When buyout firm Thoma Bravo LLC was seeking lenders to finance its acquisition of business software company Anaplan Inc (PLAN.N) last month, it skipped banks and went directly to private equity lenders including Blackstone Inc (BX.N) and Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.N). Within eight days, Thoma Bravo secured a $2.6 billion loan based partly on annual recurring revenue, one of the largest of its kind, and announced the $10.7 billion buyout. The Anaplan deal was the latest example of what capital market insiders see as the growing clout of private equity firms’ lending arms in financing leveraged buyouts, particularly of technology companies.