NEW FUNDS
Grafine Closes on $600 Million for Inaugural Strategy
Grafine Partners has held an above target closing of its first fund, Grafine Capital I LP, and parallel vehicles with a combined $600 million in capital commitments. Grafine’s inaugural fund…...
Vance Street Hard Caps Fund IV
Vance Street Capital has held a first, final, above target and hard cap closing of Vance Street Capital IV LP with $775 million of capital. Fundraising for Fund IV began…...
Palm Beach Beats Fund VI Target
Palm Beach Capital has held an above target close of its sixth private equity fund, Palm Beach Capital Fund VI LP, with more than $350 million of capital exceeding its…...
Goldner Hawn Beats Target on Fund VIII
Goldner Hawn has held an above target close of its eighth investment fund with $364 million in capital commitments. Limited partners in Fund VIII include financial institutions, foundations, state pension…...
“X” Marks the Spot at HighVista
HighVista Strategies has held a final and oversubscribed closing of HighVista Private Equity X LP with $675 million of capital commitments. In addition to several new limited partners, Fund X…...
Sterling Strikes Hard Cap Gold
The Sterling Group has held an oversubscribed, above target and hard cap close of its sixth fund, Sterling Group Partners VI LP, with $3.5 billion of capital. Sterling’s earlier fund…...
Climate Focused GEF Beats Fund II Target
GEF Capital Partners has held a closing of GEF US Climate Solutions Fund II LP with $325 million of capital commitments exceeding the fund’s original $250 million target. Limited partners…...
FalconPoint Takes Flight
FalconPoint Partners has announced its launch as a private equity firm focused on investing in North America-based middle market companies that are active in the business services and industrials sectors…....
NEW PLATFORMS
One Sweet Deal! Shore’s Sweetmore Buys Sweet Eddie’s
Sweetmore Bakeries, a portfolio company of Shore Capital, has acquired Sweet Eddie’s, a wholesale manufacturer of cinnamon rolls and other baked goods. Sweetmore Bakeries was launched by Shore through the September 2019 acquisition of Main…...
Silver Oak Launches New Commercial Landscaping Platform
Silver Oak Services Partners has acquired Beary Landscaping in partnership with the company’s founder and senior management team. Beary is a provider of landscaping and snow removal services to a range of commercial end markets,…...
L2 Fires Up Barbecue Platform
L2 Capital has acquired Kosmos Q, a branded seller of barbecue related food products and accessories. Kosmos Q’s branded products include barbecue rubs and sauces, brines and injections, glazes, and accessories such as knives, gloves,…...
MPE Continues the Build of Appearance Technology Group
Appearance Technology Group (ATG), a portfolio company of MPE Partners, has acquired BAF Industries. MPE acquired Appearance Technology Group (then Hi-Tech Industries) from NiTEO Products, a portfolio company of Highlander Partners, in May 2022. In…...
NEWS
NEW EXITS
The Halifax Group Sells Majority Stake in Southern Exteriors
The Halifax Group has sold a majority interest in Southern Exteriors, an installer of exterior building systems, to Monomoy Capital Partners. Southern Exteriors is a full-service installer of exterior building products including siding, roofing, gutters,…...
NPX One Switches Sponsors
Atlas Holdings has sold NPX One, a manufacturer and seller of polystyrene trays, to Breck Partners. In 2015, Atlas formed Novipax to acquire the North American foam tray and absorbent pad businesses of publicly traded…...
Saw Mill Exits Wolf-Gordon
Saw Mill Capital has sold Wolf-Gordon, a designer and supplier of wallcoverings, to Charger Investment Partners. Wolf-Gordon’s products – used in commercial renovation and remodeling applications – include wallcoverings, upholstery and drapery textiles, specialty paints…...
NEW ADD ONS
Godspeed’s Special Aerospace Services Buys Quintron Systems
Special Aerospace Services, a space engineering and defense technology platform of Godspeed Capital, has acquired Quintron Systems from Fernandez Holdings. Special Aerospace Services (SAS) is a provider of spaceflight engineering services and related…...
Transom Keeps Rockin’ the Baby with Latest Add-On
HALO Dream, a portfolio company of Transom Capital Group, has acquired BreathableBaby, a designer and manufacturer of juvenile safe sleep products. Transom acquired HALO Dream (then Aden & Anais) in June 2023. BreathableBaby…...
