82-8000 USAF 747 out from JBA on cert and/or maintenance flight
RCH594T USAF C-17 Globemaster nw from Wright-Patterson AFB after an overnight-inbound from McGuire AFB, NJ
RCH771T USAF C-17 Globemaster on descent for MCB Quantico from McGuire AFB
RCH775T USAF C-17 Globemaster ws from McGuire AFB
morning
Thoma Bravo to take cybersecurity firm Proofpoint private for $10 billion
Private equity firm Thoma Bravo said on Monday it would buy cybersecurity firm Proofpoint Inc for about $10.1 billion, at a time when remote working due to the pandemic has fueled a surge in demand for network security. Interest in cybersecurity firms has soared as more businesses turn to the cloud to run their operations and frequent cyberattacks. Cybersecurity industry funding reached an all-time high of $11.4 billion last year, a nearly 50% increase from 2018, according to CB Insights.
The deal, expected to close in the third quarter, will fetch Proofpoint shareholders $176 per share held, indicating a premium of about 34% to the stock’s last close. The company’s shares rose 32% in pre-market trading. The offer values Proofpoint at about $12.3 billion, the company said. Thoma Bravo, which is largely software and tech focused, has been doubling down on its investments in the sector. It acquired online trading services provider Calypso Technology and data solutions firm Talend in March. Sunnyvale, California-based Proofpoint also reported first-quarter earnings on Monday, topping Wall Street estimates for revenue and profit per share.
However, the company has canceled its earnings call scheduled for April 29 due to the deal.
https://www.reuters.com/article/proofpoint-ma-thoma-bravo/update-2-thoma-bravo-to-take-cybersecurity-firm-proofpoint-private-for-10-bln-idUSL4N2MJ2UU
Thoma Bravo, LLC, is an American private equity and growth capital firm headquartered in Chicago with an additional office in San Francisco.
Thoma Bravo has done 230 software deals worth over $68 billion since 2003 and oversees a portfolio of 38 software companies that generate some $12 billion in annual revenue and employ 40,000 people. In October 2019, Forbes estimated the value of the firm, which is owned entirely by Bravo and a handful of his partners, at $7 billion. In January 2019, Thoma Bravo was managing private equity funds representing over $30 billion in equity commitments. Thoma Bravo is the successor to the firm Golder Thoma & Co., which was established in 1980 by Stanley Golder and Carl Thoma. Thoma Bravo has sold or listed 25 investments worth a total of $20 billion, four times their cost.
In October 2019, Thoma Bravo co-founder and managing partner Orlando Bravo was named the first Puerto Rican-born billionaire as he debuted at 287th place on the Forbes 400 ranking of the richest Americans.
Bravo began his professional career working in mergers and acquisitions for Morgan Stanley. In 1997, he joined Thoma Bravo's predecessor firm, Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, Inc. (TCEP.) In the early 2000s Carl Thoma, a co-founder of the firm, allowed Bravo to lead the acquisition of product distribution software provider Prophet 21. Bravo serves on Brown University's President Council and was a member of Stanford Law School Board of Visitors in 2006. In April 2019, Bravo committed a $25 million gift to Brown University that will establish two professorships and the Orlando Bravo Center for Economics Research. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island of Puerto Rico, Bravo donated $10 million through the Bravo Family Foundation's Podemos Puerto Rico Fund. Aid included chartering planes to carry cargo, including satellite phones, water, water purifiers, medicine and diapers. In May 2019, Bravo donated $100 million to the Bravo Family Foundation to promote entrepreneurship and economic development in Puerto Rico.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Bravo
https://www.marketscreener.com/DYNATRACE-INC-63216144/company/
Thoma Bravo recent large sales
Sold Solarwinds: $128.28m Dec 7th
https://finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1634641&tc=7
Dynatrace: $432.81m-Dec 9th
https://finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1813487&tc=7
Copper Hits 10-Year High Amid Supply Constraints And Infrastructure Plans
Copper futures hit their highest levels in ten years on Monday as several factors, including supply concerns, a weaker dollar, the Biden administration's plan to improve infrastructure, growth in renewable energy, and China's increasing demand, continue to fuel expectations of higher demand for the industrial metal.
