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Gridiron Capital tops midmarket PE rankings; global PE deal value dips

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.

Investments in technology and software companies have been the main factor in making the top-performing large private equity firms list, which is published annually by HEC Paris-DowJones. A new list ranking middle-market private equity firms suggests the top performers have made more diversified investments.

Deep sector specialization was much less common among the 20 firms recognized for outpacing their middle-market peers in the HEC Paris-DowJones ranking released March 21. This is a marked difference from the ranking of large firms released two months earlier, in which more than half the top 20 firms demonstrated a clear focus on technology and software companies.

Gridiron Capital LLC, which topped the middle-market rankings, has about 42% of its investments in industrials, followed by the consumer sector at 26%, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Click here to read more about the HEC Paris-DowJones MidMarket Buyout Performance Ranking.

CHART OF THE WEEK: February deal value down from prior year

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Global private equity and venture capital transactions in February totaled $64.11 billion, a year-over-year decrease of 23% from $83.26 billion for the same month a year ago.

⮞ At the same time, the total number of announced deals in February posted a 15% year-over-year increase to a total of 1,881 deals from the 1,635 announced transactions in February 2021.

North America led the way with 693 transactions and an aggregate valuation of $39.68 billion in February. Asia-Pacific came in second with 552 deals totaling $13.01 billion, followed by Europe with 501 deals totaling $9.17 billion in value.

FUNDRAISING AND DEALS

* Funds managed by Apollo Global Management Inc. affiliates will invest in Primafrio SL, a temperature-controlled infrastructure and logistics company in Europe, in a transaction slated to close by mid-2022. Primafrio's founders, executive chairman Juan Conesa and CEO José Esteban Conesa, will retain majority stakes in the business.

* KKR & Co. Inc. remains interested in acquiring Telecom Italia SpA and combining the company's fixed-line telecom assets with rival Open Fiber Spa, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Telecom Italia previously said it will enter into formal talks with the private equity giant, which made an offer that valued the company at €10.8 billion in November 2020.

* An affiliate of The Carlyle Group Inc.'s global credit business finalized its acquisition of iStar Inc.'s U.S. net lease portfolio consisting of office, entertainment and industrial assets.

* EQT AB (publ)'s EQT Mid Market Asia III fund took a majority stake in Chinese pest control operator Guardian, while the company's founders will maintain a minority interest in the business.

ELSEWHERE IN THE INDUSTRY

* An approximately $9 billion buyout offer made by a private equity consortium including Elliott Management Corp. to Nielsen Holdings PLC was rejected, as the proposal was deemed to undervalue the television-ratings company, The Wall Street Journal reported.

* Cypher Capital launched a $100 million fund that will make seed investments in blockchain, cryptocurrency and other digital assets.

* Middle-market investor Stellex Capital Management LP added machined components and assemblies company RTC Aerospace LLC to its portfolio.

* Middle-market firm Broad Sky Partners LLC infused fresh capital into sustainable lifestyle brand Fair Harbor Clothing Inc.

FOCUS ON: INTERNET SOFTWARE AND SERVICES

* Thoma Bravo LP is purchasing forecasting software company Anaplan Inc. for a total consideration of $10.7 billion, WSJ reported.

* SoftBank Investment Advisers (UK) Ltd., through SoftBank Vision Fund 2, led the $150 million series D financing round for application programming interface hub R Software Inc., or RapidAPI.

* Data orchestration platform Astronomer Inc. secured $213 million in a series C funding round led by Insight Partners.