Macrovision Corp. announced that they are going to sell their Software Business Unit (including the InstallShield, AdminStudio and FLEXnet product lines) to private equity firm Thoma Cressey Bravo (TCB). The cash transaction valued at approximately $200 million is expected to close on or before April 1, 2008.
The transaction will result in a stand-alone company focused on providing solutions that help simplify the business relationship between software producers and enterprises. All products and associated support and services from within the Software Business Unit are part of the transaction. Mark Bishof, currently Macrovision’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Software Business Unit, will assume the role of CEO for the stand-alone software company following the close of the transaction.
Besides the FLEXnet product line, the Software Business Unit includes InstallShield and AdminStudio which Macrovision acquired in 2004 for $76 million, and InstallAnywhere which was acquired in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
TCB is investing in businesses in those sectors that can grow both organically (through changes in their cost structure and expansion of their revenues) and by acquiring and integrating similar businesses.
TCB investments include Attachmate Corp. and NetIQ Corp. (an Attachmate business). These companies offer systems and lifecycle management solutions, including the WinINSTALL MSI Packager. So InstallShield (setup authoring for ISVs), AdminStudio (MSI packaging for corporate IT) and FLEXnet (software protection and license management) might be a good fit to TCB's portfolio.