| | | | | Blackstone bets on infrastructure, economic rebound as earnings jump | |  | Blackstone COO Jonathan Gray sounded a bullish tone about the firm's 2021 prospects during a Wednesday earnings call.
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images) | | | Blackstone's ambitions for bankrolling a government-led construction boom are finally looking brighter.
Chief operating officer Jonathan Gray expressed optimism on Wednesday about the buyout firm's growth prospects in 2021, citing the possibility of a renewed push into infrastructure and energy investments now that Democrats have taken back control in Washington. | | | | | | | | | | Private debt primed to bounce back in 2021 after a pandemic plunge | | The number of new private debt funds dropped to a nine-year low in 2020, while the amount of new capital raised sunk to its lowest point in five years. Some investors were wary of the market chaos caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Others had coffers that were already well-stocked after a glut of major funds in recent years.
But last year's decline is more likely to be a blip than the beginning of a significant shift in the market, according to PitchBook's 2020 Annual Global Private Debt Report, sponsored by Tree Line Capital Partners. Among the other key takeaways: - A slump in direct lending fundraises played a key role in last year's decline, with new fund count falling more than 50%
- Other major strategies, including distressed debt and special situations funds, saw annual increases in capital raised
- Quarterly IRR for private debt funds was -6.2% in Q1, a sign of the toll taken by the pandemic on fund valuations
| | | | | | | | | | | | Fairness opinions: A guide for selecting a provider | | Fairness opinions are playing an increasingly important role in M&A and related corporate transactions as a critical means of support for board decision-making. As a result, the number and type of financial opinion providers has expanded to include a broad range of investment banks, independent business appraisers, accounting firms and consulting firms. Sorting through these providers is only one challenge in selecting a fairness opinion provider. Varying levels of experience, expertise and potential conflicts of interest make it imperative to conduct thorough due diligence.
This guide provides boards of directors, corporate committees and other fiduciaries with a road map for selecting a fairness opinion provider, including: - How to assess capabilities, experience and resources
- Questions to ask providers
- Best practices for engaging a provider
Download the guide now. | | | | | | | | | | TCV closes its largest venture fund to date at $4B | |  | | Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky guided the TCV portfolio company to its lofty public debut last month. (Mike Windle/Getty Images) | | | TCV has amassed $4 billion for its latest flagship fund, its largest vehicle to date. The storied venture capital firm aims to continue its technology focus, particularly in areas such as SaaS, edtech, remote collaboration, fitness, media and entertainment, ecommerce, and digital banking.
The fund, dubbed TCV XI, has $1 billion more than the firm's previous vehicle, which closed in 2019. Last year, TCV made bets across the tech spectrum, most notably in fintech companies Klarna and Revolut, social fitness app provider Strava and cybersecurity specialist OneTrust. And one of the firm's portfolio companies, Airbnb, dashed onto the public markets after its highly anticipated IPO.
Founded in 1995, TCV has invested a total of $14 billion in over 350 companies. Its other successful exits include Peloton, Netflix, Facebook and Spotify. | | | | | | | | | | Goldman loses appeal on portfolio company cartel fine | | Goldman Sachs has lost its appeal against an EU fine handed to Prysmian, an Italian cable manufacturer the investment bank owned via its PE funds from 2005 through 2010. Prysmian was accused of taking part in a global cartel with 10 other cable makers that began in 1999 and ran for nearly a decade.
Antitrust regulators issued the €104.6 million (about $126.7 million) fine in 2014, including a €37.3 million joint penalty with Goldman Sachs, which the EU said was liable because it held decisive influence over Prysmian while it was the cable maker's parent company. The EU's second-highest court rejected the first appeal in 2018, and its top court agreed Wednesday with the ruling.
In a statement, a Goldman Sachs spokesman noted that the bank was found culpable solely under the parental liability doctrine, and there is no suggestion that Goldman had any knowledge of or involvement in the cartel. | | | | | | | | | | Where will your firm rank in PitchBook's Global League Tables? | | More than 25,000 firms coordinate with us in order to ensure the deals they accomplish appear in the PitchBook Platform. Where will your firm end up?
