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Blackstone, Platinum Equity beat the heat with HVAC deals; Schroders likes smaller exits

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday.

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the newsletter.

As the sweltering heat sweeps through the US, today we are highlighting six private equity-backed deals focusing on HVAC services. The sector has shown robust growth this year, according to a report from Capstone Partners. More on that below.

An Equity Group Investments-backed healthcare company went public yesterday.  We’ll take a look at how it performed on its first day of trading in this challenging environment for IPOs.

You may recall just a few weeks ago that we highlighted an EY report on the IPO market. We’ll take a second look at that too. 

Finally, Schroders Capital shares market insights.

Cooling off

With sweltering summers in the US getting hotter by the minute, private equity investors are jumping into the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services sector.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to get access to the half a dozen deals, including views from Capstone Partners.

Public debut  

Ardent Health Services, a portfolio company of Equity Group Investments, went public yesterday, raising $192 million. The IPO priced the company’s 12 million shares at $16 per share - below its expected offering price range of $20 to $22 per share.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more.

Last month, PE Hub detailed a report from EY that indicated signs of life coming back to the IPO market.

Small ball

This week, Schroders Capital released its third quarter outlook that gave guidance to its investing strategy.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more about the firm’s investing strategies.

That’s it for today. You can always reach me at obey.m@pei.group for news tips.

MK Flynn will be back with the newsletter on Monday.

Have a nice weekend – and stay cool,

Obey

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

It could be '12 to 18 months out' before deal and exit volumes reach the levels necessary to support improved fundraising conditions, HarbourVest managing director Scott Voss told Buyouts.

Bank of America is making a foray into secondaries market advisory, tapping Lazard for a team lead. Lazard’s head of US secondaries advisory Amanda Ugarte will join the investment bank to head up and build out its secondaries advisory team, five sources told Buyouts and affiliate Secondaries Investor.

Cliffwater’s move reflects the buyside’s growing semi-liquid shift: There's a new type of entrant to the secondaries buyside, and it's not your typical buyout-come-secondaries firm. (Secondaries Investor)

LPs are cooling on commitments to diverse and minority-owned funds: The fundraising 'flight to familiarity' has disproportionately squeezed diverse-led managers – this is bad news for investors and the wider ecosystem. (New Private Markets)

Blackstone reached a key fundraising milestone for its ninth corporate private equity offering, suggesting the flagship is nearing a final close. (Buyouts)

Wiz’s $23bn deal with Alphabet could be a boon for Gen AI as well as cybersecurity. Wiz’s success could incentivize more cybersecurity start-ups to focus on addressing AI risks, which could help reduce companies’ trepidation about fully integrating AI into their workflows. (Venture Capital Journal)

PE Hub Europe has a rundown on eight proptech deals from this year, including a couple of big ones and three from Main Capital Partners.

EQT has become the latest alternatives giant to look to set up a NAV loan for one of its flagship funds. (Private Equity International)

They said it

“MARS has established itself as a leader in an evolving HVAC/R market with several compelling characteristics. Growth in the US housing stock, population shifts, changing weather patterns and energy efficiency mandates are driving demand for new equipment as well as repair parts.”

— Jacob Kotzubei, co-president, Platinum Equity following his firm’s investment in Motors & Armatures