Weekly insights for private equity operators and portco executives.
European Data Centers Have “PE-style Risk-Return” For Bain
Plus: The Buffalo Bills eyes Arctos investment, CVC joins KKR on SuperStruct, and Shore Capital and Silver Lake talk pet care.
Will EQT Get Schooled on Education? Behind the $14.5B Nord Anglia Deal
Plus: Thoma Bravo buys Secureworks via portco Sophos, Vinted reaches $5.4B valuation, and Carlyle’s operations expertise.
Union Backlash, Regulatory Restrictions: CD&R (Finally) Seals €16B Sanofi Deal
Plus: Squarespace and Zuora go private, Ingram Micro goes public, and Blackstone and TPG work on a joint bid for Bausch + Lomb.
Apollo Shoots for the Stars with $3.6B Barnes Deal
Plus: Butterfly takes Duckhorn wines private, Strategic Value Partners buys Vista’s sporting goods business, and CD&R beats out PAI for a stake in Sanofi’s Opella.
The Unexpected Impact of Family Offices on PE Portco Operations
Family offices have emerged as a worthy competitor to PE for talent, capital, and assets. How is the competition impacting the actual management of assets?
TPG’s $7.6B Acquisition of AT&T’s DirecTV Creates Cable Giant
Plus: TPG eyes three other deals, Clearlake and Francisco Partners team up for Black Duck, and Ares bets on the Miami Dolphins.
Are PE-Backed Companies More Likely To Go Bankrupt? It’s Complicated.
The oft-cited fact stems from a study of pre-GFC data – in recent years, the opposite was true. But post-Covid, things have started to backslide… especially in two key sectors.
TPG Launches Wealth Management Comeback with $2B+ Shopping Spree
Plus: Koch’s PE arm eyes a Forbes acquisition, Apollo mulls a $5B capital injection into Intel, and M&A slows for PE-backed companies.
Apollo: “You Can’t Talk in the ESG, Alphabet-Soup Jargon” to CFOs
The firm’s ESG operational team believes the greatest impact on its portfolio won’t come through impact-coded language or hard, science-based targets like Net Zero by 2050.
Hellman & Friedman’s $3.3B Valuation of GMR Among Largest PE Music Plays
Plus: Vistra buys itself back from Nuveen and Avenue, KKR splits up Axel Springer, and exits will likely pick-up with Fed cut.
Exits Are More Sensitive to Interest Rates Than Buyouts
Unlike buyouts, there is a meaningful relationship between interest rates and PE-backed exits.
Why Did Vista, Blackstone Up the Price on Smartsheet to $8B?
Plus: Permira closes on Squarespace, CVC loses its €16B DB Schenker deal, and interest rates show weak correlation on US buyout activity.