S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.
It looks like the market for private equity secondaries is about to heat up.
The same thing could have been said at this time in 2022, after the California Public Employees' Retirement System started shopping around limited partner (LP) stakes worth $6 billion. CalPERS closed the record deal in July, while other institutional investors who tested the secondaries waters in the wake of that mega-sale left disappointed.
When a group of pension fund and college endowment administrators took the stage at the SuperReturn North America conference in September, the conversation circled around the disappointingly low bids they had encountered in the secondaries market.
That might be about to change. Here is one data point that explains why: Secondaries funds in the first quarter raised more than $31.5 billion, just $2.5 billion shy of their fundraising total for all of 2022.
Secondaries buyers have a lot of firepower, which is expected to boost competition and pricing for LP stakes.
Read more about how the record accumulation of dry powder has the secondaries market poised for dealmaking.
For more background on what is driving LPs to the secondaries market, including decelerating private equity investment cycles that are slowing distributions to LPs, check out the latest Look Forward report on private markets from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
CHART OF THE WEEK: Asia-Pacific investment slides in Q1
⮞ Private equity- and venture capital-backed investment in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan fell 45% year over year to $8.09 billion in the first quarter.
⮞ Overall M&A activity in the region totaled $95.10 billion for the first three months of 2023, the lowest quarterly total since at least the first quarter of 2021, and there are signs dealmaking will remain muted due to slower growth and other factors.
⮞ The largest private equity-backed deal of the quarter was the $1.82 billion acquisition of a majority stake in South Korea-based dental implant business Osstem Implant Co. Ltd.
TOP DEALS AND FUNDRAISING
– Platinum Equity LLC agreed to buy JELD-WEN Australia Pty. Ltd., the Australasia-focused building product manufacturing business of JELD-WEN Holding Inc., for about $461 million. The firm expects to close the transaction in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
– Insight Partners made an offer to acquire SignUp Software AB (publ) from SignForm International BV and Standout Capital for 104 Swedish kronor per share in cash. The acceptance period for the offer expires on or around May 10 and the completion of the offer is conditional upon Insight Partners becoming owner of shares representing more than a 90% stake in SignUp Software.
– Growth capital investor Two Sigma Impact closed its first impact fund with $677 million in capital commitments. The fund has so far invested approximately $370 million across companies in the healthcare, consumer, education and training, and business services sectors.
– BPOC raised $425 million at the close of its first continuation vehicle. Fund affiliates of Apollo Global Management Inc.'s S3 business, Blackstone Inc.'s Blackstone Strategic Partners unit and Five Arrows Managers SAS co-led the transaction.
MIDDLE-MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
– Nordic Capital agreed to take a majority stake in medical technology company Corpuls. The transaction is targeted for completion at the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter.
– Olympus Partners will purchase a majority stake in wire products manufacturer International Wire Group Holdings Inc. from Atlas Holdings LLC in a deal scheduled to close in the second quarter.
– Willis Towers Watson PLC struck a deal to sell Saville Assessment Ltd., a UK-based talent assessment business, to Tenzing Pvt. Equity LLP. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2023.
FOCUS ON: HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY
– Hughes & Co. invested an undisclosed sum in Voluware Inc., a cloud-based clinical workflow automation software provider.
– Incubate Fund sold On Call Co. Ltd., a Japan-based home visit medical platform developer, to Qol Holdings Co. Ltd.-owned Apo Plus Career Co. Ltd.
– A group of private equity investors plans to sell Psico Smart Apps SL, a Spanish virtual reality platform for mental health professionals that operates under the brand name Amelia Virtual Care, to XRHealth USA Inc. Sellers include CG Ventures, Asabys Partners, Fundación Ship2B, BStartup 10 SLU, Bynd Venture Capital, Founders Factory Ltd., Sabadell Capital and Caixa Capital Risc SGEIC SA.
– An investor group including First Round Capital Management LLC, Haystack Ventures, Liquid 2 Venture LLC, Uncork Capital and Felicis Ventures Management Co. LLC sold Simplifeye Inc. to Vyne Dental.
For further private equity deals, read our latest In Play report, which looks at potential private equity-backed M&A, including rumored transactions, each week.