NEW FUNDS
Shore Powers Up with New Capital
Shore Capital Partners has closed its inaugural Healthcare Advantage Fund, second Business Services Partners Fund (“Business Services Fund II”), and first Shore Search Partners Fund (“Search Fund”). The three new
Renovus Capital Beats Fund IV Target
Renovus Capital Partners has held an oversubscribed and above-target closing of its fourth private equity fund, Renovus Capital Partners IV Core Buyout LP and parallel vehicles (Fund IV), with $875
OceanSound Closes Oversubscribed Fund II at $1.5 Billion Hard Cap
OceanSound Partners has held an oversubscribed, hard cap, and final close of OceanSound Partners Fund II LP with $1.5 billion of capital commitments. Fund II closed at its revised hard
Prospect Partners Hits Fund V Hard Cap
Prospect Partners has held an oversubscribed, hard cap and final close of Prospect Partners Fund V LP with $225 million of capital. Fundraising for the new fund began just nine
Gallant Closes $406 Million Second Fund
Gallant Capital Partners has held a final closing of Gallant Capital Partners Fund II LP with $406 million of capital. Gallant’s first fund closed in July 2020 at its hard
KKR Closes $4.6 Billion Ascendant Fund
KKR has held a final closing of KKR Ascendant Fund SCSP (Fund I) with $4.6 billion of capital. The new fund was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap. KKR’s
X Marks the Spot: Kohlberg & Company Closes Fund Ten
Middle-market investor Kohlberg & Company has completed the final closing of its 10th private equity fund, Kohlberg Investors X LP (Fund X), securing $4.3 billion in commitments. Additionally, the firm
CenterOak Closes Fund III at $1.1 Billion
CenterOak Partners has held a final, oversubscribed, and hard cap close CenterOak Equity Fund III LP with $1.1 billion of capital. Limited partners in Fund III were primarily existing institutional
NEW PLATFORMS
Riverspan Buys POLARIS Laboratories
Riverspan Partners has acquired POLARIS Laboratories, a provider of test and measurement services. POLARIS Laboratories provides advanced laboratory testing and AI-enabled analysis services for oils, fuels, coolants, and greases used in transportation, backup power, mining,
NewSpring Acquires Radar Systems Maker C Speed
NewSpring Holdings has acquired C Speed, a provider of radar systems and engineering services for civilian and military applications. This is the fourth platform NewSpring Holdings has formed over the past fifteen months. C Speed
One Whale of a Deal: Bessemer Buys W Services Group
Bessemer Investors has acquired W Services Group, a provider of multi-site maintenance services. W Services Group, founded in 2009 by CEO Matthew Whelan and headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, specializes in vendor-managed facility maintenance services
Balmoral Makes Big Move in Nano-Automation
Balmoral Funds has acquired the engineer-to-order business of DWFritz Automation from publicly traded Sandvik AB. DWFritz provides customized nano-automation systems, precision metrology and inspection equipment, and high-precision contract manufacturing and assembly services. Its customers are
NEWS
NEW EXITS
HRB Brands Acquired by Sodalis Group
Tengram Capital Partners has sold HRB Brands to Sodalis Group, an Italy-based beauty and personal care platform. HRB Brands is one of the largest independent branded personal care companies in North America. The company’s brands
Shenandoah Switches Sponsors
KLH Capital has sold Shenandoah Industrial Solutions, a provider of infrastructure services for stormwater and sanitary systems, to GenNx360 Capital. Shenandoah specializes in inspecting, cleaning, and rehabilitating stormwater and sanitary infrastructure through trenchless methods that
Heartwood Exits UW Solutions
Heartwood Partners has agreed to sell UW Solutions to publicly traded Apogee Enterprises in a $240 million transaction. UW Solutions specializes in surface-coated products for various applications, including graphics and warehouse mezzanine decking. Within its
NEW ADD ONS
Salt Creek Now “Welding in the Wild”
Broco Rankin, a portfolio company of Salt Creek Capital, has acquired Ready Welder Corporation. Ready Welder specializes in portable welding products. The company’s flagship product, the ReadyWelder II, is a battery-powered, spool gun-style
PAX Adds Consolidated Coatings to Platform
PAX Services Group, a New State Capital platform company, has acquired Baltimore-based Consolidated Coatings. PAX Services Group provides building envelope contractor services for institutional, industrial, and commercial customers located across the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast,
NEW FINANCINGS
Trinity Launches Sponsor Finance Vertical
Publicly traded Trinity Capital has formed a new sponsor finance vertical and added three new professionals to its team to staff the new strategy. Trinity Capital (NASDAQ: TRIN) is a
LongueVue Acquires Kingston Brass with Abacus Backing
LongueVue Capital (LVC) has acquired Kingston Brass, a designer and distributor of kitchen and bathroom fixtures, bathtubs, and accessories. Kingston designs and distributes water fixtures, bathtubs, kitchen and bathroom accessories,
Lineage Acquires Bellwether Media with Abacus Backing
Abacus Finance Group was the Senior Secured Credit Facilities Administrative Agent and Sole Lender for senior secured credit facilities used to back the acquisition of Bellwether Media by Lineage Capital.
