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Butterfly Equity Aims for $750 Million | Warburg's $150 Million Aura Deal | BlackGold Markets Funds by Deal
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Good morning. Today we bring you news from our Preeti Singh that Butterfly Equity is trying to raise at least $750 million for its third food-focused fund. Warburg Pincus led a $150 million investment in Aura, a cybersecurity company backed by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, Maureen Farrell writes for the Journal. And our Luis Garcia reports that BlackGold Capital has adopted a deal-by-deal model when it comes to drumming up capital. We have those stories and a slew of deals, exits and fundraisings condensed for you below, so please dive in…
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Downtown Los Angeles viewed from Beverly Hills, Calif. PHOTO: IMAGE OF SPORT / ZUMA PRESS
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Food investor Butterfly Equity has collected about two-thirds of the $750 million sought for its third fund, Preeti Singh reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity, citing people familiar with the fundraising. The Los Angeles area firm has set a hard cap of $1 billion for its Butterfly Fund III LP and a related vehicle, one of the people said. If the firm hits that upper limit, its latest fund would be nearly double the size of its predecessor.
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Aura, a three-year-old company backed by Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, raised $150 million to help further its bid to become a one-stop offering for online security, Maureen Farrell writes for The Wall Street Journal. The investment round, led by Warburg Pincus, brings the company’s war chest to $450 million and values it at more than $1 billion, Aura officials said.
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BlackGold Capital Management is favoring a deal-by-deal investing model as more investors eschew traditional commingled funds in the oil and gas sector, Luis Garcia reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The Houston firm has invested $400 million across six deals, mostly through loans, that it prospected first and then presented to investors, according to a person familiar with the firm. It is currently planning to back two more.
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$285 Billion
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The amount of private equity investment in the five states with the largest amounts last year, led by California ($87 billion), Texas ($60 billion), Florida ($59 billion), New York ($42 billion) and Massachusetts ($37 billion), according to the American Investment Council, an industry group.
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A rocket engine made by Relativity Space using three-dimensional printing technology is test fired. PHOTO: HO / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE / GETTY IMAGES
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Private-equity investment firms including Coatue Management, Baillie Gifford & Co. and Tiger Global Management joined Fidelity Management & Research Co. and several other firms and investors in backing three-dimensional printing company Relativity Space Inc. with a $650 million investment. The Series E round will help fund the Long Beach, Calif.-based company’s development of a reusable rocket capable of launching a 22-ton payload into low earth orbit.
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Swedish private-equity firm EQT AB has made its first deal from a new long-hold investment strategy by buying pest-control portfolio company Anticimex AB from the firm’s EQT VI fund. The Stockholm firm initially backed Anticimex in July 2012 and has since helped the company make about 220 acquisitions as revenue rose to about €800 million in 2019, according to EQT’s website. The sale to the long-hold strategy gives the company an enterprise value of 60 billion Swedish kronor (or roughly $7.26 billion) and includes existing minority investors Melker Schörling AB and Singapore’s GIC.
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KKR & Co.’s upstream oil-and-gas business Independence Energy LLC has agreed to combine with publicly traded Contango Oil & Gas Co. to create a diversified and low-leverage U.S. independent oil-and-gas company with an enterprise value of roughly $5.7 billion, Colin Kellaher reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Independence shareholders would own about 76% of the combined company, while Contango shareholders would hold 24%.
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TPG Capital led a $160 million investment in specialty benefit management company Monogram Health Inc., joined by existing investors Frist Cressey Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners and strategic backers such as Humana Inc. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company focuses on providing kidney care, including end-stage renal disease.
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TA Associates has invested $130 million in online commerce software maker Fuelcomm Inc., which does business as Stackline, joining the growth strategy of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset management arm in backing the Seattle company. Stackline builds online shopping sites for brands marketed by companies such as Sony Corp. and Starbucks Corp., according to its website.
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Insight Partners has invested $110 million in cybersecurity company Brinqa LLC. The growth investment is the first institutional backing for the Austin, Texas-based provider of systems that can monitor data networks and users to detect hacker attacks and security risks.
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Apollo Global Management Inc. has acquired a majority stake in natural gas compression company Total Operations and Production Services LLC from Black Bay Energy Capital. The Midland, Texas-based company specializes in providing electric gas compressors to drilling and extraction businesses in the Permian Basin.
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KKR & Co. has agreed to provide as much as $150 million in credit to private fleet operator Western Air Charter Inc., which does business as Jet Edge International. The Van Nuys, Calif.-based company manages and operates passenger aircraft including Boeing, Gulfstream and Bombardier business jets through charters, crew management and maintenance.