The dollar continues to edge lower Monday amid speculation Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will not announce tapering at this week's meeting, fueling higher copper prices. Meanwhile, traders are concerned about supply due to a strike in Chile.
"We are in for a good run higher as we are having supply issues. Chilean port workers threatening to strike, which is a short-term issue, but will cause some trouble for shipments into China in an already tight concentrate market," commodities broker Anna Stablum of Marex Spectron told Reuters. "We are seeing some concerns about supply cuts in China due to environmental pressures," Stablum added. The resilience of copper prices suggests industrial use for copper in China continues.
The push for a massive infrastructure overhaul in the US has provided support for copper. The Biden administration proposed infrastructure investments of hundreds of billions of dollars to fuel growth in renewable energy. When it comes to renewable energy, copper plays a huge role in renewable energy technology, given its conductivity characteristics. On top of renewables, a shift towards a digital economy and rising demand for electronics to support the remote work lifestyle adds additional support to copper prices.
"Technology, semiconductors, data centers, and cellular towers all require significant copper usage," Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management, told MarketWatch. Meanwhile, "we have not seen an investment in new copper supply over the past few years, which means users have been competing for the relatively scarce supplies of copper, leaving price as the arbiter of who receives this supply," Haworth said. "Mine development is a long-term activity, leaving us with a tight market for some time."
Goldman Sachs recently called "copper the new oil." ... and it appears central banks have finally succeeded in unleashing inflation. The Fed continues to downplay soaring commodity prices as "transitory."
If copper is right, it will get messy pic.twitter.com/SD3OrUfyAD
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 21, 2021
The price of copper, lumber, soybeans, corn are all up double digits on a year-to-date basis.
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/metal-boom-copper-hits-10-year-high-amid-supply-constraints-and-infrastructure-plans
Bain sets up $1bn business succession fund focused on Japan
U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital has launched a new 110 billion yen ($1 billion) business sucession fund focused on mid-sized Japanese companies, Nikkei has learned.
Bain is expecting more Japanese companies to restructure and sell off subsidiaries and affiliates to cope with pressures brought on by the pandemic. Together with bank borrowing, Bain hopes to invest a total of 200 billion yen in 10 companies valued at between 20 billion yen and 50 billion yen each. By narrowing the target, Bain thinks it can be more agile in making investment decisions. Bain Capital is one of the largest U.S. investment funds, with assets worth a total of $130 billion globally. Bain entered Japan in 2006 and has invested in companies such as Kioxia Holdings Corp., formally known as Toshiba Memory Holdings.
Investment funds are particularly flush with cash now as the low interest rate environment has led to a global race for better-yielding assets, a development that could inflate accquisition prices. Even traditional banks are getting into the action by setting up business succession funds that offer succession financing for companies they already work for. Arguably, investment funds are still better suited to creating value from companies they acquire, given that their strategies are vastly different from those of banks whose core business is lending.
Several investment funds focused on Japanese companies have launched recently. Last year, U.S.-based equity fund Carlyle Group launched a 258 billion yen fund. The same year, Japan's Polaris Capital Group set up a 150 billion yen fund.
According to Recof which offers M&A advisory services, listed companies and their units sold the highest number of businesses they own in 11 years in 2020. The pandemic has forced normally slow-moving Japanese companies to pick up the pace in restructuring their businesses.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/Bain-sets-up-1bn-business-succession-fund-focused-on-Japan
oh yeah...can squeeze that sucker in with just about no problem-loaded up a heavy different story.
GINGR68 and FORTE10 USAF RQ-4B Global Hawk drones just east of Odessa over Black Sea