NEW FINANCINGS
Trinity Launches Sponsor Finance Vertical
Publicly traded Trinity Capital has formed a new sponsor finance vertical and added three new professionals to its team to staff the new strategy. Trinity Capital (NASDAQ: TRIN) is a…...
LongueVue Acquires Kingston Brass with Abacus Backing
LongueVue Capital (LVC) has acquired Kingston Brass, a designer and distributor of kitchen and bathroom fixtures, bathtubs, and accessories. Kingston designs and distributes water fixtures, bathtubs, kitchen and bathroom accessories,…...
Lineage Acquires Bellwether Media with Abacus Backing
Abacus Finance Group was the Senior Secured Credit Facilities Administrative Agent and Sole Lender for senior secured credit facilities used to back the acquisition of Bellwether Media by Lineage Capital…....
Lincoln Road’s Newest Platform Corners Houston Landscaping Market
Lincoln Road has acquired Silversand Services and SLI Landscape, providers of commercial landscaping services in the Houston metropolitan area. Silversand’s and SLI’s services include landscaping, irrigation management, tree care, interior…...
O2 Sponsor Finance Backs Soundcore’s Paving Platform
O2 Sponsor Finance, a division of Old Second National Bank, provided the senior bank financing to back the acquisitions by Soundcore Capital Partners of ACI Asphalt & Concrete (ACI) and ACS Asphalt Concrete Solutions (ACS). Soundcore specializes in North America-based buy-and-build investments in the lower middle market. Target companies typically have revenues up to $150 million and are active in business and outsourced services, industrial services, specialty manufacturing, and value-added distribution sectors. New York City-headquartered Soundcore formed its ACI Holdings…...
Abacus Backs Eureka’s Buy of Advertiser Perceptions
Eureka Equity Partners has acquired Advertiser Perceptions with senior debt and an equity co-investment from Abacus Finance. Abacus was the Senior Secured Credit Facilities Administrative Agent and Sole Lender. Advertiser Perceptions is a provider of research-based data, market intelligence, and analysis to the media, advertising, and ad tech industries. The company was founded in 2002 by Ken Pearl and Randy Cohen and is headquartered in New York City. “Abacus provided us with tremendous support early on in this transaction and…...
Always Active Abacus Starts Fast
Abacus Finance is continuing its active support of private equity buyouts with the close of new transactions for Thompson Street Capital Partners, American Pacific Group, Pine Tree Equity, and WestView Capital. In December, Abacus provided $34.5 million of debt to support American Pacific’s acquisition of Media 1 Digital Imaging Solutions, a distributor and integrator of private label and third-party wide-format, digital textile printing products including consumable textiles and fabric, ink, paper, and solvent; equipment, accessories, and replacement parts. Media 1’s…...
FEATURED TRANSACTIONS
One Sweet Deal! Shore’s Sweetmore Buys Sweet Eddie’s
Sweetmore Bakeries, a portfolio company of Shore Capital, has acquired Sweet Eddie’s, a wholesale manufacturer of cinnamon rolls and other baked goods. Sweetmore Bakeries was launched by Shore through the September 2019 acquisition…...
Arsenal’s Sealing Platform Sold to Henkel
Arsenal Capital Partners has sold its portfolio company Seal For Life Industries to publicly traded Henkel AG & Co. Seal For Life is a supplier of protective coating and sealing products that are…...
CW Industrial Seals the Deal with Mantaline Buy
CW Industrial Partners has acquired Mantaline Corporation, an Ohio-based extruder of plastic and rubber products. Mantaline designs, prototypes, validates, and manufactures extruded elastomeric products including seals, protectors and insulations that are used in…...
Trinity Hunt Establishes Coker as New Platform
Trinity Hunt Partners has acquired Coker Group, a provider of healthcare advisory services. Coker provides performance transformation, transaction advisory, and compliance consulting services to hospitals, physician groups, private equity-backed platforms, and other healthcare…...
Patriot Pickle Acquires First Place Foods
Patriot Pickle, a maker and distributor of pickles and a portfolio company of Swander Pace Capital, has acquired First Place Foods. First Place Foods manufactures a wide variety of fermented (shelf stable) and refrigerated pickles, relishes, and other pickled vegetables that are sold to the restaurant, foodservice, institutional, and retail markets. Third-generation family-owned First Place Foods, led by President Pat Hunn, operates manufacturing and warehousing facilities near Dallas in Garland, Texas. “For more than 15 years, First Place Foods has…...