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Trivest Partners has backed a new deal out of its second growth fund with an investment in Family First Homecare, a provider of pediatric home health services, according to an emailed announcement. Trivest raised $435 million for Trivest Growth Investment Fund II LP early last year.
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Angeles Equity Partners has acquired manufacturer Primus Aerospace Inc., the operating business of Primus Metals LLC. The Lakewood, Colo.-based company supplies aircraft, satellite and missile makers with precision, tight-tolerance components.
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Periscope Equity has backed its first portfolio company deal out of its Periscope Equity II fund with an investment in MAS Medical Staffing LLC. The Londonderry, N.H.-based technology-enabled medical staffing provider focuses on the long-term care industry.
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset management arm and Leonard Green & Partners have joined AEA Investors in backing designer lighting and home decor provider Visual Comfort & Co. The Skokie, Ill.-based company specializes in decorative and architectural lighting as well as ceiling fans.
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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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Abry Partners has agreed to sell pharmacy software and services provider Sentry Data Systems Inc. to strategic buyer Craneware PLC for $400 million in cash and stock. Abry acquired the Deerfield Beach, Fla. company in 2015. Craneware said in a regulatory filing that the company serves some 10,000 clients, including more than 600 hospitals in the U.S., and generated $23 million in adjusted pre-tax earnings on $92 million in revenue last year.
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Torrid Holdings Inc., a plus-size women’s apparel company owned by Sycamore Partners, filed for an initial public offering of shares, Josh Beckerman reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Torrid was once part of Hot Topic Inc., which Sycamore bought in 2013 for about $600 million. Torrid had 608 retail stores as of May 1, and said that online transactions accounted for 70% of $974 million in net sales last year, which fell 6%.
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Brightstar Capital Partners has sold nutrition and wellness products company Capstone Nutrition to INW | Innovations in Nutrition + Wellness, a portfolio company of Cornell Capital. Brightstar acquired Ogden, Utah-based Capstone in 2019.
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Shamrock Capital has collected $1 billion for its Shamrock Capital Growth Fund V LP, which has closed. The Los Angeles firm has about $3.5 billion in assets under management. Originally the family office of Roy E. Disney, the firm invests in buyouts and later-stage growth companies in the media, entertainment and communications industries.
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Mountaingate Capital has raised $476 million for its second growth fund, Mountaingate Capital Fund II, easily surpassing its $400 million target. The Denver firm backs lower middle-market companies, investing alongside founders and entrepreneurs. Atlantic Pacific Capital Inc. served as placement agent for the fund.
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The Business Development Bank of Canada’s BDC Capital arm aims to raise a $300 million growth fund to back late-stage ventures alongside other investors as the companies scale up. The Montreal firm said that the Growth Venture Co-Investment Fund is a follow-on to its first co-investment fund.
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Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s private-equity investing arm, BBH Capital Partners, has hired Elena L. Tuttle and Karima Ali-Ahmad as vice presidents and business development officers, reporting to Alice M. Birnbaum, head of business development. Ms. Tuttle, who was previously with PNC Business Credit in a similar role, is based in Charlotte, N.C. Ms. Ali-Ahmad is based in Chicago and joins from Guggenheim Partners, where she led business development.
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Seraphim Capital, an investment firm specializing in backing companies in the space sector, has named Jan Wörner, a former Director General of the European Space Agency, as a senior advisor, according to an emailed news release. The firm makes early and growth-stage investments in satellite businesses and radar operators, for example.
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Multi-strategy U.K. investment manager Intermediate Capital Group PLC raised about $10.6 billion in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, increasing its third-party assets under management 19% to about $56.15 billion, the firm said in a regulatory filing. The firm aims to raise at least $7 billion a year for the next four years, according to the filing.
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Apollo Global Management Inc. has set up Apollo HBCUNet to help students and graduates of historically Black colleges and universities find job openings within the firm and its portfolio companies, according to a news release. The new effort is based on the website run by the firm’s portfolio company CareerBuilder LLC and is modeled after Apollo’s Veterans Talent Network, which the firm said has led to more than 3,000 job placements.
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Insight Partners and SV Academy, a training and coaching website, have set up the JumpStart program, according to an emailed news release. The newly created program aims to open up career opportunities that will lead to more than $15 million in earnings potential in five years for diverse candidates who graduate from the JumpStart scholarship program, according to Insight. The initiative is backed by a $1 million commitment from New York-based Insight with a goal of fostering a more inclusive software industry.
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