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Baleon Capital to back launch of media consultancy Avenue Z; MidOcean acquires food and ingredient company

Morning Hubs!

This is Chris, on for Wire Wednesday.

If you’re on the East Coast, are you being smoked out? That was some strange sunset Tuesday night.

Strategic

Baleon Capital is expected to announce later it is backing the launch of Avenue Z, a communications and media consultancy, along with its acquisition of The Snow Agency, writes Obey Martin Manayiti on PE Hub this morning. 

MidOcean acquired QualiTech, which makes plant nutrition, animal nutrition and food ingredient products and services, the firm said this morning. The firm is buying the company, which was formed in 1967, from the Ploen family.

Research has found that the time it takes to raise a fund has lengthened to record levels, writes Kirk Falconer on Buyouts. Sponsors closing funds between January and March took an average of 13.4 months to reach the finish line, well above the annual averages stretching back to the GFC. Read more here on Buyouts.

GPs are seeding funds with deals as they raise them so that LPs coming in aren’t committing to a blind pool, but rather have a sense of what the portfolio will look like. LPs who commit early also can see how the firm works on deals, getting a view on style and strategy. Read it here on Buyouts.

That’s it for me! Reach me at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com or find me on LinkedIn with tips n’ gossip, feedback or book recommendations.

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Aurora Capital, one of the longest tenured firms on the West Coast, is preparing to launch its seventh fund with its largest target yet, eyeing up to $2 billion for the pool in the tough fundraising market, a source told Buyouts.

Sequoia Capital surprised its LPs Tuesday, announcing that it would split into three separate firms serving China, India/Southeast Asia and the US/Europe. (Venture Capital Journal)

HPS Investment Partners has held a final close for its second Core Senior Lending Fund (CSL II) with $10 billion in investable capital. Of that, $7.3 billion represents equity commitments. (Private Debt Investor)

In a potentially significant decision that favors former officers and directors of the defunct Silicon Valley Bank, the US bankruptcy court presiding over the bank’s chapter 11 case has allowed for the payment of those officials’ defense costs under director and officer liability insurance policies. (Private Debt Investor)

3 Capital Partners, which refers to itself as a private investment office, is seeing greater flexibility in terms of the minimum commitment GPs are willing to accept. (Private Equity International)

From default rates to interest rate hikes, AllianzGI's Claus Fintzen epxlains in a guest column on Agri Investor what this challenging macro environment means for infra debt.

Risk sensitivities have evolved immensely in recent decades, and CCOs need to be prepared for unexpected risk exposures arising from evolving technology, audience members at PEI Group’s recent Private Funds Compliance Summit in New York. (Private Funds CFO)

Dan Nolan, the former head of private markets at Swiss interdealer-broker Tradition, has joined Warana Capital, a New York-headquartered liquidity-focused firm, to oversee the deployment of its dedicated lending strategy. (Secondaries Investor)

Incubator and accelerator Superset has begun fundraising for its second flagship fund with a target of $100 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. (Venture Capital Journal)