Reach out to connect@pitchbook.com to get your deals properly credited, so you may feature in our industry, region and deal type rankings. | | | | | | | | | | Is it market manipulation, a market revolution, or something in between? A full rundown of what exactly is happening with GameStop. [The Wall Street Journal]
Goldman Sachs is going unicorn hunting in Europe. [Bloomberg]
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos both have ambitions of going to Mars. For now, they're battling over a segment of space that's just a little bit closer. [Gizmodo] | | | | | | | | | | | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 517 Deals | 1930 People | 562 Companies | 29 Funds | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2008 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds | | | | | | | | | | | Ares names new head of DE&I | | | Ares Management has hired Indhira Arrington as a managing director and global leader of the firm's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. She will aim to promote DE&I activities both within the Los Angeles-based firm and at its portfolio companies. Arrington most recently worked at Wells Fargo as a senior vice president and head of targeted sourcing, where she focused on diversity sourcing initiatives. | | | | | | | | | | Loanpal secures new funding | | | | | | | | | DriveNets becomes unicorn with $208M round | | | Networking software provider DriveNets has raised $208 million in a round led by D1 Capital Partners. The Series B brings the Israeli company's valuation to over $1 billion. DriveNets, which offers a cloud-based alternative to network routers, was valued at an estimated $464 million with a $117 million round in 2019, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Booksy banks $70M for appointment scheduling | | | Booksy has raised a $70 million Series C led by Cat Rock Capital, with support from Sprints Capital and others. Founded in Poland and currently based in San Francisco, the company provides an app for customers to schedule and pay for wellness and beauty appointments and products at local salons. Booksy has now raised around $120 million in total private funding. | | | | | | | | ShipMonk sails away with $65M | | | ShipMonk has raised a $65 million growth equity investment from Periphas Capital. Based in Florida, the company provides order fulfillment and inventory management services to ecommerce companies. The funding comes less than two months after ShipMonk raised $290 million from Summit Partners in December. | | | | | | | | Literati books $40M Series B | | | Literati, a subscription startup that provides curated books, personalized stickers and artwork to subscribers, has raised $40 million in a round led by Felicis Ventures. The Austin-based company was valued at $35.9 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data. Literati recently launched its luminary platform, which features curated book clubs from notable figures such as Malala Yousafzai and Sir Richard Branson. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Veritas backs $7.1B government IT deal | | | Peraton, a provider of defense and communications products for clients including the intelligence community and Defense Department, has agreed to pay $7.1 billion to acquire Perspecta, a fellow tech contractor for clients in the defense and government sectors. Both companies are based in Virginia. Peraton, which is backed by Veritas Capital, will pay $29.35 per share in cash, an 11.8% premium to the closing price of Perspecta's shares Tuesday. | | | | | | | | Blackstone to pick up Allstate unit in $2.8B pact | | | Blackstone has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Allstate's life insurance division for $2.8 billion, including a pre-closing dividend from the unit worth as much as $400 million. The deal doesn't include Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York. | | | | | | | | Nordic Capital bids for Advanz Pharma in $2B tie-up | | | Nordic Capital has offered to buy Advanz Pharma, a specialty drug company focused on complex medicines, for $846 million. Advanz said its board of directors agreed to Nordic's cash offer of $17.26 per share. Reuters reported that the deal would be worth around $2 billion, including debt. The Carlyle Group and TDR were also said to be interested in Advanz, which was formed in 2015 from the merger of AMCO and Concordia Healthcare. | | | | | | | | Tailwater to buy Tall Oak midstream assets | | | Tailwater Capital has agreed to purchase Tall Oak Midstream II and Tall Oak Midstream III from EnCap Flatrock Midstream. Tall Oak Midstream II owns more than 750 miles of gathering pipelines in Oklahoma, while Tall Oak Midstream III owns pipelines and a processing plant in Oklahoma's Arkoma Basin. Tall Oak Midstream III's executives will now operate Connect Midstream, an existing Tailwater portfolio company operating in the same region. | | | | | | | | Summit Park recaps HVAC specialist | | | | | | | | | Shore Capital stakes Tandem | | | Shore Capital Partners has invested in Tandem, a Westchester, Ill.