Austin-based SolarWinds files to go public again
Little more than two years after it was sold to two investment firms and taken private, Austin software maker SolarWinds said Monday that it has filed paperwork to again become a publicly traded company.
SolarWinds, which makes IT infrastructure management software, said it has filed Form S1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock,” according to a company news release.
SolarWinds hasn’t determined the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the IPO, the company said. The IPO would commence after the Securities and Exchange Commission completes a review process, SolarWinds said.
In February 2016, investment firms Silver Lake Partners and Thoma Bravo took SolarWinds private, buying the company in a $4.5 billion deal that paid shareholders $60.10 for each share of SolarWinds’ stock — a nearly 20 percent premium from where the stock was trading prior to the deal being announced.
SolarWinds’ software is used by information technology professionals to configure, monitor and report on the health and performance of their network, systems and applications.
SolarWinds has more than 2,200 employees worldwide, according to the company’s website.
SolarWinds was founded in Tulsa, Okla., in 1999 and moved to Austin in 2006. The company first went public in 2009.
Silver Lake Partners, based in Menlo Park, Calif., focuses on investing in mature technology com- panies, such as Dell Technologies.
Thoma Bravo, with headquarters in Chicago and San Francisco, specializes in investing in middle-market companies in fragmented industries.