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EQT's Newest Take on ESG | A RadioShack Revival | Spectrum Sells Verafin to Nasdaq
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It’s the Friday before Thanksgiving and, if you are like me, you are probably still trying to figure out how to enjoy the holiday much further away from loved ones than usual. I am trying to look at the silver lining, which is the prospect that we may actually have some leftover apple pie and stuffing once the holiday is over this year!
In the private-equity world, EQT announced a new fund subscription line for its infrastructure unit that is tied to ESG performance metrics, the second such facility EQT has secured this year. Meanwhile, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy’s Aisha Al-Muslim reports on a firm that’s giving RadioShack a new lease on life and Alexander Osipovich writes about the sale of Spectrum Equity-backed Verafin Inc. to Nasdaq.
Stay healthy and have a great weekend...
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Christian Sinding is chief executive of EQT AB in Stockholm.
PHOTO: ESHA VAISH/REUTERS
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EQT is once again adding an ESG twist to a popular form of financing among private markets fund managers, Laura Kreutzer reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The alternative-investment firm firm has negotiated a €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion) fund-subscription credit facility that links performance on certain environmental, social and governance issues to more favorable interest rates for EQT infrastructure funds using the facility. The new facility, which could grow to as much as €5 billion, is the second one tied to ESG issues that EQT has launched this year.
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Two entrepreneurs who have been collecting fallen retail brands during the coronavirus pandemic are taking over the reins of RadioShack, acquiring the nearly century-old gadget seller’s brands and online business, Aisha Al-Muslim reports for WSJ Pro Bankruptcy. Miami-based Retail Ecommerce Ventures LLC, led by Chief Executive Alex Mehr and Executive Chairman Tai Lopez, bought the rights to the RadioShack brand in the U.S., Canada, India, Australia, Europe and China, along with related websites, for an undisclosed price last week.
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Stock market operator Nasdaq Inc. is buying Verafin Inc., a software company backed by Spectrum Equity Management that uses artificial intelligence to help banks detect money laundering and fraud, for $2.75 billion, the companies said Thursday. The deal is expected to close early next year, subject to regulatory approval and other conditions. The St. John’s, Newfoundland-based company’s technology is used by more than 2,000 financial institutions in North America, according to a news release. Many are smaller banks and credit unions.
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6.85 Million
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The seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing U.S. home sales in October, a 4.3% rise from September and the highest level since February 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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A doctor conducts a telehealth appointment with a patient. Kayana Szymczak for The Wall Street Journal
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Quantum Health, a technology provider that helps consumers coordinate health care and navigate the health-care system, has received a significant investment from private-equity firm Warburg Pincus. The New York-based firm will join Great Hill Partners in investing in the business. Great Hill initially invested in the company in 2017. The new investment is expected to help bolster the company's technology platform for its customer base of self-insured employers.
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Blackstone Group Inc. led a $400 million investment round in cybersecurity company FireEye Inc., joined by co-investor ClearSky, a growth-investment firm that focuses on the sector. The investment in 4.5% Series A Convertible Preferred Stock issued by publicly traded FireEye is being used to support growth initiatives by the Milpitas, Calif.-based company, including the $186 million cash and stock acquisition of Respond Software that the company announced Thursday. FireEye
has more than 9,600 customers across 103 countries. Respond is backed by ClearSky as well as Charles River Ventures and Foundation Capital.
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GTCR has agreed to acquire a majority stake in business aircraft maintenance provider Jet Support Services Inc. through a recapitalization alongside Neil Book, chief executive of the Chicago-based company. JSSI maintains about 2,000 airplanes and helicopters world-wide, including turboprop- and jet-powered aircraft.
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Midmarket-focused Gryphon Investors has acquired lubricants maker Kano Laboratories Inc. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company’s Kroil and AeroKroil penetrating oils and lubricants are used for industrial maintenance, repair and operations.
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Real assets and infrastructure specialist CenterSquare Investment Management participated in a $1.7 billion capital raise by life-sciences project developer IQHQ Inc., committing $158 million to the Solana Beach, Calif., company. IQHQ has development sites in the Boston and San Francisco areas, in addition to San Diego.
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Carlyle Group Inc. is backing moving and storage services company Zippy Shell Inc. with a $75 million credit agreement and a $20 million investment in preferred equity. The Wake Forest, N.C. operates a network of more than 71 warehouses across the U.S. that provide logistics and temporary storage services as customers relocate.
