Thrive Capital's AI holding company takes ADT private in $15.3B deal
What's the deal? Thrive Holdings, the permanent-capital arm set up last year by Joshua Kushner's venture firm Thrive Capital, has agreed to buy US home-security company ADTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in an all-cash deal that values it at about $7.6 billion in equity and $15.3 billion including debt, the companies announced on 29 October 2026. ADT shareholders get $10 a share, a 45.6% premium to the unaffected close of $6.87 on 27 October. ADT will leave the New York Stock Exchange.
Why it stands out: A firm best known as an early backer of tech companies is now taking a 150-year-old, NYSE-listed company private. Bloomberg calls it one of the largest bets yet for the Thrive offshoot. Thrive Holdings already owns more than 75 businesses in accounting, IT services and the built environment, where it builds AI tools into the day-to-day work. ADT, which has more than 12,000 employees, will become the base of a new smart-home security platform.
The money: Funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global ManagementDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → are providing all of the financing commitments, and the deal has no financing condition. Axios points out that Apollo used to own ADT: it took the company private in 2016, relisted it in 2018 and sold its last shares only five months ago. In August, Thrive Holdings raised more than $2 billion at a $12 billion valuation from investors including D1 Capital Partners, Altimeter and SoftBank, which took its total capital past $3 billion.
What they say: "ADT is pleased to enter into this transaction, which recognizes the value built by our more than 12,000 employees and delivers an attractive cash premium to our stockholders," said Jim DeVries, ADT's chairman, president and CEO. Thrive partner Kareem Zaki said Thrive will build on ADT's foundation "with the capital and patience to invest over decades."
What could go wrong? ADT can seek rival offers in a go-shop period that runs until 28 November 2026, with a possible 10-day extension for some bidders. The deal still needs approval from shareholders and US antitrust regulators, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. ADT says its data and privacy policies will not change and that no new data will be shared without customer permission.
The signal: In AI, venture capital is no longer just funding software sold to old-economy businesses. It is buying those businesses outright and running them. With Apollo's debt behind it, Thrive is betting that a nationwide, subscription-based security network can be rebuilt around AI. That puts a VC-born holding company in direct competition with traditional private equity for take-privates.
Read more: ADT, Bloomberg, Axios, The Verge
Image credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images via The Verge