SK’s Canlak Coatings Buys Ceramic Industrial Coatings
Canlak Coatings, a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, has acquired Ceram-Traz (DBA Ceramic Industrial Coatings). Ceramic Industrial Coatings is a manufacturer of custom and proprietary water and solvent-based wood coatings as well as other coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) products. Ceramic Industrial, led by CEO Rob Laubscher, was founded in 1962 and operates a 90,000-square-foot facility in Osseo, Minnesota (headquarters) and a 52,000-square-foot facility in Kansas City, Kansas. “We are tremendously excited about our future partnership with Canlak…...
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Heartwood Names New Managing Partners
Placement Agent Asante Gets a Fifth Partner
Kirk Wawrzyniak Newest VP at Gridiron
HKW Strengthens Team with Two New Partners
BGL Keeps Building Technology Team
New Healthcare Banker at Houlihan Lokey
STRATEGIES & STUDIES
Janney Continues Acquisitive Ways with Buy of TM
Janney Montgomery Scott has agreed to acquire middle market investment bank TM Capital, a provider of M&A advisory services across the business services, industrials, healthcare, and consumer sectors. TM Capital is led by CEO James…...
Align Launches Independent Sponsor Strategy
Align Capital Partners (ACP) has announced the launched of a new independent sponsor-focused private equity strategy, Align Collaborate. ACP founded Align Collaborate in partnership with independent sponsor investors, Grant Kornman and Michael Kornman. Prior to…...
Lincoln Private Market Index Closes 2023 at a Record High
The Lincoln Private Market Index (LPMI), which tracks changes in the enterprise value of US privately held companies, increased by 0.6% during the fourth quarter of 2023, resulting in the index ending 2023 at another…...
Grant Thornton Sees Big Capital Need in Tech Sector
Grant Thornton’s new Tech CFO Survey reveals how chief financial officers at technology companies plan to achieve growth in the coming years despite fierce competition and other challenges. The Tech CFO survey, which polled 150…...
Lincoln’s Private Market Index Increases Marginally on Higher Fundamental Performance
The Lincoln Private Market Index (LPMI), which tracks changes in the enterprise value of US privately held companies, increased by 0.8% during the third quarter of 2023. According to Chicago-headquartered investment bank Lincoln International, the…...
U.S. Middle Market Shows Strongest Earnings Growth in Two Years
Golub Capital has reported that its middle market private company index has shown the strongest earnings growth over the past two years. According to Golub, middle market private companies in the Golub Capital Altman Index…...
One Sweet Deal! Shore’s Sweetmore Buys Sweet Eddie’s
Sweetmore Bakeries, a portfolio company of Shore Capital, has acquired Sweet Eddie’s, a wholesale manufacturer of cinnamon rolls and other baked goods. Sweetmore Bakeries was…...
Silver Oak Launches New Commercial Landscaping Platform
Silver Oak Services Partners has acquired Beary Landscaping in partnership with the company’s founder and senior management team. Beary is a provider of landscaping and…...
L2 Fires Up Barbecue Platform
L2 Capital has acquired Kosmos Q, a branded seller of barbecue related food products and accessories. Kosmos Q’s branded products include barbecue rubs and sauces,…...
More Private Equity News
Wynnchurch is Now the King of Hydrochloric Acid
SK Sells Foremark to Crown’s CC Industries
Apollo Takes U.S. Silica Private
Where’s the Beef? Just ask Shoreline
LLCP Exits Tropical Smoothie Cafe
Forward Consumer Partners is Now the Artisanal Cracker King
New Funds
Grafine Closes on $600 Million for Inaugural Strategy
Grafine Partners has held an above target closing of its first fund, Grafine Capital I LP, and parallel vehicles with a combined $600 million in…...
Vance Street Hard Caps Fund IV
Vance Street Capital has held a first, final, above target and hard cap closing of Vance Street Capital IV LP with $775 million of capital…....
Palm Beach Beats Fund VI Target
Palm Beach Capital has held an above target close of its sixth private equity fund, Palm Beach Capital Fund VI LP, with more than $350…...
Goldner Hawn Beats Target on Fund VIII
Goldner Hawn has held an above target close of its eighth investment fund with $364 million in capital commitments. Limited partners in Fund VIII include…...
People on the Move
Heartwood Names New Managing Partners
Placement Agent Asante Gets a Fifth Partner
Kirk Wawrzyniak Newest VP at Gridiron
