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AMERICAS
KKR, a global investment firm, completed the acquisition of Varsity Brands, an American apparel company, from private equity firms Bain Capital and Charlesbank. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Varsity Brands is a leading solutions-oriented services provider with a mission to elevate the student experience through sport and spirit, helping schools and teams foster greater participation, enthusiasm and community," Felix Gernburd, KKR Partner.
Varsity Brands was advised by Bank of America, William Blair & Co, Kirkland & Ellis and Teneo (led by Samantha Gaspar). KKR was advised by Goldman Sachs, Jefferies & Company and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Quest Diagnostics, a diagnostic information services provider, completed the acquisition of LifeLabs, a community laboratory tests provider, from OMERS, an investment company, for $985m.
"This acquisition brings together two industry leaders committed to enhancing access to diagnostic innovation for patients in North America. The combination of LifeLabs' strong business and deep community presence with Quest's specialized lab services and expertise creates a powerful opportunity to generate growth while improving care and outcomes for Canada's expanding and aging population," Jim Davis, Quest Diagnostics Chairman, CEO and President.
Quest Diagnostics was advised by McCarthy Tetrault and FGS Global (led by Peter Block). LifeLabs was advised by CIBC World Markets, Evercore, and Blake Cassels & Graydon.
Shift4, an American payment processing company, agreed to acquire Givex, a cloud-based customer engagement solution that helps to streamline business operations, for $148m.
"The Givex Team looks forward to joining the Shift4 family and bring our enterprise gift card capabilities and loyalty programs to hundreds of thousands of new customers. By combining Shift4's end-to-end payment solution with our value-added engagement services, we can deliver an unparalleled package to both of our customer bases," Don Gray, Givex CEO.
Shift4 is advised by Goldman Sachs and Bennett Jones. Givex is advised by Canaccord Genuity, Torys, and Wildeboer Dellelce.
GHK Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Horizon Group, a global provider of specialized international freight forwarding focused on time-critical marine spare parts logistics. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited to announce the completion of our acquisition of Horizon Group, a leader in the specialized marine spare parts logistics space. Steve and his team have built an impressive company with an inspiring culture and a stellar reputation for quality service and commitment to customers. We look forward to partnering with Steve and his team to invest in the Company, its people, and its technology to drive continued growth and long-term success," Gil Klemann, GHK Managing Partner.
Horizon Group was advised by Jefferies & Company and DLA Piper. GHK Capital was advised by Citizens M&A and Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Piper Sandler, an investment bank, completed the acquisition of Aviditi Advisors, an alternative investment bank. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are extremely excited to be joining the Piper Sandler platform. It represents the next chapter of growth for our firm and service capabilities. Aviditi has been designed from the ground up to focus on the full lifecycle of business in which our clients engage both in the general partner and limited partner communities. We are fully integrated as a business and as a team, proving that a model focused on capital formation, liquidity solutions and capital solutions can deliver differentiated value to our clients. By combining with a market-leading platform like Piper Sandler, we believe we can grow to new heights. We provide special thanks to our investors and clients whose support helped build a premier franchise, and we are excited to continue to build upon this momentum in partnership with Piper Sandler," Ryan Schlitt, Aviditi Advisors Co-Founder and CEO.
Piper Sandler was advised by Sullivan & Cromwell (led by Jared M. Fishman). Aviditi Advisors was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Mayer Brown and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
McKesson, a company that distributes pharmaceuticals and provides health information technology, agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Community Oncology Revitalization Enterprise Ventures, a business and administrative services organization, from Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, an independent medical oncology practice, for $2.49bn.
"This milestone marks an important step forward in our efforts to advance community-based oncology care. By growing our Oncology platform, we will bring advanced treatments and improved care experiences to patients, while also reducing the overall cost of care. FCS and Core Ventures' expertise and patient-first approach align with our commitment to accelerating clinical development, improving patient outcomes, and expanding access to quality cancer care in the community. We are also pleased to welcome Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute to The US Oncology Network, reinforcing our dedication to empowering community-based providers to independently thrive in today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape," Brian Tyler, McKesson CEO.
Community Oncology Revitalization Enterprise Ventures is advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison (led by Krishna Veeraraghavan and Cullen Sinclair). Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute is advised by JP Morgan.
Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners, a global commodity trading company, completed the acquisition of Trailstone, a global energy and technology company, from Riverstone, a private markets asset management firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Agreeing terms to acquire Trailstone is an important event in Engelhart's long term strategy to grow our energy trading platform and enhance our technological capability to play a leading role in the clean energy transition. We have been impressed by the Trailstone team's innovation in the renewables trading sector and we believe the acquisition and merger will be highly complementary for both businesses," Huw Jenkins, Engelhart CEO.
Hillman, a provider of hardware products and merchandising solutions, completed the acquisition of Intex DIY, a supplier of wiping cloths, consumable rags and cleaning textiles. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Intex has a wide range of products in the cleaning category and will make a great addition to Hillman. We will leverage the Hillman moat to sell and service this new product line with both new and existing customers. We look forward to expanding within this critical category as we seek ways to better serve our customers. We are thrilled to welcome the Intex team to the Hillman family," Doug Cahill, Hillman Chairman, President, and CEO.
