By Roman Aglaganov
One of the oldest names in home security is about to be owned by a company built to remake businesses with AI. On 29 October ADT agreed to be acquired by Thrive Holdings for $10 a share in cash, valuing its equity at about $7.6 billion and the whole business, including debt, at about $15.3 billion.
Who is buying
Thrive Holdings was spun out of Thrive Capital, the venture firm run by Josh Kushner. Its business is buying companies to hold for the long term and “revitalizing them with AI”, as TechCrunch puts it, and it says it already owns more than 75. OpenAI is both an investor and a partner: it supplies AI models and technology, and engineers who work inside Thrive’s companies.
The terms
The price is a 45.6% premium to ADT’s closing share price of $6.87 on 27 October. Funds managed by affiliates of Apollo are providing the financing. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to approval by ADT’s stockholders and US antitrust clearance, after which ADT will leave the New York Stock Exchange. Until 28 November ADT may look for a better offer.
Neither company has said what AI products it plans. ADT says it will form “the foundation of Thrive Holdings’ smart home security business”, and Thrive partner Kareem Zaki said: “We intend to build on that foundation by strengthening ADT’s technology and product capabilities.”
The data question
A security company knows when people are home, which doors open and, for some customers, what their cameras see. ADT’s announcement addresses that directly: its data and privacy policies will stay the same, and no new data sharing will happen without customers’ permission. “Protecting customers’ homes also means protecting their data,” said Thrive partner Anuj Mehndiratta. Customers will want to watch whether that promise survives the arrival of new AI features.
