View this email online 

Arlington’s Matthew Altman sees healthcare onshoring opportunities; CD&R vies for Sanofi healthcare consumer business; Sports tech wins deals

Morning Hubsters. John R Fischer here with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

A potential deal by Clayton Dubilier & Rice for a leading consumer healthcare business announced today is the perfect lead in to my interview with Arlington Capital Partners’ Matthew Altman about the effects of onshoring on healthcare supply chain investments. Altman sheds light on what’s driving PE away from overseas healthcare supply chain investments.

Autumn is the season of football, one of the many sports that PE Hub senior reporter Michael Schoeck touches on in his listicle on four sporting equipment deals.

Sticking with athletics, we have a deal by Thirty-5 Capital around pickleball footwear, along with an update on sports tech deals by investment bank Drake Star.

And to wrap up the week, we have a few insights from Golub Capital’s Q3 mid-market report.

Staying local

The global healthcare supply chain is extremely complex and sensitive to any change, big or small, whether it’s the six-day blockage of the Suez Canal by a grounded container ship in 2021 to October’s short-lived but significant dockworkers port strike across the US East and Gulf coasts.

I spoke with Arlington Capital Partners’ Matthew Altman, managing director, onshoring is incentivizing PE investments and influencing their growth strategies.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read the piece.

In negotiation

Earlier today, global consumer health and pharma manufacturer Sanofi announced it is in negotiations to sell a 50 percent controlling stake in its consumer healthcare business Opella to PE firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice.

Premium subscribers to the Wire can learn more about the negotiations.

Gear up

The return of school team sports following the covid pandemic has propelled consumer interest in sporting goods and equipment and, in turn, PE investment, Nathan Pund, managing director of Houlihan Lokey’s consumer group, told PE Hub’s Michael Schoeck.

Michael Schoeck rounded up four such deals in a listicle. Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read more.

Step up your game

Earlier in October, Chicago-based PE firm Thirty-5 Capital announced a strategic investment in Sqairz, a designer of athletic footwear based in Windham, New Hampshire.

Additionally, sports technology transactions like this were strong in the first half of 2024, which saw $34 billion worth of announced transactions, according to Drake Star’s Global Sports Tech Market H1 2024 Update.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read the story and update here.

Mid-market prospering

Earnings for mid-market private companies grew 8 percent during the first two months of Q3 2024, while revenue grew by 5 percent, according to Golub Capital’s Q3 middle market report.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more. 

Before I sign off, let me say, on behalf of the PE Hub team, that we are thinking of those affected by the hurricanes this month and hoping for everyone’s safety.

Please Note: Due to Indigenous Peoples Day in the US, there will be one combined US/Europe edition of the PE Hub Wire on Monday, October 14, written by Craig McGlashan. Our regular publishing schedule will resume on the 15th.

Cheers,

John

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Bain Capital is running a large, multi-asset secondary process that seeks to move up to five portfolio companies out of older funds and into a continuation fund for more time and capital to grow the businesses, sources told Buyouts.

Private equity firms are snapping up deals in the accountancy sector thanks to the industry’s stable and recurring revenue streams, while also finding growth in the technology side of the business, Andrew Wingfield, private equity M&A partner in the London office of international law firm Proskauer, told PE Hub.

Employee stock ownership plans are gaining traction amid an increasing focus on value creation in the private equity industry. While the jury is still largely out on the effectiveness of these schemes to investors in private equity funds, what happens when portfolio companies with these plans are moved into a continuation vehicle? (Private Equity International)

Montana Board of Investments, which manages $28.6 billion of state funds, is aiming to increase its allocations to private credit and private equity, according to the minutes of its 9 October board meeting. (Buyouts)

The market forces that have propelled climate funds to the top of LP wish lists look set to continue. (New Private Markets)

The European part of Irvine-based logistics real estate business Panattoni is poised to introduce the first third-party institutional vehicles of its newly formed investment management business, PERE can reveal.

Chasing discounts or quality? Two buyers outlined their approach to securing what they hope will be the best returns for LP-led transactions at a secondaries conference this week. (Secondaries Investor)

When is it prudent to shut down a vehicle for follow-on investments in your portfolio’s proven winners and opt to return unused capital to your limited partners? That’s what CRV, based in San Francisco, has announced it is doing with the remaining $275 million in its second Select Fund, which closed on $500 million in 2022. (Venture Capital Journal)

They said it

“The need for resilient supply chains, increasing support and incentives from the government and ongoing concerns about global trade tensions will continue to drive new investments in companies that are already onshoring or have the capability to do so.”

— Matthew Altman, a managing partner of Arlington Capital Partners