Trintech's owners explore $2bn sale of financial software maker. (FS)
Private equity firms Summit Partners and Vista Equity Partners are exploring a potential sale of Trintech that could value the financial software provider at about $2bn, including debt, Reuters reported.
Trintech's owners are working with investment bankers at Deutsche Bank on a sale process that could attract interest from other private equity firms.
Venture group G Squared raises $1bn to invest in discounted start-up shares. (FS)
The venture capital group G Squared has raised $1.1bn for its latest fund to capitalise on growing investor demand for its strategy of buying pre-existing stakes in start-ups, FT reported.
Founded in 2011 and based in Chicago, G Squared has backed technology groups such as artificial intelligence company Anthropic and cyber security specialist Wiz.
Allvue launches new fundraising solution for PE and private credit. (FS)
Investment management provider Allvue Systems has launched new fundraising software aimed at streamlining the fundraising lifecycle and operational efficiency of private equity and private credit funds.
The new software complements Allvue’s existing investor relations solutions and is aimed at firms of all sizes and their prospective LPs.
Obra Capital secures credit facilities. (FS)
Alternative asset management firm Obra Capital has secured new funded and unfunded credit facilities, the proceeds of which were used to retire the firm’s existing publicly syndicated debt and provide growth capital to the Obra platform.
Investors in the facility consist of existing and new lenders, with equity investors including RedBird Capital Partners and Aquarian.
CenterOak Partners closes oversubscribed Fund III at $1.1bn. (FS)
CenterOak Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm, announced the closing of CenterOak Equity Fund III. The Fund was oversubscribed and achieved its hard cap with total capital commitments of over $1.1bn. The Fund’s capital was largely committed by existing institutional investors, but it also attracted support from many new limited partners globally, including private and public pensions, endowments and foundations.
“We appreciate the strong support from our limited partners which allowed us to complete the fundraise in a short period of time,” Randall Fojtasek, CenterOak Chief Executive Officer and Co-Managing Partner.
Magnetar closes $235m venture fund to invest in companies leading the generative AI revolution. (FS)
Magnetar, an alternative asset manager, announced the successful close of Magnetar AI Ventures Fund, a $235m venture fund that invests in early-to-growth stage companies advancing the generative AI revolution. The Fund builds on Magnetar’s history of investing opportunistically across the private-public continuum and serving as a long-term partner to portfolio companies.
The Fund’s investor base is comprised of leading global institutions and strategic partners, including PEAK6 Strategic Capital and Apex Fintech Solutions, the anchor investors in this initiative.
Red Lobster set to bring on former P.F. Chang’s leader as CEO. (FS, People)
A group of lenders set to take over Red Lobster have tapped a recent chief executive of Asian restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s to run the struggling seafood restaurant brand, WSJ reported.
Damola Adamolekun, most recently a partner at private equity firm Garnett Station Partners, would take over as Red Lobster’s CEO pending final court approval of the chain’s sale, which is scheduled for next month.
EMEA
UFP Technologies, a designer and custom manufacturer of solutions for medical devices, sterile packaging, and other highly engineered custom products, agreed to acquire AQF Medical, a manufacturer of custom-engineered foam packaging solutions for the orthopedic implant market. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are extremely pleased to join the UFP family and look forward to working together to create new opportunities that will be mutually beneficial to our worldwide client base. UFP's engineering capabilities will enhance our offering to existing customers, and we anticipate that our local knowledge will enable us to identify new clients in both Europe and Asia. We have long admired the UFP growth story, and we look forward to being an integral part of their ongoing journey," Seamus Fagan, AQF Medical Managing Director.
Billionaire Paul Marshall nears deal to buy Britain’s Spectator magazine for over $131m.
Hedge-fund billionaire Paul Marshall is nearing a deal to acquire Britain’s Spectator magazine for more than $131m, as the would-be media mogul seeks to expand his roster of news outlets, WSJ reported.
The deal, if completed, could be announced as soon as this week.
APAC
CBC Group, Asia's largest healthcare-dedicated asset management group, and Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi-based investment company, agreed to acquire the Chinese neurology and allergy business of UCB, a multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Brussels, for $680m.
"The demand for central nervous system products in China has been increasing over the past decade, and by leveraging CBC's unique investor-operator approach, we are excited to channel our expertise, resources and platform synergies to meet these evolving needs and drive value for our stakeholders. This strategic deal aligns with CBC's strategy of investing in high potential companies with quality products, strong brand equity, dedicated talents and steady growth outlook. It will complement our existing healthcare ecosystem, serving as an anchor asset to further build out a leading integrated CNS biopharma platform in China that will deliver gold standard treatment to more patients nationwide," Fu Wei, CBC Group CEO.
UCB is advised by Lazard and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. CBC Group and Mubadala is advised by PJT Partners and Clifford Chance.
KKR is said to eye new backers for top mushroom grower Sylvan. (FS)
KKR is considering options including bringing in fresh backers for Sylvan, the world’s largest producer and distributor of mushroom spawn, Bloomberg reported.
KKR is working with an adviser to sound out investor interest in a so-called continuation fund denominated in yuan. Deliberations are at an early stage and may not lead to any transaction.
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