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Meridiam Bags $1.8 Billion | Secondary Strategies Rake In Capital
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Good morning! Today our Luis Garcia details Meridiam's plans to deploy its latest infrastructure fund, an over $1.8 billion vehicle with a focus on North America.
Next our Laura Kreutzer delves into fundraising for secondary strategies, where the market is hot by comparison to buyout funds.
We have these and many more deals, including exits, fundraisings, people moves and more collected for you below, so please breeze on down...
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One project Meridiam is leading is expected to upgrade a highway north of Atlanta, including new toll lanes. PHOTO: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE / GETTY IMAGES
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French investment manager Meridiam has raised more than $1.8 billion for its latest infrastructure fund focused on North America, as the firm seeks to capitalize on efforts by U.S. states to upgrade roads, airports and the power grid, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia reports. The Paris-based firm wrapped up its Meridiam Infrastructure North America Fund IV with more capital than the $1.7 billion goal for the vehicle. The new fund also surpassed the $1.2 billion that Meridiam collected for a predecessor pool that closed in 2017. Meridiam managed over €23 billion, or roughly $27 billion, at the end of last year.
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Secondary fundraising remains robust in 2025 with many established firms raising much larger capital pools than they did in the past and newcomers making a mark with sizable debut funds, WSJ Pro's Laura Kreutzer writes. “Secondaries have certainly been one bright spot from a fundraising perspective,” said Jared Davidson, partner at placement group Asante Capital Group. “I think it will only continue to go up for the rest of this year and probably into early next.”
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$1.64 Trillion
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The approximate value of U.S. M&A deals this year through September, up 32% from the first three quarters of last year, according to Dealogic data
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Big Brand sells tires and services cars and trucks from dozens of locations. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS / BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Percheron Capital has closed on a recapitalization of Big Brand Tire & Service through a nearly $1.63 billion single-asset continuation fund, according to an emailed news release. The oversubscribed deal was led by Blue Owl Capital, Iconiq Capital and Warburg Pincus. San Francisco-based Percheron first backed the Moorpark, Calif., chain in 2021 and since then it has increased profit by a factor of 15 while revenue rose 10-fold, according to the firm.
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Harwood Private Equity is acquiring London-listed financial adviser Frenkel Topping in a deal that values the company at around £65.8 million, or roughly $88.5 million, Nina Kienle reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The deal, including an expected dividend payment, represents a premium of 13% to Frenkel Topping's closing price of 45.5 pence on Monday.
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A report that BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners is nearing a deal to buy power company AES spurred a sharp rise in the Arlington, Va., utility's shares Wednesday, Colin Kellaher reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The deal, including debt, would be worth around $38 billion, according to the Financial Times report, which cited people briefed on the matter. The company had a market capitalization of about $9.37 billion based on Tuesday's closing price of $13.16 a share. On Wednesday, the shares gained almost 17% to close at $15.37 in New York.
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Ice-cream maker Froneri, the owner of the Haagen-Dazs brand in the U.S., is getting new investors in a 3.6 billion-euro ($4.22 billion) deal that is set to establish a new structure for the stake held by co-owner PAI Partners, Adria Calatayud and Aimee Look report for Dow Jones Newswires. Private-equity firm PAI said that it completed an equity transaction to reinvest into Froneri—a joint venture it formed with Nestle—that includes significant coinvestment from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and a new investment vehicle led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
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Antin Infrastructure Partners is buying a majority interest in Madrid-based airfreight carrier Swiftair Group. The company runs airfreight and leases planes across Europe, Africa and the Americas, generating about €342 million in revenue last year, equivalent to about $401.3 million.
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Spectrum Equity in Boston led a more than $180 million growth investment in risk modeling and analytics business CyberCube, joining backers such as ForgePoint Capital and Hudson Structured Capital Management (Bermuda). The company specializes in supporting suppliers of cyber insurance and reinsurance.
