S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.
Waves of sanctions and a divestment campaign spearheaded by U.S. public employee pension funds throttled the flow of private capital into Russia following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Yet private equity deal value soared to nearly $2.5 billion in Russia in 2022, a five-year high, driven by a flood of investments from Russia's domestic private equity and venture capital firms, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Russian private equity and venture capital firms were responsible for more than 98% of that total, while foreign firms accounted for less than 2%.
That was a big step up from 2021, when domestic firms were responsible for closer to 70% of the total private capital in Russia, and given the sanctions, the figure is likely to reach 100% this year.
Sanctions drove the domestic capital surge. Some investments may have been stakes that needed to be off-loaded and were offered at discount prices to Russian private equity firms. Other capital flows may be aimed at domestic companies reorienting supply chains away from Europe.
But there may be an even simpler explanation: Russian firms risk having their assets frozen if they deploy capital abroad.
Read more about the consequences of private equity's withdrawal from Russia.
CHART OF THE WEEK: Private equity investment in Africa hits 5-year high in 2022
⮞ Private equity and venture capital firms invested $7.7 billion in African companies in 2022, up 66% year over year and the highest annual total in at least five years, Market Intelligence data shows.
⮞ The relatively low entry points and high growth rates of African technology companies drew investor interest, but Africa's healthcare sector led all others for private equity and venture capital investment in 2022.
⮞ The proposed acquisition of private hospital network Mediclinic International PLC, valued at more than $5 billion, was the largest single deal of 2022 and accounted for most of the increase in private equity transaction value.
TOP DEALS AND FUNDRAISING
* Apax Partners SAS bought a majority stake in Porsolt SAS, a French contract research organization providing preclinical services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and research communities.
* Funds managed by Apollo Global Management Inc. and EQT Partners AB, alongside other minority shareholders, agreed to sell Blume Global Inc. to WiseTech Global Ltd. for $414 million.
* IRG Acquisition Holdings — a partnership owned by Invenergy LLC, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Blackstone Infrastructure Partners LP-managed funds — agreed to acquire a 1,365-MW portfolio of unregulated renewable assets from American Electric Power Co. Inc. The portfolio includes 14 projects, representing 1,200 MW of wind and 165 MW of solar in 11 states.
* Singapore-based Capital Square Partners Pte. Ltd., through its technology-focused private equity fund, invested $700 million in digital transformation and cloud services provider Relevance Lab Inc.
MIDDLE-MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
* Antin Infrastructure Partners acquired a majority stake in Pearlx Infrastructure LLC, which owns and operates smart grid infrastructure systems. This marks the first investment for Antin's NextGen platform in North America.
* Abris Capital Partners reached a preliminary agreement to sell 100% of its shares in Graal SA, alongside Bogusław Kowalski, the founder of the Poland-based canned fish producer. Graal will be acquired by Lisner Holding Sp. z o.o., which is part of German food business Müller Group.
* Platinum Equity LLC completed the acquisition of HarbisonWalker International Inc., a supplier of refractory products and services in North America. HarbisonWalker will join forces with Platinum's recently acquired business that now operates as Calderys.
* Sixth Street Partners LLC and Wildcat Capital Management LLC made a strategic growth equity investment in Milan Laser Hair Removal. Existing backer Leonard Green & Partners LP, together with the laser hair removal provider's co-founders, will retain a majority interest.
FOCUS ON: IT
* Dry Line Partners LLC acquired casino gaming software provider NEW BI US LLC, doing business as VizExplorer. Morgan Stanley Private Equity is the seller of the company, according to Market Intelligence data.
* Supernova Capital LLP purchased game developers Mi-Clos Studio in France and LRDG Entertainment Inc., or Little Red Dog Games, in New York in separate deals.
* Montefiore Investment SA sold a majority stake in French cloud hosting services provider Gandi SAS to Total Webhosting Solutions BV.
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.