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Providence Equity Targets $6 Billion | Bain Capital Aims for $1.5 Billion | GPB Capital Plans Distribution | Oaktree Cruise Venture Bogs Down
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Good day and happy Thanksgiving in advance, for those who celebrate the U.S. holiday. The private-equity industry has plenty to be thankful for this year, from the astonishing pace of dealmaking and fundraising to the prospect of sharply higher bonuses. All the stuff for some very merry celebrations indeed.
In news today, our Preeti Singh offers a look at Providence Equity Partners’ plans to raise $6 billion for its newest fund, its first campaign since founder Jonathan Nelson moved into an executive chairman’s role. Also, Preeti has news about Bain Capital’s plans to collect $1.5 billion for its second Tech Opportunities fund.
In other matters, I update the GPB Capital file with news that the firm has closed on the sale of nearly all of its auto dealers and is developing a plan to distribute some proceeds to investors. They’ve had a long wait. Finally, our WSJ Pro Bankruptcy colleague Alexander Saeedy reports that an Oaktree Capital cruise venture is looking at raising fresh capital amid boatbuilding delays.
We have these stories and many more condensed and linked for you below, so please read on...
Also, please note: The WSJ Pro Private Equity newsletter team is taking a break for the long holiday weekend but will be back in your inboxes on Monday, Nov. 29.
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Jonathan Nelson is the executive chairman of Providence Equity Partners. PHOTO: MARK KAUZLARICH/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Providence Equity Partners, one of the oldest sector-focused private-equity firms, is seeking $6 billion for its newest private-equity fund and WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Preeti Singh has the scoop. The fund is Providence’s first flagship fundraising effort since the firm completed a leadership transition earlier this year that saw founder Jonathan Nelson move to an executive chairman position.
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Bain Capital is pitching investors on its second technology-focused fund with a goal of raising $1.5 billion barely a year after wrapping up the strategy’s debut fund with $1.25 billion, Preeti Singh reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The New Mexico State Investment Council committed up to $60 million to the vehicle, Bain Capital Tech Opportunities Fund II LP, according to David Lee, the director of private equity for the council, which manages $34 billion of assets for four permanent funds. Bain Capital is committing $150 million to the fund, Mr. Lee said.
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GPB Capital Holdings has closed its sale of auto dealerships after settling a yearslong legal dispute tied to its acquisition of many of the same assets, paying a self-proclaimed whistleblower $30 million, Ted Bunker reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The New York private-equity firm, which faces civil fraud claims filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it is working on a plan to distribute some of the proceeds to investors. GPB Capital hasn’t paid promised monthly distributions since 2018.
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Oaktree Capital Management LP’s luxury-cruise venture Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is exploring raising fresh financing amid construction delays and pandemic restrictions that repeatedly postponed a planned launch of luxury liners, Alexander Saeedy reports for WSJ Pro Bankruptcy, citing people familiar with the matter.
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$130 Trillion
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The amount of private capital held or controlled by 450 firms that is committed to transforming the economy with a Net Zero climate-change target, according to FactSet.
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A bank stocks tote board displays Aareal Bank’s trading symbol at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. PHOTO: ARNE DEDERT / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE / GETTY IMAGES
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Advent International and Centerbridge Partners are leading a group of investors that have agreed to offer €29 per share in cash to take private Germany’s Aareal Bank AG, valuing the lender at about €1.74 billion, or roughly $1.95 billion, according to a news release. The bank said it is working with the group and its directors have agreed to the prospective deal, which would represent a roughly 35% premium to Aareal’s volume-weighted average price over three months before talks with the investors were confirmed in October. Aareal shares climbed 4% to close at €29.22 in Frankfurt trading Tuesday.
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MiddleGround Capital said it has backed the third platform out of its second fund in the past two weeks with the acquisition of Race Winning Brands, a Mentor, Ohio-based company that designs and manufactures automotive and powersports aftermarket products. MiddleGround said in a press release that it had raised more than $1 billion for its second fund and a parallel “overflow” fund focused on the firm’s mobility strategy. MiddleGround also said in the press release that over the past 60 days the firm has backed eight deals with a combined enterprise value of $1.4 billion.
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Insight Partners led a $60 million investment in mobile apps development company Bitrise Ltd., joined by existing backers of the Budapest, Hungary-based company. Bitrise works with app developers to help them accelerate product development and manage mobile operations and workflows, according to a news release.
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Growth investor FTV Capital led a $130 million investment in patient scheduling company Luma Health Inc. The San Francisco-based software maker provides systems that are used for scheduling appointments and communicating with patients. Existing backers of the company joined FTV in the series C round, according to a news release.
