Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with today’s Wire.
Continuation funds are on the rise, and one was announced earlier this morning. We’ve also got a roundup of PE deals capitalizing on growing interest in space tourism.
Portfolio sale. Today, Zenyth Partners, a lower middle-market firm investing in regional healthcare practices, said it has closed a continuation fund made up of both secondary and primary capital commitments, co-led by BlackRock and Manulife Investment Management with support from Newbury Partners.
The continuation fund bought minority stakes in dental support organization The Smilist Management, ophthalmology practice manager ReFocus Eye Health and autism treatment group Helping Hands Family. All three werefounded by Great Neck, New York-based Zenyth and were from the firm’sfrom Zenyth Partners LP, a 2018 vintage permanent capital vehicle.
“This is a significant milestone for the Zenyth Partners franchise. We welcome the support of new blue-chip institutional partners,” said Rob Feuer, managing partner of Zenyth. “We are proud of the performance of the Smilist, ReFocus and HHF, and we believe this transaction validates our operationally-focused model of building sustainable patient- and provider-centric healthcare businesses leveraging consumer and tech-enabled concepts to drive industry leading KPIs.”
Partner Sean Hayes added, “We are extremely pleased by the profound support of our strategy and portfolio by the market in the midst of a challenging environment.”
We expect to see more continuation funds, as the exit environment poses more challenges.
For more, see Buyouts’ Chris Witkowsky’s story “Secondaries seen as prime setting in LP, GP hunt for liquidity.”
Final frontier. Move over Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Space isn’t just for tech-savvy billionaires anymore. Private equity firms are lining up to explore the final frontier too, joining pioneers like Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin.
PE Hub’s Obey Martin Manayiti has identified half a dozen space-driven PE deals announced over the last few months. Leading the pack is AE Industrial Partners, a Boca Raton, Florida, firm that is actively investing.
Earlier this month, AEI agreed to acquire a majority stake in York Space Systems, a Denver-based provider of small satellites, satellite components and turnkey mission operations. BlackRock is also an investor.
Earlier in October, the Space Development Agency awarded York a contract worth up to $200 million to build and operate 12 satellites with experimental military communications payloads, as SpaceNews reported.
With approximately 165,000 square feet of manufacturing space, York makes spacecraft intended for low-Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) and other cislunar areas.
“With its innovative spacecraft designs and manufacturing processes, York has revolutionized the small satellite market, which is poised for significant growth in both the government and commercial markets over the next 20 years,” said Kirk Konert, partner at AEI.
To learn about more deals from AEI and other firms, including BlackRock, Veritas, Enlightenment and Trive, read Obey’s story here.
On that lofty note, I’ll sign off.
See you tomorrow,
MK
Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...
