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| The rise of tech, the decline of oil and more private equity charts from 2020 | |  | | (Sergii Iaremenko//Getty Images) | | | Private equity investments in the tech sector continued to grow more common than ever. The reverse was true in the oil and gas sector, where deal activity plunged to a decade low. And for one quarter, the IRR for US PE funds dipped into negative territory for just the third time in the past decade.
On many different fronts, 2020 was a hectic year for private equity investors in the US. Here are five charts that help tell the story. | | | | | | | | | | Ripple braces for legal fight with SEC | | The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against cryptocurrency company Ripple, alleging that it violated investor protection laws by raising $1.3 billion through sales of XRP, a blockchain-based digital token similar to bitcoin.
The SEC argued that Ripple, co-founder Christian Larsen and CEO Bradley Garlinghouse used XRP to raise money in an unregistered and ongoing securities offering. Ripple maintains that XRP is a currency and not a security, which would have to be registered with the SEC.
The value of XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world, fell following the news. Ripple plans to fight the claims in the suit, which was filed in federal district court in Manhattan.
Garlinghouse blasted the lawsuit as an "attack on the entire crypto industry and American innovation." The company has previously considered relocating outside the US due to the country's cryptocurrency regulations, according to reports.
San Francisco-based Ripple was valued at $10 billion following a funding round in late 2019, according to PitchBook data, and has received backing from Tetragon, SoftBank and Accenture. The company was previously the subject of a class action lawsuit that claimed Ripple misled investors and should have registered XRP as a security. Ripple partially won a motion to dismiss that lawsuit in October. | | | | | | | | | | The very strange story of how a Bloomberg reporter fell in love with Martin Shkreli. [Elle]
Tesla's remarkable stock surge has turned Elon Musk into one of the richest men alive. It's also turned a host of small retail investors into millionaires. [Bloomberg]
The future of music journalism is on TikTok. [Rolling Stone] | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 393 Deals | 1280 People | 324 Companies | 24 Funds | | | | | | |
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| 2013 Vintage Global PE Funds with $250M-$500M | | | | | | |
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| Chinese edtech startup books $265M round | | | ClassIn, the Chinese developer of an interactive online classroom, has raised $265 million in a Series C led by Hillhouse. Tencent, SIG, Ince Capital and Gaocheng Capital also participated in the round, which follows a Series B of more than $50 million that the company raised from Ince Capital in July. ClassIn's platform is used by 20 million teachers and students in 150 countries. | | | | | | | | Horizon Robotics picks up $150M | | | | | | | | | | InMobi Group subsidiary Glance has raised $145 million from Google and Mithril Capital. The Bengaluru-based company is the developer of an AI-based platform that lets Android users see personalized content on the lock-screen display of their phones. Glance raised a $45 million round in September 2019. | | | | | | | | Fintech startup Liberis pulls in new funding | | | | | | | | | ReturnSafe collects $3.2M+ to manage infectious diseases in the workplace | | | ReturnSafe has raised $3.25 million in a round co-led by Fifty Years and Active Capital. Based in Austin, ReturnSafe is developing a disease management platform to help slow the spread of infectious diseases in the workplace. The startup offers an app to screen for symptoms, a testing dashboard, vaccine management and other services. | | | | | |
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| Apollo ups Great Canadian Gaming bet to $1.9B | | | | | | | | | Blackstone to take Ireland's Applegreen private | | | Blackstone has agreed to buy gas station operator Applegreen for around €718.1 million (about $873 million) alongside company founders Robert Etchingham and Joseph Barrett. The offer of €5.75 per share represents a premium of 48.2% to Applegreen's closing price on Dec. 9, the day before the possibility of a deal first surfaced. Etchingham and Barrett own around 41.3% of Applegreen, which operates 559 sites across Ireland, the UK and the US. | | | | | | | | American Securities lines up $850M carveout | | | American Securities has agreed to buy the interior products business of Beacon for $850 million in cash. The unit, which includes 81 locations that sell construction products to residential and commercial customers, generated more than $1 billion in sales and logged a net loss of $11 million during its fiscal 2020. Beacon is a Virginia-based distributor of roofing materials and related building products that was founded in 1928. | | | | | | | | Blackstone fuels Liftoff with $400M investment | | | Blackstone has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Liftoff, the provider of a software platform for mobile app marketers, for a reported $400 million. Based in Redwood City, Calif., Liftoff has previously raised more than $10 million from venture backers including Core Ventures Group and Top Tier Capital Partners, reaching a $40 million valuation in 2015, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Thoma Bravo backs Zipari's combination with Healthx | | | Thoma Bravo has made a strategic growth investment in Zipari, valuing the New York-based creator of customer experience software for the health insurance industry at more than $500 million. Zipari will also combine with Healthx, a fellow developer of healthcare engagement technology. Healthx received backing from JMI Equity in 2017. | | | | | | | | Gryphon chalks up Meazure Learning takeover | | | | | | | | | HIG stakes BPO specialist | | | HIG Capital has made an equity investment in KM2 Solutions, a business process outsourcing company operating across the Caribbean and Latin America. Based in New York, KM2 provides services related to customer care, sales, back-office support and more to clients in sectors such as auto finance, travel, hospitality and healthcare services. | | | | | |
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| NYSE gets approval for direct listing with cash raise | | | Companies pursuing a direct listing on the NYSE will now be able to raise money in the process. The Securities and Exchange Commission gave the exchange the green light to host a modified process that allows companies to sell shares directly to public investors rather than relying on banks and their institutional investor connections. Palantir and Asana, which went public through direct listings earlier this year, were not able to raise cash by issuing new shares. | | | | | | | | Ouster to go public in $1.9B SPAC deal | | | | | | | | | Clearlake-owned manufacturer to merge with SPAC | | | Janus International, a Clearlake Capital-owned manufacturer of doors and gates for self-storage facilities, has agreed to merge with a SPAC. Janus will be valued at $1.9 billion in the deal, with its shareholders expected to own about 51% of the new company. The deal will be funded with $348 million from the SPAC, named Juniper Industrial Holdings, and with a $250 million PIPE investment from a group that includes Baron Capital and Fidelity. Clearlake bought Janus in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. | | | | | | | | Platinum offloads Compart Systems for $398M | | | | | | |
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| | | MPE Partners has closed its third private equity fund on $420 million, surpassing a predecessor that pulled in $250 million in 2016. Also known as Morgenthaler Private Equity, the middle-market firm is based in both Boston and Cleveland. | | | | | | | | Revelstoke raises $111M to back rural care | | | Revelstoke Capital Partners has closed a new single-asset fund with $111 million in commitments, and used the fund to make a minority investment in Fast Pace Health, an existing portfolio company the firm has backed since 2016. Based in Tennessee, Fast Pace provides primary, walk-in and urgent care to rural communities through a network of 127 clinics across five states. | | | | | |
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| MGM taps banks to explore sale | | | MGM Holdings has hired banks to help it explore a sale, The Wall Street Journal reported. The private company reportedly has a market value of about $5.5 billion. MGM co-owns the "James Bond" franchise and has a library of over 4,000 other films, including the "Rocky" franchise. MGM's top shareholder is reportedly New York-based hedge fund Anchorage Capital. | | | | | |
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"The high levels of dry powder, coupled with strong participation by nontraditional investors at the late stage in 2020, are responsible for the high activity levels of this year. While the median late-stage deal size has remained at $10 million, the top quartile size has surged to $31 million and the average to over $37 million."
Source: PitchBook's Q3 2020 US VC Valuations Report | | | | | |
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