Azul announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to receive a majority strategic investment from Thoma Bravo, marking a significant expansion milestone for the enterprise Java platform provider. Existing investors Vitruvian Partners and Lead Edge Capital will reinvest additional capital and retain meaningful minority positions, joining Azul employees as shareholders.
The investment is intended to fuel Azul’s global expansion and strengthen its position as the leading independent provider of enterprise-grade Java solutions. Azul delivers high performance, security, and cost efficiency through its platform offerings, including Platform Core, Platform Prime, and Intelligence Cloud, enabling customers to run Java applications faster and more economically across hybrid and cloud environments. The company supports mission-critical workloads for a large global customer base that includes 36 percent of the Fortune 100, the world’s ten largest banks, and numerous multinational enterprises.
Demand for scalable, secure, and cost-efficient Java solutions continues to grow as enterprises modernize their environments and transition away from legacy Java offerings. The new investment is designed to accelerate Azul’s engineering roadmap, including advancements in runtime performance, observability, and security tooling, and to expand its reach in the enterprise and cloud markets.
Vitruvian Partners and Lead Edge Capital, which backed the company through several years of consistent global expansion, will deepen their commitments under the new ownership structure. Thoma Bravo’s involvement brings substantial operational expertise and resources to support Azul’s next phase of growth.
Advisors/counsel: Goodwin Procter served as legal advisor and William Blair served as financial advisor to Thoma Bravo. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor and Guggenheim Securities served as financial advisor to Azul. Debt financing is being provided by funds affiliated with Ares Management.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re thrilled to welcome Thoma Bravo at this exciting time for our company and the Java ecosystem. Thoma Bravo brings the scale, resources, and expertise that align seamlessly with Azul’s vision and aspirations, strengthening our confidence in the significant growth opportunities ahead. We are grateful for their investment as well as for the continued backing from Vitruvian and Lead Edge. Together, we’ll accelerate our global growth, advance innovation across our platforms and deliver even greater value to our customers.”
Scott Sellers, Co-Founder and CEO, Azul
“As enterprises move away from legacy Java offerings and face rising cloud infrastructure costs, demand for Azul’s enterprise-ready, scalable, secure and cost-efficient Java solutions has never been stronger.”
Adam Solomon, Partner, Thoma Bravo
“Azul’s superior technology foundation and talented and established team position the company for accelerated growth at this dynamic time in the Java market. We are excited to support Azul as they build on their impressive history of growth and leadership.”
Chandler Gay, Vice President, Thoma Bravo
“We’re very proud of the partnership we have formed with the Azul executive team to help deliver strong and consistent global growth over the past five years and are delighted to continue supporting Azul in its next chapter. We are excited to welcome Thoma Bravo as Azul’s new majority owner and to deepen our commitment as Azul builds on its track record of exceptional results and success and pursues the significant opportunities ahead.”
Sophie Bower-Straziota, Partner, Vitruvian Partners
