| | | | | | | Happy Friday! Shock. That's the word used by every person I've talked to this past week about the charges against former Park Hill Group executive Andrew Caspersen. People who know him and respected his work over the past few years in fund restructuring seem to have one common reaction: disbelief. Caspersen was considered one of the leading personalities in the fund restructuring business whose hustle and hard work helped make Park Hill the leader in this young and growing side of the secondary market, sources told me. Park Hill hired him in 2013 to lead this business and from all accounts, Caspersen did just that with high energy and innovation, helping structure deals that gave options to LPs in aging funds and GPs looking for a shot of new life. PJT Partners, which backs Park Hill, said earlier this week it fired Caspersen. Let's be clear, the case so far is just that: allegations made by the U.S. Department of Justice and a parallel case from the SEC. Caspersen's attorney Daniel Levy has not responded to numerous requests for comment. There are a lot of questions about the situation not answered in the DOJ or SEC complaints that we will be working to answer. If true, this case is one of the most bizarre, brazen schemes this industry has ever seen. And I say that having had the great honor of covering the 'Chooch' scandal. Berkshire was cited to me as one of the hot funds in the market and its fundraising reflected that. Not sure if Fund IX will include a similar carried interest structure to that of Fund VIII. In Fund VIII, the GP was entitled to 25 percent carry if the fund hit certain benchmarks. Get it now! Today is the deadline to get your free listing in our annual Guide to Secondary Buyers & Placement Agents! Placement Agents click here. Secondary Buyers click here. |  | | Today's Take | | | | GoldPoint raises $699 mln for fourth mezzanine fund GoldPoint Partners disclosed $699 million in commitments for Goldpoint Mezzanine Partners IV, after the firm hired two key executives and wrapped up a co-investment fund last year. The effort by GoldPoint comes during a thin year for mezzanine fundraising. All told, $215 million in fresh capital has been disclosed for mezzanine funds in 2016, not including... DFW readies final close on Fund V DFW Capital Partners will likely close its fifth flagship fund in the next week, according to a source familiar with the matter. The fund is expected to raise around $360 million, the source said. At that size, DFW Capital Partners V will more than double the $162.5 million the firm raised through its previous fund... Montana re-ups to Tenex, backs DFW Montana Board of Investments allocated $55 million across two private-equity funds in February and March, according to an investment disclosure included in its April meeting materials. On March 15, Montana committed $35 million to Tenex Capital Management's second flagship fund. The New York City firm announced Tenex Capital Partners II's final close on $814 million the next... Security defies gravity (for now) Investors poured $7.7 billion into an over heated security market in the past 4 years. Now it looks like a shakeout is ahead What's hot in security? In the rapidly changing cyber security market, what's hot today can become cold tomorrow. This has never been truer than today when major technology trends, such as cloud, mobile and the Internet of Things, are transforming the security landscape. Old-line vendors, such as Symantec and McAfee, are seeing their dominance threatened. A new generation of... Ontario Teachers' nets 32.3 pct through PE, VC portfolio The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan's private-capital portfolio returned 32.3 percent last year, nearly doubling the 18.1 percent return generated by its benchmark, according to its annual report. Ontario Teachers' private-capital portfolio includes its commitments to private- equity and venture-capital funds, as well as its direct companies. The C$28.4 billion ($21.9 billion) portfolio has generated a... | The Summit for Middle Market Debt Finance 23rd Annual Atlantic Conferences Symposium
on Mezzanine & Middle Market Finance May 17 – 18, NYC 67 Speakers Great Networking Ares Mgmt., Monroe, Newstone, Antares, TIAA, KKR, Avante
PNC Mezzanine, Churchill Asset Mgmt., Merit, Deloitte Corporate Finance,
SBIA, High Road, Proskauer, Huron, TD Bank, Seacoast, Lincoln International,
Star Mountain, Schiff Hardin, Midwest Mezzanine, Crystal, Northstar,
BlackRock Private Capital, BofA Merrill Lynch, Kayne Anderson, More! See Roster, Program, Registration |
