On paper, Thoma Bravo’s $2bn deal to buy a specialist software company for call centre workers last year was not especially noteworthy. But in the months since, its acquisition of Verint has come to be seen as a bellwether moment.
The takeover negotiations unfolded over the course of a year in which the disruptive power of AI was coming into clearer view. The US private equity group was forced to cut its acquisition price by about a third as Verint’s stock plunged amid rising investor concern about how novel AI algorithms might replace its services at a lower cost.
Then when banks that provided financing for Thoma Bravo’s purchase later went to sell the debt, few buyers emerged. The banks, led by Santander, were able to offload just $1.5bn of the loan at a significant loss, leaving them holding a large stockpile of unsellable debt just as AI fears began to percolate on Wall Street.