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Buyout firm KKR & Co. is adding to its pipeline investments with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. by making a minority investment in Adnoc Gas Pipeline Assets. The unspecified commitment follows the New York firm's initial pipeline deal with Adnoc in 2019.
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Bain Capital and Smith Hill Capital have refinanced the Westin New York Grand Central Hotel, which sits beside one of New York's bustling passenger rail terminals, committing $216 million. The hotel has 774 guest rooms and was renovated in 2021.
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Arlington Capital Partners backed Concord Biomedical Sciences and Emerging Technologies with a majority growth investment. The company provides translational research and product development services for medical device makers, pharmaceuticals developers, diagnostics companies and biomedical researchers.
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Midmarket investor H.I.G. Capital in Miami has acquired the France Workwear business of Rentokil Initial. The French operation provides clothing, linens and other items through rental agreements and subscriptions.
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Cerberus Ventures led a $54.4 million growth investment in DNA synthesis company Ansa Biotechnologies, joined by Blue Water Life Science Advisors and Fall Line Capital, among others. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing capacity.
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Lower midmarket investor Palm Peak Capital is backing Domaille Engineering through a corporate carve-out from Addman Engineering. The Rochester, Minn.-based business supplies fiber-optic cable manufacturers.
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Collaborative Fund led a more than $50 million growth investment in agentic artificial intelligence company Phaidra, joined by others including Index Ventures. Phaidra is developing AI agents to make data center operations more efficient.
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One Equity Partners is backing metal and fiberglass products distributor McNichols Co. The family-owned and -operated company in Tampa, Fla., has 19 service centers across the U.S. and employs about 320 people.
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Blue Sage Capital is backing Alexandria, Minn.-based Skid Pro Attachments, which recently combined with Accessories Unlimited. The company supplies attachments used with equipment in a variety of sectors including agriculture, vegetation management and snow-clearing.
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Susquehanna Growth Equity has invested in automotive business Tint World Automotive Styling Centers. This is the first time the company has accepted outside capital, which it intends to use to accelerate franchise development and enhance operational support for the brand.
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Lovell Minnick Partners is backing Valor PayTech, a provider of software and payment technology. This transaction marks the first institutional investment in Valor. The company plans to use the new capital to back its merchants, independent software vendors, independent sales organizations and channel partners.
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Jstar Capital Investments led a growth investment in digital healthcare company Significo, investing through its Horizon II fund.
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Burkhan Capital is leading a $300 million growth investment in Nasdaq-listed Robo.ai to help the Dubai-based company expand. The investment through a private placement in a two-year convertible note is expected to close by the end of October.
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Nuveen bought Ally Energy Solutions, which provides services to U.S. commercial and industrial customers. The firm invested through Nuveen Climate Inclusion Fund II, managed by its impact-investing team.
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Catchment Capital, which invests in midmarket industrial businesses, agreed to buy Fidus Systems, an Ottawa-based maker of advanced electronics.
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Artemis Capital Partners in Boston has acquired lyophilization instrumentation company Millrock Technology, which serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics industries.
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Our add-on deal interactive tool allows you to sort and analyze volumes of add-on deal data compiled by WSJ Pro. View more.
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Platinum Equity-backed Motors & Armatures has agreed to sell its parts division to strategic buyer CSW Industrials for $650 million in cash and a potential $20 million future earnout payment. The Hauppauge, N.Y.-based seller specializes in distributing heating and air conditioning equipment and supplies. Platinum first invested in the company in July 2024.
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Bregal Sagemount and FTV Capital sold part of their respective 29% and 25% stakes in flood insurance distributor Neptune Insurance Holdings when the St. Petersburg, Fla., managing general agent kicked off its initial public offering, which priced at $20, the top of its expected range, Reuters reported. The deal valued the company at about $2.76 billion. Bregal expected to sell more than 6.9 million shares while FTV aimed to part with just under 1 million shares, a securities filing shows. The shares jumped 24% in their trading debut Wednesday to close at $24.80 in New York.
