Boca Raton's ADT agrees to go private, with Apollo's funds backing the buyer

ADT agreed to be bought, with Apollo's funds behind the buyer

ADT, the Boca Raton home-alarm company, agreed Oct. 29 to be bought by Thrive Holdings for $10 a share in cash. Its stockholders would get 45.6% more than the stock's price before the news, the companies say. ADT would go private, meaning its shares would stop trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Thrive Holdings is a holding company whose businesses span accounting, IT services and the built environment, the release says.

Why it matters: Funds run by affiliates of Apollo Global Management are backing the buyer. Apollo's funds bought ADT in 2016 and sold their last shares in May. They committed to lend the buyer money and to buy a preferred stake, which is paid ahead of ordinary shares, in its parent company. Until Nov. 28, ADT may look for a better bid from another buyer, though Thrive can match it.

The buyer's own affiliate also committed equity, and neither the filing nor the release gives the size of any commitment. ADT would become the base of Thrive's smart home security business. The deal needs a stockholder vote and U.S. antitrust approval, and the companies expect it to close early next year.

The deal

ADT signed the merger agreement on Oct. 29 with Abode Parent, LLC, the buyer's vehicle, and its merger company, ADT's filing with the SEC shows. Each ADT share, including its Class B shares, would turn into $10.00 in cash. The board approved the agreement unanimously.

The companies' joint release values ADT at about $7.6 billion for its stock and $15.3 billion including debt. The $10 is a 45.6% premium to ADT's closing price of $6.87 on Oct. 27, before the deal was public, and 52.1% above its average price over the 30 days to that date.

Yahoo Finance reported the same price, the $7.6 billion value and the 45.6% premium on Oct. 29. It reported that ADT stock jumped 34% that day to around $9.93 a share, on pace for its highest close since August 2021.

The release calls Thrive Holdings a permanent capital holding company. Yahoo Finance describes it as "a private capital group founded by Josh Kushner." No filing we read names him.

Who is paying for it

The buyer has three financing commitments, the filing says. An affiliate of the buyer committed equity and guaranteed some of the buyer's duties to ADT, including a $473 million fee. Funds managed by Apollo affiliates committed to buy preferred equity in Abode Superior Holdings, LLC, a parent company of the buyer. The same Apollo funds committed the debt. The deal does not depend on the buyer getting financing.

The release puts it more broadly: "Financing commitments for the transaction have been solely provided by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc." The filing also lists the equity commitment from the buyer's own affiliate. Neither document gives the size of any commitment.

TheStreet and SecurityInfoWatch each reported that the financing comes from funds managed by Apollo affiliates. SecurityInfoWatch reported that Apollo is "now fully out of ADT equity."

Apollo's history with ADT

On May 2, 2016, a company controlled by Apollo funds completed its purchase of The ADT Corporation, paying $42.00 a share in cash, ADT's 2018 prospectus says. Financier Worldwide valued that deal at $6.9 billion. The prospectus puts the total price at $12.1 billion, counting $3.55 billion of debt taken on.

ADT sold shares to the public again in 2018 at $14.00 each, under a prospectus dated Jan. 18, 2018. Funds tied to Apollo kept a majority of the voting power afterward, it said.

On May 4, 2026, ADT and Apollo-managed entities agreed to sell 102,000,366 ADT shares in an offering underwritten by Barclays and Citigroup. The sale closed May 5. The banks paid the Apollo sellers $7.25 a share, about $739.5 million before expenses, the offering document shows. ADT itself bought 29,142,961 of those shares from the banks at the same price, about $211 million by our arithmetic, and said it intended to cancel them.

Three directors Apollo had named resigned on May 5 "in relation to the sale by Apollo of all of its remaining shares," ADT's filing says. Apollo's own filing reports it owned none of ADT's stock as of May 5 and calls itself an "exit filing." TheStreet and SecurityInfoWatch put the May sale at $770 million; the filings show about $739.5 million.

The window for a better bid

Until 11:59 p.m. New York time on Nov. 28, ADT may seek other offers, the release says. Bidders that make an offer in that window can get about 10 more days, through Dec. 8, the filing says. The buyer has a right to match before ADT can switch to a better proposal.

If ADT leaves for a better offer, it pays the buyer $227 million. The fee is $114 million if it leaves during the shopping window, or with a qualifying bidder during the extra days. The buyer owes ADT $473 million in some cases, including if it fails to close when required. Either side may walk away if the deal is not done by July 29, 2027.

On the same day, the board's compensation committee added chief executive James DeVries, Jeffrey Likosar and David Smail to its change-in-control severance plan. The filing says they were the only eligible officers not already in the plan, and that the committee acted "to ensure uniformity of treatment of eligible officers." The filing gives no payout amounts.

Their side

Jim DeVries, ADT's chairman, president and chief executive, said the deal "recognizes the value built by our more than 12,000 employees and delivers an attractive cash premium to our stockholders." Kareem Zaki, a Thrive Holdings partner, said Thrive intends to strengthen "ADT's technology and product capabilities, with the capital and patience to invest over decades." The release says ADT's data and privacy policies will not change.

Apollo did not comment in what we read.

What's next

What's next: ADT reports third-quarter results on Tuesday, Nov. 3, before the market opens, and will take no questions on its 10 a.m. call. The window for other offers closes at 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 28. The deal then needs a stockholder vote and U.S. antitrust approval, and the companies expect it to close in the first quarter of 2027.

Advisers: Citi and Goldman Sachs and the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore for ADT; Evercore and Kirkland & Ellis for Thrive Holdings, the release says.

Sources we read

ADT Inc., Form 8-K, Oct. 29, 2026, and its joint release with Thrive Holdings (Exhibit 99.1). ADT Inc., Form 8-K, May 8, 2026, and final prospectus supplement, May 2026. Apollo entities, Schedule 13G/A, May 7, 2026. ADT Inc., IPO prospectus, Jan. 18, 2018. Yahoo Finance, Oct. 29, by Grace O'Donnell. TheStreet via Yahoo Finance, Oct. 29. SecurityInfoWatch, Oct. 29, by Paul Rothman. Financier Worldwide, April 2016.