Roper Technologies buys Frontline Education from private equity firm Thoma Bravo in a $3.7 billion deal

Early this month, we wrote about Thoma Bravo after the private equity firm acquired Ping Identity for $2.8 billion in an all-cash buyout deal. Now Thoma Bravo is selling one of the companies in its portfolio.

Today, Sarasota, Florida-based Roper Technologies announced it would buy Frontline Education from private equity firm Thoma Bravo in a deal that valued the education software maker at about $3.7 billion to bolster its software business.

As part of the acquisition agreement, Roper will pay about $3.375 billion for Frontline, including a tax benefit resulting from the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter. In June, Roper announced it would sell a majority stake in its industrial business to private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC for $2.6 billion.

“Frontline is a terrific business with clear niche market leadership, a proven track record of strong organic and inorganic growth, excellent cash conversion, and an outstanding management team that will thrive as part of Roper,” said Neil Hunn, Roper’s President and CEO. “The acquisition of Frontline demonstrates Roper’s disciplined capital deployment strategy that focuses on identifying high-quality, market-leading technology businesses that will enhance Roper’s cash flow compounding. We are excited to welcome Frontline to the Roper family.”

Founded in 1998, the Pennsylvania-based Frontline Education provides a connected platform of administrative solutions that are purpose-built for K-12 education, including human capital management, business operations management, student management, and analytics. More than 12,000 educational organizations, representing millions of educators, administrators, and support personnel, utilize Frontline’s tools to automate their operations and gain insights that enable improved efficiency and productivity.

Thoma Bravo was founded in 2008. It is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, with more than $114 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2022. The firm invests in growth-oriented, innovative companies operating in the software and technology sectors.