Weekly insights for private equity operators and portco executives.
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.
History Shows Interest Rates Alone Have Marginal Impact on Buyout Activity
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates by 0.25 in September 2024.