JPMorgan’s Direct Lending Arm Leads a Group of Lenders to Provide $600M Debt Financing to Back HIG and Thoma Bravo’s Buy of CompTIA Brand and Products; Pricing in the SOFR+500 Bps Area

Reporting: Paola Aurisicchio, Armie Margaret Lee
JPMorgan’s direct lending arm is leading a group of lenders providing a $600 million debt financing package to back private equity firms H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Computing Technology Industry Association’s, or CompTIA, brand and products, according to sources.

The debt financing includes a $450 million term loan, a $100 million delayed-draw term loan and a $50 million revolver. Pricing on the term loan is in the SOFR+500 bps area, according to sources.

The original issue discount is 99 cents on the dollar, a source close to the deal said.

JPMorgan’s direct lending arm is the lead left on the transaction. Additional lenders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, or PSP Investments, Apollo and InterBank, sources said.

H.I.G. and Thoma Bravo on Nov. 4 announced the deal, which is expected to close in early 2025.

Downers Grove, Ill.-based CompTIA provides training and certifications in cybersecurity, networking and cloud computing, among others.

After the close of the transaction, CompTIA will operate as a for-profit company under H.I.G. and Thoma Bravo’s ownership. Its existing membership-based, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization will be separated from CompTIA and continue to service the IT industry, according to the announcement.

H.I.G. Capital is an alternative investment firm with $65 billion of capital under management, the release said. Software-focused investor Thoma Bravo has approximately $160 billion in assets under management as of June 30.

Recent deal activity in the technology training space includes Leeds Equity Partners’ acquisition of cybersecurity training company OffSec from Spectrum Equity in October. In August, cybersecurity training firm Cyberbit Inc. announced a new round of funding from existing backers including Charlesbank Capital Partners. Charlesbank earlier invested $70 million in Cyberbit in 2020.

Private loans to the information technology sector are held by several business development companies. As an example, AllianceBernstein Private Credit Investors Corp. holds a portion of a revolver to Brightstop Buyer due Nov. 16, 2027, and priced at SOFR+650 bps, according to Octus’ BDC Database. Apollo Debt Solutions BDC holds a portion of a first lien loan to Advantage Sales and Marketing due Oct. 28, 2027, and priced at SOFR+451 bps, according to the same database.

Thoma Bravo, JPMorgan and PSP Investments declined to comment.

H.I.G. Capital, CompTIA, Apollo and InterBank did not respond to requests for comment.