> Thoma-Cressy-Bravo is a private equity firm that purchased Embarcadero,
 > which was a public company, several years ago and took it private. TCB
 > (http://www.tcb.com/) and Embarcadero then went looking for another
 > company to "blend" into the the portfolio with EMBT. That was about the
 > time that CodeGear was still being shopped around. They looked like a
 > good match with very little overlap in similar markets. So TCB ponied
 > up more $$ and purchased CodeGear from Borland and then "assigned" the
 > asset to Embarcadero.
 >
 > When a PE firm does this kind of transaction, they represent a
 > consortium of many investors who give them $$ to invest. Generally,
 > they don't use all their $$ for one investment. They only put in what
 > they feel is an adequate amount of risk and will have the highest
 > return for their investors. The balance of the sale price is then taken
 > out in bank loans, with the company itself as collateral. These loans
 > are not put onto TCB's balance sheet, but are Embarcadero's to bear.
 > So, not only does the company have to pay back the investors, it also
 > on the hook to the banks that have also fronted a huge load of $$. Part
 > of the "terms" of the bank note is that the company must provide a
 > certain EBITDA (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/ebitda.asp) in
 > order for the bank to continue to provide "favorable" terms. This is
 > "normal" for many software firms in the industry. For instance,
 > AutomatedQA was purchased by another PE firm a couple years ago.
 >
 > Do not confuse this with venture capital, which has a whole different
 > set of common scenarios. PE investments are usually only done with
 > existing, stable, sometimes profitable, businesses or product lines.
 > VC, by contrast is way more gamble, gut feel, and like playing a game
 > of craps. VC can also pay off way more because the risk is way higher
 > too.