Thoma Bravo to close $2.3 billion ForgeRock deal after DOJ nod – Bloomberg News

(Reuters) – Private equity firm Thoma Bravo will complete its $2.3 billion acquisition of software firm ForgeRock after the U.S. Department of Justice declined to challenge the deal, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday citing people familiar with the decision.

The transaction could close as early as this week, the report added.

Anti-trust lawyers from the Justice Department had launched a probe over concerns the acquisition would hurt competition in identity management and related software space.

The companies approached top officials from the department last month and also moved its antitrust review deadline to Aug. 22, giving the agency more time to consider additional information for its decision, the Bloomberg report said.

Thoma Bravo agreed to buy ForgeRock at $23.25 per share in October and had said at the time it expected the deal to close in the first half of 2023.

The Justice Department declined to comment. ForgeRock and Thoma Bravo did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The Biden Administration has taken a strong position against mergers and acquisitions which it thinks hurts competition in the market. Thoma Bravo also owns one of ForgeRock’s main competitors, Ping Identity.

San Francisco-based ForgeRock provides identity and access management solutions to enterprises.