S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.
Pressure is mounting on private equity fund managers to monetize portfolio company investments and return cash to investors after a two-year lull in exits. So far, there is scant evidence of a rebound.
Private equity exits through the first six months of the year totaled $155.3 billion globally, about 26% lower than the exit value recorded in the first half of 2023, according to Preqin data.
The slowing pace of inflation and an expectation that global central banks may reverse the recent rate-hiking cycle could clear the way for more dealmaking in the months ahead. But potential acquirers of private equity portfolio companies still have reason to tread cautiously, said Paul Aversano, a managing director at M&A advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal, adding that upcoming elections in the US could lead to shifts in tax and regulatory policy with the potential to impact views on corporate valuations.
"We have two candidates in the US who couldn't be further apart on fiscal and monetary policy. Until you know what direction we're going to go in, people just wait," Aversano said.
Read more about private equity exit trends through the first half of 2024.
CHART OF THE WEEK: Total entry deal value trends higher
⮞ The announced value of private equity and venture capital entries in the second quarter climbed 42.1% year over year to a global total of $175.73 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
⮞ The total announced value of entries through the first half of 2024 was $309.82 billion, up 24.1% from $249.69 billion for the same period in 2023.
⮞ The pickup in entries did not appear to impact the accumulation of dry powder. The industry ended the first half with a record level of uncommitted capital available for new investments.
TOP DEALS AND FUNDRAISING
– KBR Inc. agreed to buy LinQuest Corp., an engineering, data analytics and digital integration company, for $737 million. Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and CoVant Management Inc.
– Blackstone Inc. entered into a deal to buy electrical equipment provider Trystar LLC from Goldner Hawn LP.
– Funds managed by Apollo Global Management Inc. agreed to buy The Travel Corp. in a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter. The deal covers 18 travel brands.
– Kingswood Capital Management LP raised $1.5 billion in capital commitments at the final close of its Kingswood Capital Opportunities Fund III LP. The firm focuses on buyouts of middle-market companies.
– CCMP Growth Advisors LP reached the final close of CCMP Capital Investors IV LP and parallel vehicles, securing aggregate commitments that surpassed the $500 million target. The fund invests in middle-market companies in the consumer and industrial sectors across North America.
MIDDLE-MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
– Palladium Equity Partners LLC completed the sale of its majority stake in Trachte LLC, a modular prefabricated building company, to an affiliate of nVent Electric PLC in a $695 million deal.
– Trivest Partners LP made a strategic capital investment in financial advisory services provider Province LLC.
– Falfurrias Management Partners LP made strategic growth investments in Gravitate and energy trading services provider capSpire Inc. Gravitate, a fuel management and energy logistics software company, was spun out of capSpire into a stand-alone entity as part of the deal.
– Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP, through Inflexion Enterprise Fund V LP, invested in telecommunications data provider FDMUK Ltd.
FOCUS ON: BIOTECHNOLOGY
– Cardurion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage cardiovascular biotechnology company, raised $260 million in a series B financing round led by Ascenta Capital Management Co. LP.
– Germany-based CatalYm GmbH, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunotherapies for cancer patients, closed its at $150 million series D funding round. The oversubscribed round was jointly led by Canaan Partners and Bioqube Ventures NV.
– Scorpion Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage oncology company, closed a $150 million series C financing round coled by Frazier Life Sciences Management LP and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
______________________________________________
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.
For private credit news, see our latest private credit newsletter issued twice per month.