BMC Software is working with advisers to weigh a sale, according to people familiar with the matter, five years after Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital took it private in a US$6.9bn deal.
The IT management provider has drawn interest from private equity firms including Thoma Bravo, which is considering acquiring it through portfolio company Compuware, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. KKR & Co has also expressed interest, they said.
Houston-based BMC is working with Goldman Sachs Group and Credit Suisse Group to seek a buyer, they said. No decision has been made and the firms could keep BMC.
Representatives for BMC, KKR, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse declined to comment. A representative for Thoma Bravo didn’t return calls for comment.
Buyout firms have announced three $1bn-plus technology acquisitions this year, including takeovers of Mitel Networks, VeriFone Systems and CommerceHub. There were just four such deals in all of 2017 and 2016.
Bain and Golden Gate held talks last year with CA about taking the $15bn company private and combining it with BMC, people familiar with the process said at the time. Those discussions ended after the group was unable to secure bank financing for the deal, a person familiar with the matter said in July.
BMC has about 6 000 employees in 30 countries, according to its website. The company helps customers including Vodafone Group and Lockheed Martin manage their IT systems. — Reported by Kiel Porter and Alex Barinka, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP
