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A shortage of debt financing due to rising interest rates and a reluctance by banks to loosen their purse strings has caused private equity funds to rethink how they pull off large buyout deals, according to a report by Reuters.
After a rousing start to 2022, the leveraged buyout (LBO) market has slowed down, as the war in Ukraine and hawkish interest rate moves drove up financing costs and weighed down valuations, resulting in a 40.4% contraction in global buyout activity up to 14 December, according to data from Refintiv. The data also shows that the number of LBO deals
Andra Tech Group, a manufacturer of precision mechanical components, and a portfolio company of private equity firm Equistone, has acquired Mayer Feintechnik, a specialist in precision metalworking for over 50 years.
Private equity firm WestBridge has completed a secondary buyout of Alpine Fire Engineers Ltd, specialist providers of mechanical fire suppression systems. The transaction, which provides an exit for Soho Square Capital, sees WestBridge invest £18.7m to take a majority stake in the company.
Sixth Street Partners has led a $2.3bn loan to help fund the private equity firm Advent International’s $6.4 billion leveraged buyout of satellite operator Maxar Technologies which was announced last week, according to a report by the Financial Times.
IntelThe report cites unnamed sources as revealing that Advent opted for Sixth Street’s financing package over an alternative loan offered by a group of Wall Street banks.
News of the financing comes just days after Sixth Street led a $2.6 billion loan to back software investment giant Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of business software provider Coupa Software for $8 billion.
The San
Growth equity firm General Atlantic has held the final close of its inaugural BeyondNetZero fund. Following the fund’s close, General Atlantic has a total of approximately $3.5 billion in capital to invest in climate solutions.
BeyondNetZero’s first fund brings together capital from investors at the forefront of climate investing, including several strategic investors, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, multinational corporations and global institutional investors.
The BeyondNetZero fund is structured as a companion fund investing in climate growth equity companies alongside General Atlantic’s core global growth equity program. General Atlantic’s core program will generally contribute 25% of capital to each climate
Pan-European private equity house IK Partners’ IK Small Cap II Fund is to sell Quanos Solutions, a developer of software and technology solutions for smart information, to Keensight Capital, a private equity manager dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout investments.
The Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System has committed up to $125 million to GTCR Fund XIV, a buyout fund managed by GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the business & consumer services, financial services & technology, healthcare & technology, and media & telecommunications industries.
Environmental consultancy and service provider Cura Terrae has made a second bolt-on acquisition since UK mid-market private equity investor Palatine made an investment in the group earlier this year.
Ecus, one of three businesses within the Cura Terrae group, has acquired niche environmental consultancy Naturally Wild, which provides expertise for any project that may affect protected species.
Naturally Wild is based in Stockton-on-Tees and will work alongside Ecus’s existing teams in Sheffield, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Barnard Castle, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, and Manchester.
The deal grows Ecus’s team nationally to around 180 people.
Private equity collateralised fund obligations (PE CFOs) rated by Fitch Ratings have exhibited weaker performance over the last six months, with five of six transactions generating lower cash flows than in the prior period.
In three of the transactions meanwhile, leverage increased from the prior distribution period.
Private equity market exit activity in H1 2022 dropped to its lowest level since H1 2020. Nevertheless, Fitch expects that PE CFO ratings will remain broadly stable in 2023, as strong over-collateralisation levels, continued portfolio distributions and transaction amortisation schedules support performance.
Two PE CFO transactions came to market in 2022 – Astrea
Better Protection, a new commercial fire protection provider servicing fire detection, alarm and suppression systems, backed by private equity firm Abry Partners, has launched following the combination of Chicago-based Assurant Fire Protection, Complete Fire Pump Service, and Xtreme Fire Protection.
Abry is partnering with management to support the company’s organic growth initiatives, and to execute its targeted acquisition strategy.
Matt Palas founded Assurant Fire Protection (AFP) in 2017, and acquired Complete Fire Pump Services (CFPS) in 2020. Palas will continue to be a part of the management team of Better Protection. Xtreme Fire Protection was started in 2008 by
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