Lincoln Road’s Newest Platform Corners Houston Landscaping Market
Lincoln Road has acquired Silversand Services and SLI Landscape, providers of commercial landscaping services in the Houston metropolitan area. Silversand’s and SLI’s services include landscaping, irrigation management, tree care, interior
O2 Sponsor Finance Backs Soundcore’s Paving Platform
O2 Sponsor Finance, a division of Old Second National Bank, provided the senior bank financing to back the acquisitions by Soundcore Capital Partners of ACI Asphalt & Concrete (ACI) and ACS Asphalt Concrete Solutions (ACS). Soundcore specializes in North America-based buy-and-build investments in the lower middle market. Target companies typically have revenues up to $150 million and are active in business and outsourced services, industrial services, specialty manufacturing, and value-added distribution sectors. New York City-headquartered Soundcore formed its ACI Holdings
Abacus Backs Eureka’s Buy of Advertiser Perceptions
Eureka Equity Partners has acquired Advertiser Perceptions with senior debt and an equity co-investment from Abacus Finance. Abacus was the Senior Secured Credit Facilities Administrative Agent and Sole Lender. Advertiser Perceptions is a provider of research-based data, market intelligence, and analysis to the media, advertising, and ad tech industries. The company was founded in 2002 by Ken Pearl and Randy Cohen and is headquartered in New York City. “Abacus provided us with tremendous support early on in this transaction and
Always Active Abacus Starts Fast
Abacus Finance is continuing its active support of private equity buyouts with the close of new transactions for Thompson Street Capital Partners, American Pacific Group, Pine Tree Equity, and WestView Capital. In December, Abacus provided $34.5 million of debt to support American Pacific’s acquisition of Media 1 Digital Imaging Solutions, a distributor and integrator of private label and third-party wide-format, digital textile printing products including consumable textiles and fabric, ink, paper, and solvent; equipment, accessories, and replacement parts. Media 1’s
FEATURED TRANSACTIONS
One Sweet Deal! Shore’s Sweetmore Buys Sweet Eddie’s
Sweetmore Bakeries, a portfolio company of Shore Capital, has acquired Sweet Eddie’s, a wholesale manufacturer of cinnamon rolls and other baked goods. Sweetmore Bakeries was launched by Shore through the September 2019 acquisition
Arsenal’s Sealing Platform Sold to Henkel
Arsenal Capital Partners has sold its portfolio company Seal For Life Industries to publicly traded Henkel AG & Co. Seal For Life is a supplier of protective coating and sealing products that are
CW Industrial Seals the Deal with Mantaline Buy
CW Industrial Partners has acquired Mantaline Corporation, an Ohio-based extruder of plastic and rubber products. Mantaline designs, prototypes, validates, and manufactures extruded elastomeric products including seals, protectors and insulations that are used in
Trinity Hunt Establishes Coker as New Platform
Trinity Hunt Partners has acquired Coker Group, a provider of healthcare advisory services. Coker provides performance transformation, transaction advisory, and compliance consulting services to hospitals, physician groups, private equity-backed platforms, and other healthcare
Patriot Pickle Acquires First Place Foods
Patriot Pickle, a maker and distributor of pickles and a portfolio company of Swander Pace Capital, has acquired First Place Foods. First Place Foods manufactures a wide variety of fermented (shelf stable) and refrigerated pickles, relishes, and other pickled vegetables that are sold to the restaurant, foodservice, institutional, and retail markets. Third-generation family-owned First Place Foods, led by President Pat Hunn, operates manufacturing and warehousing facilities near Dallas in Garland, Texas. “For more than 15 years, First Place Foods has
SK’s Canlak Coatings Buys Ceramic Industrial Coatings
Canlak Coatings, a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, has acquired Ceram-Traz (DBA Ceramic Industrial Coatings). Ceramic Industrial Coatings is a manufacturer of custom and proprietary water and solvent-based wood coatings as well as other coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) products. Ceramic Industrial, led by CEO Rob Laubscher, was founded in 1962 and operates a 90,000-square-foot facility in Osseo, Minnesota (headquarters) and a 52,000-square-foot facility in Kansas City, Kansas. “We are tremendously excited about our future partnership with Canlak
