software operators and investors with their relentless focus on customer success, together we aim to accelerate growth and further innovation.”

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