Thrive Holdings, backed by OpenAI, buys ADT for $7.6 billion to build a domestic security pole doped with AI

Thrive Capital's holding company offers $10 per share for the specialist in remote surveillance, valued $15.3 billion including debt.

Thrive Holdings, the investment structure created by Thrive Capital, Josh Kushner's venture capital fund, announced on October 29 the acquisition of ADT, one of the big American names in alarm and remote monitoring. The offer amounts to $10 per share, or about $7.6 billion for equity and $15.3 billion in enterprise value according to ADT. The transaction remains to be finalized: ADT's press release speaks of a company "set to be acquired".

The Thrive Model: Buyback, Then Transform with AI

Thrive Holdings claims more than 75 companies in its portfolio, which it intends to keep in the long term by modernizing them with AI. OpenAI, both a partner and an investor, provides its models and seconds engineers to these companies. ADT is intended to serve as the foundation for a connected home security business, but no new AI products have yet been presented.

The market is hotly contested: Apple has just launched home security products with LG and Schneider Electric, and Amazon has renewed its range with AI-enabled cameras. ADT, a partner of Apple and Google, is expected to keep these agreements.