Thoma Bravo jumps onto Riverbed

WAN optimisation vendor taken private in $3.5bn deal

Riverbed has ceased trading on NASDAQ as investor Thoma Bravo completes its acquisition of the firm.

The application infrastructure vendor announced its intention to go private in December and since then sold its application delivery controller business to Brocade as it looked to focus on its core business.

In an announcement made at the weekend, Riverbed said Thoma Bravo's takeover bid was given the green light in a deal valued at $3.5bn (£2.3bn), prompting it to retire from NASDAQ.

Riverbed's chief executive Jerry Kennelly said being private is better for the company's future.

"With this acquisition now complete, our team can begin to move forward with the strategic initiatives that will take us to the next stage of growth," he said.

"As a private company, Riverbed is better positioned to pursue our long-term goals, and has greater flexibility to develop best-of-breed technologies that deliver superior application performance for our customers. This flexibility, alongside Thoma Bravo's deep experience growing companies in the application performance space, makes us very excited about the future."