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Growth investor Arcline Investment Management has acquired Evans Capacitor Co. as it begins to build out its holdings in specialty electronic components. The East Providence, R.I.-based company’s capacitors are used in aerospace, defense and industrial applications.
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Martis Capital, a health care-focused private-equity firm, said it has backed a growth investment in DCN Dx, which provides contract development services for organizations developing diagnostic tests. Charlie Mamrak, the former chief executive of SeraCare Life Sciences, will join DCN Dx as CEO, according to a press release.
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Chicago-based private-equity firm Shore Capital Partners said it has recapitalized Old World Spices and Seasonings, a manufacturer of seasonings and custom ingredients that is based in Overland Park, Kansas.
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Ardian and fund manager Prelios SGR SPA have sold an office building in Rome’s EUR financial district to the real estate investment unit of Deka Group, a financial company in Germany. The building which Ardian and Prelios acquired in 2017 is 90% occupied.
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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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Butterfly Network Inc., a medical imaging company backed by investors including Scotland’s Baillie Gifford and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has agreed to be acquired by Longview Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company tied to a New York hedge fund, Glenview Capital Management, in a deal that values the maker of handheld ultrasound scanners at roughly $1.5 billion. Existing shareholders aren’t expected to sell their holdings through the acquisition, which will deliver more than $400 million in gross proceeds to Butterfly Network. The Guilford, Conn., company makes microchip-powered ultrasound scanners that can be used through a mobile phone or tablet to produce whole-body images to aid in remote diagnostics and health care. Longview raised more than $400 million through an upsized initial
public offering and follow-on transactions earlier this year. It is led by senior Glenview executives.
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Apax Partners and Carlyle Group Inc. have agreed to sell a majority interest in software maker ECI Software Solutions to Leonard Green & Partners, with Apax retaining a minority interest in the business. A person familiar with the deal told WSJ Pro Private Equity that it was valued at more than $2.5 billion. ECI provides cloud-based business management software to smaller and midsize manufacturing, distribution, retail and construction enterprises. Apax acquired the Fort Worth, Texas-based company in 2017 from Carlyle, which retained a minority interest. Carlyle acquired the company in early 2014. Apax expects to generate a more than four-times gross
return of invested capital for Apax IX, the person said. Apax closed the fund with $9 billion back in 2016.
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P4G Capital Management has rounded up at least $196 million of the $300 million the San Francisco-based firm is seeking for P4G Capital Partners I LP and related parallel funds, according to regulatory filings. P4G typically targets investments in companies with $5 million to $25 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to the firm’s website.
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Pathway Capital Management said it has raised $150 million from a single U.S. institutional investor to invest in private-equity secondary deals.
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Blackstone Group said it has hired Jennifer Morgan, the former co-chief executive of application software provider SAP SE, in a new created role of global head of portfolio transformation and talent. In her new role, Ms. Morgan will be responsible for helping Blackstone’s portfolio companies, particularly technology companies, implement digital transformation initiatives as well as identify promising talent, according to a press release.
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Private credit firm Brightwood Capital Advisors said that William W. Archer has rejoined the firm as its chief credit officer, a position he held from 2013 to 2105. Mr. Archer most recently served as a consultant to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, where he provided advice on noninvestment grade debt investments, according to a press release.
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Funds administrator Crestbridge Corporate Services Ltd. has named Dean Hodcroft, the chief financial officer and a founding partner of real estate investment firm Cale Street Partners, as the successor to Graeme McArthur as chief executive of Crestbridge, effective in July 2021. Mr. McArthur, who intends to remain with the firm after Mr. Hodcroft takes charge, has led Crestbridge since 2012, overseeing a more than six-fold increase in its business and an expansion of its employment roster to 350 people from 50. Based in Jersey, Crestbridge now administers more than $130 billion in assets. Before joining Cale Street in 2015, Mr. Hodcroft led the real estate tax group at Ernst & Young in London. He is set to join Crestbridge in April.
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Princess Private Equity Holding Ltd. said Thursday that it is declaring an increased second interim dividend for fiscal 2020, as the outlook for its portfolio of companies is positive, having remained resilient amid the coronavirus pandemic, Sabela Ojea writes for Dow Jones Newswires. The investment holding group said the board has declared a second interim dividend of 0.29 euros per share (34 cents) to be paid on Jan. 7, 2021. "From fiscal 2021, the company intends to distribute 5% of opening net asset value, via semi-annual payments," the company added. The company had previously aimed for distributions of 5% to 8% of net asset value.
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