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Calpers Considers New Strategies | Sightway Capital Raises $1.2 Billion Debut Fund
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Good day! This morning here in the U.S., the House Financial Services Committee will conduct a hearing on the activities of private investment funds. If the preliminary memorandum is any indication, those that represent the industry in front of the committee are in for a tough grilling. Stay tuned for more on the hearings in tomorrow’s edition. None of the people scheduled to speak at the hearing actually currently work at a private-equity firm.
Meanwhile, in this morning’s top news, Chris Cumming reports on how the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation’s largest state pension fund manager, is considering how it can pump more capital into its private-equity portfolio as it tries to reach its 8% target to the asset class. Also, Luis Garcia has details of Sightway Capital’s first fund, which wrapped up with $1.2 billion, and I have news on NexPhase Capital’s newest deal.
Read on for more details on these and other stories...
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Calpers Weighs New Strategies to Hit Elusive Private-Equity Target
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The California Public Employees' Retirement System headquarters in Sacramento. PHOTO: MAX WHITTAKER/REUTERS
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With its private-equity portfolio shrinking, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System is looking at ways to pump it back up, WSJ Pro Private Equity's Chris Cumming writes. The public pension plan, which with almost $379 billion under management is the largest in the U.S., is aiming to restart a co-investment program, expand its roster of fund managers and use more separate accounts as part of its goal to invest up to $10 billion a year in private equity. Its allocation is currently 7.1%, below the 8% target.
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Sightway Capital Raises $1.2 Billion Debut Fund
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Sightway Capital, the private-equity firm spun out of quantitative hedge-fund Two Sigma Investments, has raised $1.2 billion from limited partners for its strategy targeting data-intensive financial services and real assets, Luis Garcia writes for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Institutional investors of various types backed Sightway Capital I LP, according to the New York-based private-equity firm. The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust, for one, earlier this year committed $500 million to the fund, according to public pension documents.
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$100 Billion
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The amount Brookfield Asset Management Inc. expects to raise starting as early as 2021 from its next round of fundraising for its flagship funds, including Oaktree Capital Management's main distressed credit fund.
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NexPhase Capital Backs Professional Education Company Surgent
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Two tax preparation professionals at work. NexPhase Capital is investing in Surgent Professional Education, which provides courses in accounting, finance and health care. PHOTO: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
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NexPhase Capital, a midmarket private-equity firm launched by former executives of Moelis Capital Partners, has backed Surgent Professional Education, a provider of training technology and services. Surgent, of Radnor, Pa., offers professional education from prelicensure to continuing education courses for accounting, finance and health-care workers. The company historically focused on accounting and tax professionals, according to a news release. However, earlier this year, it expanded into health care with the acquisition of Pharmaceutical Education Consultants Inc. and is currently in the process of rebranding, according to NexPhase.
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Vista Equity Partners has agreed to buy a majority stake in Sonatype Inc., a developer of open-source governance and software supply-chain management systems based in Fulton, Md. Several of the company’s existing investors will retain stakes in the company, according to a news release, although it didn't name those investors. One firm that has previously disclosed an investment in the company is TPG Capital, which backed the firm through its $1.5 billion TPG Tech Adjacencies LP fund, WSJ Pro Private Equity
previously reported.
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Arlington Capital Partners has acquired Doncasters Group's Blaenavon forging business, which will operate as a stand-alone company based in the U.K.’s South Wales region. The company’s forged metal products are used in aerospace and military engines.
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Advent International has agreed to acquire a majority interest in Bharat Serums & Vaccines Ltd., which focuses on women’s health care, assisted reproductive treatment, critical care and emergency medicine in India and emerging markets. The deal will enable two earlier investors, OrbiMed Advisors LLC and Kotak Private Equity Group, to exit their stakes in the company, Advent said in a news release. The deal is expected to close by year-end.
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Private equity-backed CDP Holdings Ltd., a human resources management and outsourcing company based in Shanghai, has registered to sell $125 million in American depositary shares that will trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Backers of the company include the North Haven Private Equity Asia IV fund managed by Morgan Stanley’s private-equity arm, which holds a 10% stake; China Broadband Capital Partners II LP, held by Edward Tian’s CBC Partners II, with 14%; and Investor AB, a holding company for Sweden’s Wallenberg family, with 12%, a regulatory filing shows. The company plans to use the proceeds to enhance its CDC EcoSaaS software-as-a-service offering
and to expand its market in China and abroad.
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Vista Equity Partners has agreed to acquire travel and airline software provider Accelya Holding World SL through its permanent capital fund Vista Equity Partners Perennial, the company said in a news release. The deal will provide an exit for Warburg Pincus, which backed the Barcelona-based company in 2017.