| | | | VC Deals | | | Rally Ventures leads $4.5 mln Series A funding in eRelevance Corp Rally Ventures led a $4.5 million Series A funding round in marketing automation company eRelevance Corp. Other investors in the funding round included Chicago Ventures, Miramar Venture Partners and Rothenberg Ventures. Existing angel investors also participated in the funding. The company has raised a total of $8.6 million since inception in 2013. Tom Peterson, venture partner at Rally Ventures, is joining the eRelevance board. Transit tech company TransLoc raises $8 mln TransLoc, a transit technology company based in Durham, North Carolina, announced it has completed an $8 million round of financing. The round was co-led by SJF Ventures and Fontinalis Partners, with participation from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's venture fund, Efficient Capacity; Thomas McMurray; and Patient Capital Collaborative. Saban Ventures leads $15 mln round for Playbuzz Playbuzz, which enables publishers to create content optimized for social networks, announced it has raised $15 million in new funding. The round was led by Saban Ventures with participation from a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Existing investors 83North, Carmel Ventures and FirstTime Ventures also participated. The new round brings the New York-based company's funding to date to nearly $35 million. It previously raised $19.8 million over three rounds, including a $16 million Series B round in March 2015, acccording to CrunchBase. Artis Ventures, VCs betting you'll love high-tech Juicero Venture-backed Juicero emerged from stealth today, makes its high-tech juicer available for sale. | | | PE Deals sponsored by | |
| | | | | EQT to take majority stake in Sitecore EQT took a majority stake in Sitecore, a provider of customer experience management software. EQT bought the stake from Technology Crossover Ventures and other shareholders in a deal that valued Sitecore at 1 bln euros. The company's founders are partnering with EQT on the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter. Anbang, PE firms abandon bid for Starwood Hotels: Reuters (Reuters) China's Anbang Insurance Group Co has abandoned its bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, paving the way for Marriott International Inc to buy the Sheraton and Westin hotels operator. Anbang's consortium, which includes private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co and Primavera Capital Ltd, had offered $82.75 per share in cash. Marriott's latest cash-and-stock offer, which was announced on March 21, is currently worth around $75 per share. Brightstar Capital buys majority stake in Global Resale Brightstar Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm based in New York, announced it acquired majority ownership of Global Resale LLC in partnership with the company's founder and CEO, Jeff Zeigler. Based Austin, Texas, Global Resale helps corporations replace and recycle electronic devices. The purchase price was undisclosed. As part of the deal, Brightstar said it committed $50 million to fund growth at the company. Columbia Pacific sells three sports apparel brands Columbia Pacific Advisors, an alternative investment firm based in Seattle, announced it completed the sale of three winter sports apparel brands under the POW Holdings LLC umbrella. Financial terms were not disclosed. The brands were Holden Outerwear, which was sold to private investors; POW Gloves, which was sold to Rojo Australia; and Spacecraft Collective, which was sold to Omen Longboards. DA Davidson & Co served as financial advisor to POW Holdings. HIG Capital buys real estate assets in Italy, Sweden HIG Capital LLC announced that affiliates have recently completed the acquisition of a portfolio of retail assets in Sweden and of an office property in Rome. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. The transactions represent HIG's 27th and 28th real estate investments in Europe since the start of 2013. They add approximately 60,000 square meters of office and retail space to the HIG European Real Estate portfolio. Tenants include leading national retailers as well as a major telecom company. AUA Private Equity buys Noga Dairies as add-on for Raymundos AUA Private Equity Partners LLC announced that it has acquired Noga Dairies Inc, a manufacturer of yogurts and other other dairy products, as an add-on acquisition to Raymundos Food Group LLC, a refrigerated foods platform. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. | Registration is Now Open for PartnerConnect MidWest! Join hundreds of your peers, including 150+ LPs, 200+ GPs,
and 50+ Intermediaries in Chicago for 2 days of extensive
fundraising and deal flow; and idea generation from the
most influential players in private equity.
New This Year:
LP Symposium
The IR Bootcamp Register Today!
June 21-22, 2016 | Westin Michigan Avenue | Chicago |
| | IPOs | | | | | | No items | | | | | | | J.F. Lehman buys American Scaffold, San Diego ship-repair firm J.F. Lehman & Co acquired, in partnership with company managers, American Scaffold, the San Diego provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for U.S. government ships. Terms weren't disclosed. | | Firms & Funds | | | | | Berkshire closes Fund IX on $5.5 bln Berkshire Partners closed its ninth fund on $5.5 billion, with the GP as the largest investor in the fund. Hedge-fund firm Arrowgrass raises over $600 mln for M&A fund: Reuters London-based hedge fund firm Arrowgrass Capital Partners has amassed over $600 million for a mergers and acquisitions fund which launched in October, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. 500 Startups launches $30 mln Canadian fund 500 Startups continues its push to find and back startups worldwide by launching a $30 million Canadian fund. 500 Canada plans to make more than 150 investments in early-stage startups in the country over the next few years. Audiobooks founder Sanjay Singhal will lead Ontario-based 500 Canada. Singhal is a founding board member of the Canadian angel investment group Angel One and has backed more than 30 Canadian companies as an angel investor. McCarthy Capital raises $353 mln for sixth mid-market fund McCarthy Capital Corporation announced it has held a final close on $353 million for McCarthy Capital Fund VI LP, which will invest in lower middle-market companies. The Omaha, Nebraska-based firm said Fund VI was oversubscribed, beating its $250 million target. It did not disclose the names of the LPs. Fund VI will make investments of $10 million to $50 million in profitable companies with revenue of at least $15 million. Founded in 1986, McCarthy Capital manages more than $1 billion in investment capital. Lazard provided placement agent services in connection with the offering and Locke Lord LLP provided legal counsel. New seed fund to target startups in New York's Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley Startup Fund (HVSF) announced it has officially launched with more than 30 investors and $700,000 to invest in startups in New York's Hudson Valley. The seed fund is co-managed by Johnny LeHane, Paul Hakim, Chad Gomes, Noa Simons, and Tony DiMarco. It is seeking additional accredited investors, with a goal of raising $1 million before it holds a final close on June 30. Reach the fund via email at info@hvstartupfund.com. | | Human Resources | | | | | Veteran VC Kramlich named outside director for GCA Savvian Investment bank GCA Savvian Corporation announced that it named veteran venture capitalist Richard C. Kramlich as an outside director. Kramlich is co-founder of New Enterprise Associates Inc and chairman of NEA Management Company. He is the second outside director of Tokyo-based GCA Savvian and the first from the United States. Franklin Square taps Blackboard's Katz for business development Franklin Square Capital Partners, the Philadelphia alternative-investment manager, named Lewis Katz to the new post of chief business-development officer. Katz joins Franklin Square from Blackboard Advisors, a management consultancy he founded. Krauter hires Aon's Dixon for West Coast PE services Krauter & Co. hired Phil Dixon to lead its West Coast mergers and acquisitions practice with a focus on private equity services on the West Coast. Dixon has worked for the past 12 years at Aon, where he was a managing director in the M&A Solutions business. Before, he co-founded Equity Risk Partners (now Hub International) in 2001. | | Odds & Ends + Hot Links | | | | | PE HUB First Read To end your week, we have the very depressing news that winter is not yet over. Also, a candy bar company acquires a pet activity tracker and Saudi Arabia plans $2 trn sovereign pool to help kingdom transition away from oil. PE HUB Second Opinion To close out your day, SecondOps delivers news the Dow posts biggest quarterly comeback since 1933, Fintech startup boom said to threaten bank jobs and DraftKings, FanDuel suspend contests on college sports. Making it through Y Combinator: How to meet the challenges Two company founders breakdown five common assumptions about making it in the YC community |
| |
| | | This email was sent by: PE HUB Wire (US), 9 East 38th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Click here to leave the PE HUB Wire (US) email list or here if you want to leave all Buyouts Insider email lists.
We respect your right to privacy. View our privacy policy.
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