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Avatar Growth Capital led a $30 million investment in software-as-a-service provider Cloudenablers Inc., which operates as CoreStack, joined by existing investors Dallas Venture Capital, Iron Pillar and others, according to a news release. The series B round is expected to help the Bellevue, Wash.-based company expand the market for its cloud-based management software.
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Marlin Equity Partners has backed a strategic investment in Technology Partners LLC, which does business as ImagineSoftware and provides medical billing and revenue cycle management software and technology. The deal provides an exit for Denver-based private-equity firm Mountaingate Capital, which invested in Charlotte, N.C.-based ImagineSoftware in 2018.
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AnaCap Financial Partners, a midmarket private-equity firm focused on technology-enabled financial services businesses, said it has made a majority growth investment in FinTech fintus GmbH, a Frankfurt, Germany provider of low-code software for the financial services industry.
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Palisades Growth Capital has acquired a majority interest in scheduling software maker Qless Inc. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company’s products are used by companies, healthcare providers, schools and government agencies to manage wait times for people seeking services. A number of family offices joined Palisades in backing the company, according to a news release.
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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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CVC Capital Partners has agreed to sell flight booking provider Etraveli Group to publicly traded Booking Holdings Inc. for €1.63 billion, the equivalent of $1.83 billion. CVC initially agreed to buy Sweden-based Etraveli in 2017 from ProSiebenSat.1 in a deal that valued the company at €508 million, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. In a 2017 press release, CVC said it would fund its acquisition of the travel booking company out of its sixth main fund. That fund secured
€10.5 billion in investor commitments in 2013, CVC said at the time. Etraveli will operate as an independent business under Booking, whose brands also include Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Rentalcars.com, KAYAK and OpenTable.
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Midmarket firm Staple Street Capital said it has fully exited its investment in Western Canada natural gas compression equipment rental company Ironline Compression with its sale to Surepoint Technologies Group. Staple Street sold the aftermarket services division of the company to Surepoint earlier this year. Staple Street acquired the Nisku, Alberta-based business in 2013.
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Graham Partners announced the sale of portfolio company Medbio LLC, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based manufacturer of injection molding processes for components used in the medical device, life science and biotechnology industries. The midmarket private-equity firm acquired the company in 2018 and since that time Medbio’s earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization has increased more than 500%, according to an emailed press release from the private-equity firm.
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Vinci Partners Investments Ltd. has agreed to sell its stake in Brazilian power transmission concessionaire Linhas de Energia do Sertão Transmissora SA. The firm holds a 50.1% stake in the company, also known as Lest, which it acquired in 2017 through its infrastructure strategy. Vinci didn’t name the buyer.
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CenterGate Capital has sold TSC Apparel to strategic buyer S&S Activewear. Cincinnati-based TSC distributes printable garments such as shirts, fleeces and outerwear as well as accessories.
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Chicago-based GTCR LLC has rounded up at least $1.6 billion so far for its GTCR Strategic Growth I/A LP and related parallel funds, regulatory filings indicate. The firm set a $1.5 billion target for the fund, WSJ Pro Private Equity previously reported, citing documents from the Washington State Investment Board. The pension investor pledged up to $200 million to the vehicle. Other investors that disclosed commitments to the fund include the Ohio Fire and Police Pension Fund and the Texas County & District Retirement System.
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ChrysCapital, one of the oldest private-equity firms focused on India, is seeking $1.26 billion for ChrysCapital IX, LLC, a regulatory filing indicates. ChrysCapital targets investments ranging from $25 million to $250 million in either minority or control stakes, according to the firm’s website.
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Litigation and legal finance firm Delta Capital Partners Management said it has hired Michael Callahan as chief operating officer at the firm. Mr. Callahan previously was a senior vice president and director of asset management at Boston Capital.
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The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging U.S. Sugar’s proposed purchase of rival Imperial Sugar, arguing the tie-up would lead to higher prices for refined sugar and food-and-beverage staples for consumers, Brent Kendall reports for The Wall Street Journal from Washington. The suit, filed Tuesday in a Delaware federal court, is the fourth major deal challenge in recent months from the department, which has been following through on a Biden-era enforcement pledge to take a harder line against industry consolidation.
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Growing landlord demand for better data, new apps and other real-estate technology is fueling a boom in proptech and attracting record sums of capital into the sector during the pandemic, the Journal’s Peter Grant writes. Venture capitalists and other investors poured $9.5 billion into proptech through mid-November, according to data firm CB Insights. That is the most ever raised in any year, topping the $9 billion invested in the sector for all of 2019, the previous record.
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The Biden administration on Tuesday filed an emergency court motion that seeks the immediate reinstatement of its rules requiring many employers to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid-19, Brent Kendall reports for The Wall Street Journal from Washington. The Justice Department filed the request with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which last week was designated as the court that would decide legal challenges filed around the country to the vaccine-or-test rules.
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