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Private-equity firm Hanover Investors has offered to acquire Brady PLC shares for 18 pence each in cash, valuing the provider of trading, risk-management and settlement solutions at £15 million ($19.3 million), through its Hanover Acquisition Ltd. vehicle, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The mandatory offer follows the firm’s acquisition of a 46.1% stake in Brady from Kestrel Partners and Coltrane Master Fund LP. Brady had said an unnamed suitor had approached with a rival offer, and has until Dec. 9 to counter Hanover’s bid.
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HKW, the midmarket firm formerly known as Hammond, Kennedy & Whitney Co., said it has acquired John M. Floyd & Associates Inc., which provides software and consulting services for regional and community banks as well as credit unions.
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York Capital-backed Mode Transportation has agreed to acquire SunteckTTS, a portfolio company of Comvest Partners, and form a single Dallas-based enterprise under the Mode brand. The expanded transportation and logistics company is expected to have more than $2 billion in annual revenue and will continue to be backed by both firms. The deal is expected to close by year-end.
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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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Lineage Logistics LLC, the largest refrigerated-storage company in the world by space, is expanding in the Asia-Pacific region with a deal to buy upstart Emergent Cold from hedge fund Elliott Management Corp., Jennifer Smith reports for The Wall Street Journal's Logistics Report.
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Washington-based midmarket firm Arlington Capital Partners has agreed to sell geospatial data provider Quantum Spatial Inc. to publicly traded NV5 Global Inc. for $303 million. Arlington formed Quantum Spatial in 2013 by using existing portfolio company AeroMetric to acquire two companies and combine them into one platform.
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Riverside Co. has sold most of its stake in educational technology company N2y LLC to fellow private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners. Based in Huron, Ohio, N2y offers software, curriculum and other special-education tools for grade schools. Riverside, which will retain a minority stake in the company alongside N2y’s management, initially backed the company in 2016.
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Asian secondary investment specialist NewQuest Capital Partners has closed its latest fund dedicated to the strategy, NewQuest Asia Fund IV LP, with $1 billion in capital commitments. The funding level exceeded both the initial target of $850 million and the original hard cap of $950 million, the firm said. It will provide liquidity alternatives for private-equity investments in the region. Also, the firm said Nitin Agarwal has joined the firm as a managing director in Mumbai. He previously co-led CLSA Ltd.’s private-equity operations in India.
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Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said Stephane Etroy has decided to step down from his role as executive vice president and head of international private equity to spend more time with his young family in London. The Canadian pension said it has appointed Charles Émond as executive vice president of Québec, private equity and strategic planning.
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Charlesbank Capital Partners has hired William Eisenbeis as an advisory director, focusing on financial technology. He joined the firm from Saroras Private Capital, where he was a managing director. Previously, he was an operating partner with Welsh Carson Anderson & Stow, according to his LinkedIn page.
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Warburg Pincus has named Anesa Chaibi as an industry adviser in its industrial and business services group, helping to spot new investment opportunities in distribution and other sectors. She is a former chief executive of Optimas Solutions, a global supply-chain management company.
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Monroe Capital said it has added four professionals to its opportunistic credit team. Jason Starr and Darrick Ginkel are joining as managing directors in the firm's New York office, while Joseph Valickus will be a director there. Chris Spanel is joining as an assistant vice president in the firm's Chicago office.
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Private-equity firms identified as culprits in sending retailers into bankruptcy and named in prepared testimony for a congressional hearing on Tuesday in Washington include KKR & Co., Sun Capital Partners, Alden Global Capital, Invesco, Bain Capital, Leonard Green & Partners and Cerberus Capital Management. The hearing before the Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives aims to focus on private equity and the Stop Wall Street Looting Act, sponsored in the House by Rep. Mark Pocan (D., Wis.) and others and in the Senate by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.). The proceedings
can be viewed on the committee’s YouTube channel.
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Several wealthy families and investment firms, including private-equity firms, have received an early $700 million payout from a once-troubled unit of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. that has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround since the financial crisis, according to The Wall Street Journal. The group that bought Hartford’s Talcott Resolution unit in 2018 was led by investors that included Cornell Capital LLC and Atlas Merchant Capital LLC.
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Vista Equity Partners has opened a Singapore office for its Vista Consulting Group. The office will serve as the Asia headquarters for the consulting operation, expanding Vista's presence in Southeast Asia and providing additional operational support for the firm’s regional portfolio companies and their almost 14,000 employees.
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Investment analytics and data provider Cepres GmbH has unveiled a new digital investment platform for private markets participants, including support for buyout, venture, credit, infrastructure and private-equity funds. The system allows collaboration through a secure online environment, the Munich-based company said.
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LEAVE THIS BOX EMPTY
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