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Cortec Gets New Partner
Flexpoint Ford Hires New Managing Director
Adam Klein Joins Paine Schwartz Partners
Vestar Gets a New VP
Media Banker Seth Rosenfield Joins BGL
Gridiron Hires Capital Markets Pro
STRATEGIES & STUDIES
Janney Continues Acquisitive Ways with Buy of TM
Janney Montgomery Scott has agreed to acquire middle market investment bank TM Capital, a provider of M&A advisory services across the business services, industrials, healthcare, and consumer sectors. TM Capital is led by CEO James
Align Launches Independent Sponsor Strategy
Align Capital Partners (ACP) has announced the launched of a new independent sponsor-focused private equity strategy, Align Collaborate. ACP founded Align Collaborate in partnership with independent sponsor investors, Grant Kornman and Michael Kornman. Prior to
Bain & Company: Private Equity Finds a Footing
According to Bain & Company’s 2024 Private Equity Midyear Report, the two-year long slump in global private equity looks finally to be bottoming out with the industry finding a footing from which to climb back.
Life Outside the Forties: Navigating Political Risk
If you studied corporate finance or portfolio management 20 years ago, “political risk” tended to refer to a country’s stability in government and the transparency/integrity of its capital markets. Those considerations still matter, but the
Capstone: Middle Market Participants are Optimistic for a Recovery in 2024
Capstone Partners has released its 2023 Middle Market M&A Valuations Index which shows that while equity markets largely shrugged off the rapid succession of interest rate hikes in 2023, middle market merger and acquisition valuations
Lincoln Private Market Index Closes 2023 at a Record High
The Lincoln Private Market Index (LPMI), which tracks changes in the enterprise value of US privately held companies, increased by 0.6% during the fourth quarter of 2023, resulting in the index ending 2023 at another
HRB Brands Acquired by Sodalis Group
Tengram Capital Partners has sold HRB Brands to Sodalis Group, an Italy-based beauty and personal care platform. HRB Brands is one of the largest independent
Salt Creek Now “Welding in the Wild”
Broco Rankin, a portfolio company of Salt Creek Capital, has acquired Ready Welder Corporation. Ready Welder specializes in portable welding products. The company’s flagship product,
Riverspan Buys POLARIS Laboratories
Riverspan Partners has acquired POLARIS Laboratories, a provider of test and measurement services. POLARIS Laboratories provides advanced laboratory testing and AI-enabled analysis services for oils,
More Private Equity News
Bertram Capital Acquires MSE Supplies
ATIS, Not Otis: TSCP Acquires Elevator Platform
LP First Launches Power Utility Services Platform
Heartwood Acquires Metalworking Accessories Maker Royal Products
Mill Point’s CREO Group Buys United Solutions
Rise Baking Switches Sponsors
Forest Hill Exits Actuator Maker
Industrial Growth Partners Acquires Alpha Metalcraft
New Funds
Shore Powers Up with New Capital
Shore Capital Partners has closed its inaugural Healthcare Advantage Fund, second Business Services Partners Fund (“Business Services Fund II”), and first Shore Search Partners Fund
Renovus Capital Beats Fund IV Target
Renovus Capital Partners has held an oversubscribed and above-target closing of its fourth private equity fund, Renovus Capital Partners IV Core Buyout LP and parallel
OceanSound Closes Oversubscribed Fund II at $1.5 Billion Hard Cap
OceanSound Partners has held an oversubscribed, hard cap, and final close of OceanSound Partners Fund II LP with $1.5 billion of capital commitments. Fund II
Prospect Partners Hits Fund V Hard Cap
Prospect Partners has held an oversubscribed, hard cap and final close of Prospect Partners Fund V LP with $225 million of capital. Fundraising for the
People on the Move
Cortec Gets New Partner
Flexpoint Ford Hires New Managing Director
Adam Klein Joins Paine Schwartz Partners
