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Imperial Capital's Keplr Vision Mulls Strategic Options | Private Equity's Insurance Gambit Examined
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Good day, and welcome to the fall season. For those of us in the Northeast it means ripe apples and crisp nights. But the climate for dealmaking remains very hot.
Our Laura Cooper breaks news on that front this morning with a story on an Imperial Capital-backed eye-care company, Keplr Vision, weighing a potential sale at roughly $1.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
And on the analytical side, our Journal colleague Leslie Scism offers an in-depth look at how private asset managers are moving into the insurance and annuity business in a big way, starting with Apollo and Blackstone.
We have those items and many more condensed, abridged and linked for your reading pleasure below, so please jump in ...
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An elementary school student gets an eye exam in Omaha, Neb. PHOTO: MEGAN FARMER / ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Keplr Vision, a private-equity-owned business that provides operational support to optometry practices across the U.S., has been exploring options including a sale, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Laura Cooper reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Backed by Toronto-based private-equity firm Imperial Capital Group Ltd., the Bloomington, Ill., company has been working with investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc., the people said. Keplr is projected to have adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $100 million this year, according to the people. If reached, a deal could be valued around $1.8 billion, according to some of the people
familiar with the matter.
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A steep drop in interest rates is driving more private-equity firms, including Apollo Global Management and Blackstone Inc., asset managers and other investment firms to snap up life insurance companies, Leslie Scism writes for The Wall Street Journal. So far, more than two dozen investment firms own or control 50 U.S. life-insurance companies out of just over 400, according to data from ratings firm A.M. Best.
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$600+ Billion
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The amount of assets held by U.S. life insurers now in the hands of investment firms, Leslie Scism reports for The Wall Street Journal, citing A.M. Best Co. data
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Signage greets visitors to an Advent International office. PHOTO: JULIAN CORNISH-TRESTRAIL
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Advent International led an unspecified investment in e-commerce company Assembly, giving the Culver City, Calif.-based software-as-a-service business at a valuation of more than $1 billion, according to a news release. Existing backer Providence Strategic Growth Capital Partners also participated.
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Granite Creek Capital Partners has invested $13 million in C&C Manufacturing LLC, an Ottumwa, Iowa-based manufacturer and distributor of heavy equipment used in scrap-metal recycling, waste management and airport maintenance, Mark Radzik, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner, tells WSJ Pro Private Equity's Luis Garcia. Aviation-services entrepreneur Salvatore Calvino, whose Equivu Capital LLC investment group acquired a majority stake in C&C, was named its chief executive, according to an emailed news release.
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Paris-based Ardian said that its U.S. buyouts team has acquired a majority stake in Florida Food Products from fellow private-equity investor MidOcean Partners, investing at an enterprise value of $1 billion. MidOcean, which initially backed the producer of vegetable and fruit-based food ingredients in 2018, will retain a minority stake, according to a press release.
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Blackstone Inc.-backed BioMed Realty Trust Inc. plans to invest an estimated £850 million, or about $1.16 billion, to double its life-sciences property holdings in the U.K. The San Diego-based company is acquiring the 15 acre Cambridge International Technology Park and a 27 acre plot at Granta Park in Cambridge, and plans to develop about 800,000 square feet of lab and office space, creating as many as 2,700 jobs, according to a news release.
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Silver Lake led a $555 million investment in e-commerce company Mirakl SAS, joined by Permira and other existing investors in a Series E round that values the Paris-based company at more than $3.5 billion, according to a news release. Mirakl’s software-as-a-service provides systems used for online sales and marketing by brands such as Airbus Helicopters and Carrefour.
Crestline Investors led a $160 million growth investment in healthcare services company Genuine Health Group LLC. The Coral Gables, Fla.-based company offers software and services designed to improve efficiency and lower healthcare costs, according to its website.
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Great Hill Partners has invested $100 million in outpatient infusion company IVX Health, the operating name of IVXpress Inc. The Brentwood, Tenn.-based company’s centers provide treatment for chronic conditions such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
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GI Partners led the recapitalization of property and casualty insurance agency company Patriot Growth Insurance Services LLC, investing alongside founder and Chief Executive Matt Gardner and existing investor Summit Partners. The Fort Washington, Pa.-based company was started in 2019 and has partnered with 64 independent agencies in 18 states since then.
