Thoma Bravo and Sunstone Partners completed the acquisition of UserTesting for $1.3bn. (FS)
Thoma Bravo, a software investment firm, and Sunstone Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of UserTesting, a video-based human insight company, for $1.3bn.
"We believe the combination of UserTesting and UserZoom will unlock tremendous value for our customers by further integrating and expanding the suite of research methods, testing types, and measurement options available—all while making the voice of the customer and human insight more accessible across an organization and easily integrated into their processes and workflows," Andy MacMillan, UserTesting CEO.
UserTesting was advised by Morgan Stanley, Fenwick & West (led by David Michaels), FGS Global (led by John Christiansen and Joe Berg), and Sapphire Investor Relations. Morgan Stanley was advised by Cooley (led by Jamie Leigh and Ben Beerle). Thoma Bravo was advised by Kirkland & Ellis (led by Aisha P. Lavinier). Sunstone Partners was advised by Goodwin Procter. Thoma Bravo and Sunstone Partners were advised by Jefferies & Company.
Industrial Growth Partners-backed APCT to acquire Advanced Circuits from Compass Diversified for $220m. (FS)
Industrial Growth Partners-backed APCT, a manufacturer of high-reliability printed circuit boards, agreed to acquire Advanced Circuits, a manufacturer of printed circuit boards serving automotive, consumer electronics, and aerospace industries, from Compass Diversified, an operator of middle-market businesses, for $220m.
"We partnered with John and Jeff Yacoub and the Advanced Circuits management team over sixteen years ago. They have been exceptional partners and friends over that period, and we are proud to have supported them as they built a true industry leader at Advanced Circuits. Our permanent capital structure and the longer holding period it afforded CODI in this partnership helped create significant value for our shareholders. APCT represents the right partner for the company in the next step of its journey, and we wish them success," Elias Sabo, Compass Diversified CEO.
Compass Diversified is advised by Jefferies & Company, Ropes & Gray, Gateway Investor Relations (led by Cody Slach), and The IGB Group. APCT is advised by Kirkland & Ellis.
AeroClean Technologies completed the merger with Molekule.
AeroClean Technologies, an air hygiene technology company, completed the merger with Molekule, a provider of premium air purifiers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Our complementary operations and cultures and our shared commitment to customer satisfaction will provide us with an enhanced ability to serve our clients and to create value for stockholders. We believe the combined company will be able to generate significant organic revenue growth, particularly in the B2B channel, as we begin the roll out our SaaS IAQ solutions. In addition, we expect to be well-positioned to pursue additional strategic acquisitions," Amin Khoury, AeroClean Chairman of the Board.
Molekule was advised by Fenwick & West (led by Cynthia Clarfield Hess, Ethan Skerry, Per Chilstrom, and Thomas Kang). AeroClean was advised by Benchmark Company, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Mattio Communications, and Oak PR (led by Drew Tybus).
InTandem Capital Partners, a private equity firm, completed the investment in HouseWorks, a private-pay home care company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with InTandem Capital and their experienced team. We searched to find a partner who is aligned with our mission to deliver the highest quality of care and has a passion for achieving a meaningful impact in patients’ lives each and every day—and we found that in InTandem Capital. The Firm brings a wealth of industry expertise that will enable us to drive innovation and continue our growth strategy,” Mike Trigilio, HouseWorks CEO.
HouseWorks was advised by SVB Securities and Mintz Levin. InTandem Capital Partners was advised by Edgemont Partners, Goodwin Procter and FGS Global (led by
Robin Weinberg).
Veritas Capital-backed Epiq Solutions completed the acquisition of Xiphos Systems. (FS)
Veritas Capital-backed Epiq Solutions, a provider of software-defined radio and turnkey radio frequency solutions, completed the acquisition of Xiphos Systems, a provider of high-performance, space-focused computing solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This transaction brings together two highly complementary, mission-focused businesses with proven track records of delivering uniquely capable small form factor sensing, processing, and communication solutions across a breadth of deployment domains. Xiphos is a leader in control and hybrid, image, and signal processing with a heritage brand that customers trust and respect. We are thrilled to join forces with the talented team at Xiphos to build upon our differentiated capability and expand our cutting-edge terrestrial solutions into space environments," John Orlando, Epiq CEO.
Epiq Solutions was advised by Latham & Watkins. Veritas Capital was advised by FGS Global. Xiphos was advised by Philpott Ball & Werner and Blake Cassels & Graydon.
Webster Financial completed the acquisition of StoneCastle Insured Sweep from StoneCastle Partners.