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Resurgens Technology Partners has sold software company Verity to strategic buyer TMX Group. Verity's research management and data analytics programs are used by more than 300 institutional investors. The Atlanta-based private-equity investor first backed one of the company's predecessors in 2019.
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Crestview Partners has sold Elo Touch Solutions to strategic buyer Zebra Technologies, which agreed to pay $1.3 billion in cash. Elo provides touchscreen technology for retail, hospitality and other sectors. Crestview acquired Elo in 2018.
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The infrastructure group of CVC Capital Partners is selling its interests in Portuguese highway concessions Norte Litoral and Algarve to Igneo Infrastructure Partners, an affiliate of asset manager First Sentier Group. CVC first invested in the concessions in 2017.
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Brookfield Asset Management has collected over $4 billion so far for Brookfield Infrastructure Debt Fund IV, which invests in high-yield debt issued to finance infrastructure assets and issued by businesses with regulated, contracted, or concession-based cash flows. The New York-based firm has held a first close for the vehicle. Investors in the fund include the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, which pledged as much as $100 million last year. A predecessor fund closed in 2023 with about $6 billion.
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Hamilton Lane has set up an evergreen growth-investment fund tailored to attract qualified individual investors in areas outside the U.S. The Conshohocken, Pa.-based firm is offering the Hamilton Lane Global Venture Capital and Growth Fund to individual and institutional investors in parts of Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East as well as Canada and Australia. Hamilton Lane manages or oversees about $986 billion.
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Zenzic Capital, a firm with experience in real-estate credit and special situations, has established its Zenzic Real Estate Credit Opportunities Fund. The new European opportunistic credit evergreen fund is anchored by funds managed by GCM Grosvenor, which has $86 billion of assets under management.
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Dave Tayeh, a former senior private equity executive with Investcorp, and longtime management and turnaround consultant Jay Alix have set up a new firm, Tayeh Capital Group, with backing from GCM Grosvenor's Elevate Fund. Tayeh has also worked for CVC Capital Partners. The new firm aims to invest in family-owned, rapidly growing middle-market companies in the business services sector.
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Francisco Partners has added Oliver Dowden, a former British deputy prime minister, as an adviser, Sebastian McCarthy reports for sister publication Private Equity News in London. The Conservative member of Parliament for Hertsmere joins a lengthy list of former U.K. ministers who have moved into private markets firms.
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Apollo Global Management has named Jaycee Pribulsky as a partner and chief sustainability officer, replacing Dave Stangis, who is moving to a senior adviser role next year prior to retiring. He was the New York firm's first CSO, serving in the capacity since 2021. Pribulsky was previously CSO for shoe and apparel company Nike.
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Midmarket-focused Blue Wolf Capital Partners is adding Taylor Cole as an operating partner focused on industrial investments. He was most recently chief executive of Canam Steel.
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European growth investor Revaia has added Thomas Paillet as chief financial officer and Clara Yeremian as senior financial controller while appointing Gary Roth as portfolio operations advisor and Dorothée Madjour as office manager and executive assistant, according to an emailed news release.
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A resurgence in special-purpose acquisition companies hasn't drawn in private equity and venture capital firms as SPAC sponsors, S&P Global Market Intelligence reports. Initial public offerings by blank-check companies raised $18.05 billion globally this year through Sept. 11, nearly double the amount raised in all of last year, but none were backed by private equity or venture firms, S&P said.
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The investment management arm of insurer Generali has acquired a 77% stake in MGG Investment Group, a U.S. private direct lending investment firm with over $6.5 billion in assets under management, according to an emailed news release. Founded in 2014, MGG provides capital to mid-size and growing middle-market companies.
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Nuveen has established an infrastructure investment operation led by Jessica Bailey and said it has segregated its firmwide activities into six groups focused on separate asset classes. The other groups invest in property, farmland and timber, private debt, fixed-income and public equities.
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Apollo Global Management-backed aviation lender PK AirFinance has wrapped up its second asset-backed security of the year, PK Alift Loan Funding 7 Series 2025-2, with about $827 million.
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