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Trilantic North America said it has completed the acquisition of the on-demand 3-D printing and custom manufacturing unit of publicly traded 3D Systems. Industry veteran Ziad Abou will become chief executive of the new company, which will operate as Quickparts, according to a press release. 3D Systems said in June that it would sell the unit to Trilantic for $82 million.
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Comvest Partners said it has made a strategic investment in Gen3 Marketing LLC, a Blue Bell, Pa.-based digital marketing services firm. Stellus Capital Management and PennantPark Investment Advisers LLC provided financing for the deal, according to a press release.
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Palladium Equity Partners said it has invested in Envoy Global Inc., which provides workforce management technology that helps organizations streamline the immigration process. Palladium joins fellow investors Catalyst Investors and General Catalyst in backing the company, according to a press release.
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Susquehanna Private Equity Investments led a $70 million investment in virtual care navigation and collaboration systems maker Pager Inc., joined by strategic backer Horizon Healthcare Services Inc., a health insurer in New Jersey. The New York-based company provides virtual health services to some 15 million people in 10 countries in the U.S. and Latin America.
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Great Hill Partners is backing supply chain-management company Blue Ridge Solutions Inc. The Atlanta-based company’s cloud-based products offer ways to plan deliveries and price supplies.
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Chicago-based Adams Street Partners led a $63 million investment in healthcare temporary job site Nomad Health with participation from existing investors that included Icon Ventures, Polaris Partners, RRE Ventures, .406 Ventures, First Round Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank.
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Midmarket firm Peak Rock Capital has backed a significant growth investment in Delta Financial Group, a Clearwater, Fla.-based equipment leasing investment company.
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Cyprium Partners said it has invested subordinated debt and equity in Ironwood Power Services alongside independent sponsor Empeiria Capital and Tim Pope, Ironwood’s chief executive. Cyprium’s investment was used to fund the buyout of Ironwood Heavy Highway and Terry Tree Service to create Ironwood Power Services, according to a press release.
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LBC Credit Partners said it is providing a senior secured credit facility to support Tenex Capital Management’s recapitalization of Unirac Inc., a manufacturer of roof flashing and attachments, solar PV mounting systems and other accessories.
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Trinity Hunt Partners is backing digital marketing and advertising company Exclusive Concepts Inc., according to an emailed news release. The Burlington, Mass.-based company focuses on digital platforms such as social media.
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D1 Capital Partners led a $50 million investment in medical technology company Cytrellis Biosystems Inc., with participation from Sands Capital. Based in Woburn, Mass., Cytrellis specializes in skin care treatments.
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Sustainability-focused Ember Infrastructure is investing $30 million in community solar development firm SunShare LLC to accelerate the Denver company’s expansion. The family-owned business has developed 80 projects in Colorado and Minnesota.
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Growth investor Sopris Capital is backing data management company SymphonyCare LLC. The Madison, Wis.-based company integrates and standardizes healthcare data and patient records for clients.
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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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Welsh Carson, Anderson & Stowe-backed hospital pharmacy operator Shields Health Solutions Holdings LLC would be majority owned by a unit of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. under a roughly $970 million deal announced Tuesday. Walgreen Co. would acquire a 71% stake in the Stoughton, Mass.-based company, while Welsh Carson would remain as a minority investor, according to a news release. The retail giant initially invested in Shields as a minority partner in July 2019. Shields serves more than 1 million patients through over 70 health systems. Welsh Carson first backed the company in 2019.
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Petershill unit has set a 320-380 pence a share, or about $4.37 to $5.19 a share, price range for its initial public offering in London, which implies a market value of as much as $5.9 billion, Reuters reported, citing bookrunners for the deal. The deal is expected to be priced on Sept. 28 and shares would start trading Oct. 1, the news agency said.
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Ironwood Capital said in an emailed press release that it has exited its investment in Lakeshore Recycling Systems, a Morton Grove, Ill.-based waste and recycling company. Early this year, Ironwood provided subordinated debt to help support Lakeshore’s acquisition of peer Roy Strom Company, according to a press release issued at the time.
