S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.
Geopolitical tensions choked the flow of investment from US private equity and venture capital firms into China this year, though capital is still moving in the other direction.
Private equity firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong deployed $11.05 billion of capital into the US and Europe between Jan. 1 and Aug. 8, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. This amount far surpasses the full-year 2023 total of $5.92 billion.
Credit for the surge largely rests on EQT Private Capital Asia, the Asia investment platform of Swedish alternative asset manager EQT AB (publ), which invested nearly $5.8 billion across two deals: the planned acquisition of digital consultancy Perficient Inc. as announced in May and the pending acquisition of UK-based video game service provider Keywords Studios PLC as made public in July.
An increasingly strict regulatory environment threatens to stem the tide of outbound investment from firms in mainland China and Hong Kong. In just one example, the EU announced earlier this year a plan to step up screening of foreign direct investment in European companies for security risks.
Read more about trends in outbound investment from private equity firms in mainland China and Hong Kong.
CHART OF THE WEEK: Slumping private equity investment in agriculture
⮞ The announced value of global private equity and venture capital investments in agriculture totaled $1.56 billion this year as of Aug. 13, down 48.7% from the same period in 2023, according to Market Intelligence data.
⮞ Slow activity in 2024 follows a huge drop in global deal value in 2023, when private equity and venture capital investments in agriculture fell 83% year over year to $4.24 billion.
⮞ Declining commodity and land prices prompted private equity investors to steer clear of the sector, Managing Director Ethan Levine of
TOP DEALS AND FUNDRAISING
– Bain Capital LP and KKR & Co. Inc. made separate offers to buy Japanese systems developer Fuji Soft Inc., Nikkei Asia reported. Bain offered to pay about ¥600 billion for the company. KKR, meanwhile, recently launched a tender offer to buy Fuji Soft shares for ¥8,800 per share, or roughly ¥560 billion in aggregate.
– Partners Group Holding AG led a $1.9 billion equity investment in datacenter operator EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure.
– Blackstone Inc.-managed funds and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board agreed to buy Australian datacenter company AirTrunk Operating Pty. Ltd. from Macquarie Asset Management Inc. and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board for an implied enterprise value of more than A$24 billion.
– Warburg Pincus LLC secured more than $4 billion at the close of its Warburg Pincus Capital Solutions Founders Fund LP. The vehicle focuses on structured investments.
MIDDLE-MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
– S2G Ventures and lower-middle-market-focused Skyline Global Partners LLC made a growth investment in Exacto Inc., a private label solutions provider to the agricultural, turf and ornamental horticulture markets.
– Tower Arch Capital LP recapitalized ACS Manufacturing Inc., maker of structural enclosures for power systems mainly used in datacenters.
– BP Energy Partners LLC's BP Natural Gas Opportunity Partners II LP
FOCUS ON: FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– India-based specialty coffee and bakery brand Muhavra Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., or Blue Tokai, secured $35 million in a series C funding round led by Verlinvest SA.
– Brynwood Partners Management LLC's Brynwood Partners IX LP fund acquired frozen-pizza maker Miracapo Pizza Co. from a CC Industries Inc. affiliate.
– Sycamore Partners Management LP purchased fruit bowl shop Playa Bowls LLC from Tamarix Capital Corp.'s Tamarix Equity Partners LP fund and other investors.
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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.
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