SOUTH JORDAN — LANDesk Software, a 19-year-old Utah-based information technology firm, has been acquired by Thoma Bravo, a private equity investment company.
Steve Daly, LANDesk's executive vice president and general manager, will become the firm's chief executive officer when the deal is completed Sept. 30. On Monday, he hailed the move as an opportunity for the company to grow and thrive.
"The acquisition of LANDesk by Thoma Bravo provides a stable financial base from which LANDesk can continue to expand its leadership position in systems lifecycle management, endpoint security and IT security management," Daly said.
"All three of our core solution areas are projected to experience growth. Partnering with a private equity firm that has a long history of success within its software and technology portfolio will support this growth with great resources and experience we can leverage."
LANDesk sells such products as LANDesk Management Suite, LANDesk Security Suite and LANDesk Process Manager.
"Moving forward, LANDesk will be able to focus on our key strengths with product development clarity and the ability to innovate appropriately and pursue necessary acquisitions to deliver expanded capabilities in our product portfolio," Daly said.
In 2009, the company's revenue was pegged at approximately $150 million.
Previously, LANDesk was acquired by Emerson Electric, and that company recently announced it was putting LANDesk up for sale.
Daly said in a phone interview that the acquisition by Thoma Bravo will permit LANDesk to function as a stand-alone company that can grow by continuing to do what it does best and also acquiring other firms.
There will be no employee layoffs, the management team will remain the same, and the firm's headquarters will stay in South Jordan, Daly said. In fact, there could be some additional hiring, he said. LANDesk had received certain types of support from Emerson Electric that no longer will be available, so those positions will need to be filled.
"So often you hear about the companies in Utah being bought by companies somewhere else, and a lot of the headquarter functions go away, and you end up with downsizing. We think this is a great outcome for us and our employees," Daly said.
"Thoma Bravo has done about 50 acquisitions and, of those, 16 are platform or franchise. We're the 16th of that. The goal they have for us, as our investor, is to help us grow organically, help us with operational excellence and do some add-on acquisitions to the LANDesk program and grow inorganically," Daly said. "For us, it is great. We can focus on investing in the core of what we do. We are not being distracted by being part of a larger company."
Daly said the company has grown over the past two years, and he expects that growth will not only continue, but will accelerate.
Robert Naegle, vice president of marketing who will become senior director of communications, also is pleased with the change.
"This is very liberating for us," he said.
"When companies become consumed into larger companies, the challenge is, 'Do you have any identity?' There are lots of reasons for customers and employees to be nervous. This is just the opposite. This is being carved out of a larger organization (Emerson Electric)."
Thoma Bravo is known for investing in the firms it acquires and holding them as if they're going to hold them forever, he said.
"From a Salt Lake and LANDesk perspective, it's a great thing," Naegle said.
LANDesk employs 750 people, with about half of them working in South Jordan and others in London and Beijing.
The firm was acquired by Intel Corp. from Novell in 1991 and was named LANDesk. It became a stand-alone company in 2002. Then, in 2006, it was purchased by Avocent Corp. of Huntsville, Ala. Later, Emerson Electric bought Avocent and eventually announced it would sell LANDesk.
e-mail: lindat@desnews.com