Webster Financial, an American commercial bank based in Stamford, Connecticut, completed the acquisition of StoneCastle Insured Sweep, a technology-enabled deposit management platform, from StoneCastle Partners, a provider of banking and associated technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The acquisition complements our strategy to build a bank with diverse funding capabilities and technology-enabled businesses. interLINK is a unique deposit channel that provides a scalable source of liquidity for the company," John Ciulla, Webster Financial President and CEO.
Webster Financial was advised by Bank of America and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by Matthew M. Guest). StoneCastle Partners was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods (led by Joseph Berry and Allen Laufenberg) and Dechert (led by Kenneth Young).
Triton Pacific-backed Unio Health Partners to acquire inSite Digestive Health Care. (FS)
Triton Pacific-backed Unio Health Partners, a physician services platform, agreed to acquire inSite Digestive Health Care, a physician services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"In less than two years, we have partnered with five leading physician practices across California, not only adding considerable scale and density but also forging a sophisticated, fully integrated management services organization. We are focused on bringing together elite groups with diverse capabilities, augmenting them with new resources, and sharing best practices across the platform. The inSite physicians have built an impressive group and will be invaluable contributors to Unio's growth," Marshal Salomon, Unio CEO.
inSite Digestive Health Care is advised by Coker Capital and Katten Muchin Rosenman. Triton Pacific and Unio Health Partners are advised by Robert W Baird (led by Jason Porter and Andrew Nicholson) and DLA Piper.
1-800-FLOWERS to acquire Things Remembered.
1-800-FLOWERS, a provider of gifts, agreed to acquire Things Remembered, an operator of personalized gift retail store chains across the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The expansion of our personalized gifting platform with the addition of the Things Remembered brand and product offerings further solidifies our leadership position in the growing market for personalized gifts. The addition of Things Remembered is very complementary to Personalization Mall® and meaningfully grows the number and expands the variety of personalized products we can offer to our customers to help celebrate every occasion with personalized masterpieces. This addition is a perfect example of how our e-Commerce platform was built for rapid growth as we seamlessly incorporate complementary brands into our platform," Chris McCann, 1-800-FLOWERS CEO.
1-800-FLOWERS is advised by Cahill Gordon & Reindel (led by Kimberly C. Petillo-Decossard).
One Equity Partners completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Mythics from Emergent. (FS)
One Equity Partners, an investment firm, completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Mythics, an IT services provider, from Emergent, a public sector-focused IT services firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited to partner with the founders and management team of MEG to help accelerate the company's growth and enable MEG to enhance its position with transformational acquisitions. As a key provider of cloud-based solutions to federal and SLED customers, we expect MEG to be an important participant in the public sector's shift to next generation technologies," Carlo Padovano, One Equity Partners Managing Director.
One Equity Partners was advised by Stanton PRM.
Nomura Strategic Ventures, an investment firm, agreed to invest in Percent, a loan marketplace. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Our strategic initiatives will help unlock the potential of the platform that we have built thus far and help realize our long term vision to modernize private credit markets. Prior to Percent, transaction parties relied on antiquated systems and disjointed processes to manage the lifecycle of a private credit deal,” Nelson Chu, Percent Founder and CEO.
Percent is advised by Caliber Corporate Advisers.
Central National Gottesman, a pulp, paper, tissue, packaging, wood products, and metals industries distributor, agreed to acquire S.P. Richards, a business products wholesaler. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"S.P Richards is a leader in this market space, and we are excited about its national distribution capabilities. We believe we can grow the business over time in a way that will benefit our customers, suppliers, and employees, and we are thrilled to welcome our new SPR colleagues to the CNG family," Andrew Wallach, CNG President and CEO.
Stripe cuts valuation 11% to $63bn.
Stripe has reduced its internal valuation by about 11%, at least the third time since June that the US payments startup has lowered its own view of its share price.
The internal price is used for new stock-based compensation, and could help set expectations ahead of an IPO. The latest cut reduces the share price to $24.71, implying a valuation of about $63bn. That follows a cut in October, when the price was lowered from $29 to $27.73,
Bloomberg reported.
Adobe tried to buy Figma twice before $20bn deal.
Field, who is also Figma’s chief executive officer, met periodically since the startup’s founding in 2012 with Adobe executives to discuss strategic partnerships or a potential acquisition. He cut off merger discussions with Adobe, the top maker of software for creative design professionals, in 2020 and 2021, tweeting in January 2021, “our goal is to be Figma not Adobe.”