-based operator of four HR software brands that manage payroll processing, benefits administration and more. Ambrose Employer Group co-founder Greg Slamowitz has made a co-investment in Tandem and joined the company's board of directors as part of the deal. Based in Chicago, Shore Capital typically targets companies in the healthcare, food and beverage industries. | | | | | | | | | | Ant to restructure after IPO suspension | | | Ant Group, the fintech giant controlled by Jack Ma, has plans to restructure itself as a financial holding company supervised by China's central bank, The Wall Street Journal reported. Regulators in China reportedly told the company to become a holding company, subjecting it to stricter capital requirements. Last November, China called off Ant's IPO. | | | | | | | | ByteDance logs twofold growth in 2020 revenue | | | ByteDance more than doubled its revenue to about $35 billion in 2020, Bloomberg reported. The TikTok owner's operating profit last year also grew to around $7 billion from less than $4 billion the year before, the report said. ByteDance is said to be preparing Hong Kong IPOs for some of its assets. The Chinese company still awaits approval to sell a stake in TikTok to Oracle and Walmart in a deal agreed upon last year. | | | | | | | | | | Oaktree's Shoals finds warm IPO reception | | | Shares of Shoals Technologies closed their first day of trading up nearly 24% on Wednesday after the company raised more than $1.9 billion in its IPO. Based in Tennessee and backed by Oaktree Capital Management, Shoals manufactures electrical balance of systems products for solar panels. | | | | | | | | AIP considers $3.5B building products sale | | | American Industrial Partners has begun working with advisers on a potential sale of Cabinetworks, a deal that could value the Michigan-based cabinetry company at some $3.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. AIP has backed the company, formerly known as ACProducts, since 2012. | | | | | | | | 23andMe mulls merger with Richard Branson SPAC | | | 23andMe, the consumer DNA testing company, has been in touch with a SPAC founded by Richard Branson about a potential merger, Bloomberg reported. Founded in 2006, the company has raised almost $800 million from investors including GV, G Squared and Sequoia. It was valued at $2.5 billion after a funding round in 2018, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Casino game specialist sets sights on SPAC deal | | | Playstudios, a developer of social casino games, has held discussions to go public via a merger with a blank-check company, Bloomberg reported. The SPAC, Acies Acquisition Corp., is led by former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren. Playstudios has raised over $36 million from investors including Activision Blizzard, MGM Resorts and DCM Ventures; it was valued at $121.5 million in 2017, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Levine Leichtman offloads healthcare software stake | | | | | | | | | Carlyle eyes Ameos hospital group exit | | | The Carlyle Group is looking to sell or refinance Swiss hospital chain Ameos after nearly 10 years of ownership, Reuters reported. Ameos operates 96 general care and psychiatric hospitals and is estimated to be worth as much as €1.3 billion (about $1.6 billion), the report said. Carlyle first backed the company in 2012. | | | | | | | | | | Prime Movers Lab unveils $245M fund | | | Prime Movers Lab has raised $245 million for its sophomore flagship fund. Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale are among the LPs investing in the vehicle. The Jackson, Wyo.-based firm targets early-stage companies developing potential breakthrough technologies in sectors like energy, transportation and biotech. Prime Movers Lab raised $100 million for its first fund last year. | | | | | | | | NextView raises $100M fund | | | NextView Ventures has secured $100 million for its fourth fund. A total of 56 limited partners contributed to the investment vehicle, according to an SEC filing. NextView invests in seed-stage internet and mobile startups. | | | | | | | | | "Not only has exit activity abated in 2020, but the composition has shifted as well. For the first time since 2009, there has been a meaningful reduction in sponsor-to-sponsor (also called secondary buyouts, or SBOs) exit activity. During the pandemic it appears that PE firms had perhaps been seeking steeper discounts on deals than other buyout shops were willing to grant, pushing more exits to strategics."
Source: PitchBook's Q3 2020 US PE Middle Market Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who's in the newsletter today? | | People | | | | Investors | | | | Companies | | | | Service Providers | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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