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Midmarket investor Gryphon Investors has rounded up more than $2.2 billion so far for a pair of two new funds, regulatory filings indicate. The San Francisco-based firm has collected at least $1.8 billion for its latest flagship fund Gryphon Partners VI LP and a related parallel fund, according to one set of filings, which list the fund’s offering amount at $2.2 billion. The amount indicated in the filing approaches the $2.1 billion that the firm raised for its fifth flagship fund, which closed back in 2019, according to a press release issued at the time. Gryphon has also raised at least $443 million for Gryphon Heritage Fund LP and a related parallel fund, according to separate filings, which list a $500 million offering amount for the fund. Gryphon’s Heritage fund, which focuses on small cap deals, has already backed investments in
Nashville, Tenn.-based Kano Laboratories and Birmingham, Ala.-based Wittichen Supply Co., according to the firm’s website.
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Partners Group Holding AG has wrapped up fundraising for its latest buyout strategy with $15 billion in commitments, including $6 billion for its fourth flagship private-equity fund. Another $9 billion committed to the strategy is spread across other private-markets programs and “bespoke client solutions,” according to a news release. The Swiss asset manager said it has already made 17 investments through the strategy, including veterinary hospital company Blue River Petcare LLC in Chicago and Axia Women's Health Management in Voorhees, N.J. The firm said its third buyout fund, which closed in 2017, produced a net internal rate of return of 22% and generated a net return
of 1.95 times invested capital as of the end of June.
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Commonfund Capital said in an emailed announcement that it has closed its third secondary fund at the fund’s $675 million hard cap. Commonfund Capital Secondary Partners III LP exceeded a $550 million offering amount indicated in a regulatory filing back in May. Commonfund’s third secondary fund is the latest and largest of a series of funds that the firm has closed this year. It collected $625 million for venture fund of funds Commonfund Capital Venture Partners XIII, LP, $160 million for co-investment fund Commonfund Capital Co-Investment Opportunities III LP and $236.6 million for global fund of funds Commonfund Capital Global Private Equity Partners III LP.
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Growth-equity investor Blue Bear Capital has raised $150 million for its latest investment fund. The firm intends to back companies whose digital technologies produce an outsized market impact, including in wind, solar, electric grid, electric vehicle infrastructure, transportation, and energy-intensive areas.
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Technology-focused investment firm Altimeter Capital Management is seeking $2 billion for Altimeter Growth Partners Fund VI LP, a regulatory filing indicates.
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Jeffery W. Yabuki has joined Motive Partners as chairman and will co-lead the firm along with its founder and managing partner Rob Heyvaert. Mr. Yabuki joins the firm, which targets investments in financial technology software and services, after serving as chief executive and chairman of Fiserv Inc. He joins Motive just a few months after the firm agreed to sell a stake to Apollo Global Management.
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Warburg Pincus has hired software industry executive Brian Duffy as a senior adviser. He is currently SAP SE’s president of cloud, focusing on customer adoption of the German enterprise software maker’s digital transformation service.
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One Rock Capital said it has hired Fola Adamolekun to serve as general counsel and chief compliance officer out of the firm’s New York office. Ms. Adamolekun previously served as executive director and deputy general counsel of global alternatives at J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management.
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Midmarket private-equity firm Wynnchurch Capital said it has recently hired Vishal Garg as a managing director in its operations group. Mr. Garg previously served as vice president of global operations & supply chain at tool and equipment manufacturer Destaco, The firm also promoted Ben Cherry, who joined in 2018, and Chris Waldock, who joined in 2017, to senior associate roles and hired Natasha Davenport and Evan Kluck as new associates.
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The Justice Department is preparing to file a lawsuit challenging American Airlines Group Inc.’s partnership with JetBlue Airways Corp. on antitrust grounds, Brent Kendall and Alison SIder write for The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The lawsuit is expected to argue that the recently forged alliance threatens competition and higher fares, the people said.
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AnaCap Financial Partners has spun off its analytical technology business into a separate company, Equipped AI Ltd., according to an emailed news release. Equipped serves alternative investment managers and the financial industry.
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New Mountain Capital has closed a $507 million collateralized loan obligation, New Mountain CLO III. The firm issued its first CLO vehicle in October 2020.
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