Subway is exploring a sale that could value the company at over $10bn.
Subway, a sandwich chain, has retained advisers to explore selling the closely held company. The process, which is in the early stages, is expected to attract potential corporate buyers and private-equity firms and could value Subway at more than $10bn,
WSJ reported.
"As a privately held company, we don't comment on ownership structure and business plans. We continue to be focused on moving the brand forward with our transformational journey to help our franchisees be successful and profitable," Subway.
Subway, known for its foot-long sandwiches and quick-service restaurants, has been owned by its two founding families for over five decades. Subway's approximately 21k US locations did $9.4bn in sales in 2021, up 13% from the year prior as the chain recovered from the pandemic and operational improvements boosted sales. The company had around 37k stores worldwide as of 2021 and was the biggest restaurant chain by US locations.
KKR commits additional $1.15bn to aircraft leasing. (FS)
KR is making an additional $1.15bn commitment to expand its global portfolio of leased commercial aircraft in partnership with Altavair. The investment will come from KKR’s credit and infrastructure funds.
KKR has deployed and committed $1.7bn of capital into aircraft deals since forming a partnership with Altavair and acquiring an interest in the company in 2018. The partnership has acquired more than 90 commercial and freighter aircraft through a variety of transactions, including lessor trades, airline direct used and new delivery sale leasebacks, structured transactions and passenger-to-freight conversions, and has successfully leased more than 75% of the portfolio to tier-one airlines and operators around the world.
Univar Solutions draws interest from Apollo, Platinum. (FS)
US chemical distributor Univar Solutions has attracted interest from potential bidders including Apollo Global Management and Platinum Equity.
The private equity firms have been studying the business. Suitors are holdings talks with Univar management,
Bloomberg reported.
Tiger Woods-backed SPAC throws in the towel as industry crumbles.
Sports & Health Tech Acquisition, the blank-check firm backed by professional golfer Tiger Woods, dropped its plans for a $150m IPO,
Bloomberg reported.
The special purpose acquisition company asked to withdraw its registration for an IPO filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm was planning to seek a merger target in the sports or health tech sectors with an enterprise value of $600m to $1bn.
XP-backed Faros is said in talks to buy Brazil hedge fund stake.
Faros, a Brazilian independent financial adviser backed by XP, is in advanced talks to acquire a stake in a hedge fund firm launched by former executives at HSBC in Brazil,
Bloomberg reported.
Faros, which has more than BRL34bn ($6.5bn) under custody, is seeking to purchase a significant but minority stake in the Sao Paulo-based hedge fund manager Persevera Asset Management. Final details on the transaction are still being discussed and the deal could still fall apart.
Blue Owl Capital closed a $12.9bn fund. (FS)
Blue Owl Capital, a direct lending and capital solutions provider, announced the final closing of Dyal Capital Partners V with $12.9bn of committed capital. Fund V closed on December 30 and was almost $4bn larger than the team's previous fund, Dyal Capital Partners IV.
Fund V's objective is to provide passive, minority equity capital primarily for building GP balance sheets that enable leading firms to invest more capital alongside their investors. Fund V expects to invest in approximately 20 private equity firms diversified by asset class, strategy, and geography.
"The strong investor support for Fund V underscores the attractiveness that a GP Capital Solutions investment can provide to investors during times of economic uncertainty. With over $2tn of dry powder across the private equity industry and a leading group of GPs already in the Fund V portfolio, we are incredibly optimistic that we will drive value for both our investors and the general partners," Michael Rees, Blue Owl Co-Founder and Co-President.
Blue Owl Capital was advised by Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson.
Brazil's Americanas CEO, CFO resign as $3.88bn accounting inconsistencies discovered. (People)
Brazilian retailer Americanas chief executive and chief financial officer resigned after the discovery of around $3.88bn in accounting inconsistencies,
Reuters reported.
Lojas Americanas CEO Sergio Rial departed less than two weeks after taking the job, when he replaced Miguel Gutierrez. Joao Guerra, a long-time Americanas executive not involved with accounting or financial management, will take over as CEO on an interim basis.
Blackstone appoints global head of private credit strategies. (FS, People)
Blackstone has promoted Brad Marshall, senior managing director, to the new role of global head of private credit strategies, after nearly two decades with the firm.
The report cites Blackstone spokesperson Kate Holderness as confirming the appointment along with the addition of Jonathan Bock who has joined as co-CEO of the firm's two business development companies, Blackstone Private Credit Fund and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund.
