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Blackstone talks Vivint Smart Home exit; Advent in big take-private deal

Good morning Hubsters, Craig McGlashan here filling in on the Wire.

A quick note to start with. This is the last week we’ll be producing the Wire in 2022 – check the end of today’s edition for more info on the schedule.

In today’s Wire we take a deep dive into Blackstone’s recent exit from a home security provider, we check out AdventInternational’s take-private of geospatial intelligence firm Maxar Technologies and take some brief looks at deals in sectors as varied as cosmetics, manufacturing and dental education.

Securing the deal. PE Hub’sObey Martin Manayiti has a fascinating interview with Blackstone’s global head of core private equity Peter Wallace about his firm’s exit in early December from Vivint Smart Home.

The New York-based private equity firm sold Vivint to Houston-headquartered NRG Energy for $2.8 billion in an all-cash transaction that represented an implied multiple of a 6.3x run-rate enterprise value to adjusted EBITDA.

Check out Obey’s full interview to read more about how Vivint has grown during Blackstone’s holding period, some returns numbers and why Blackstone held on to the company for a little longer than expected.

If you’d like to read more about private equity investments in security systems, then head over to PE Hub Europe to read about Rockpool Investments’ exit from Fortus Group.

Big deal. Sticking with security but on a geopolitical scale, Advent International has acquired Maxar Technologies, a geospatial intelligence firm, in a $6.4 billion take-private deal. When the transaction closes, Maxar will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

According to terms of the deal, Advent will acquire Maxar for $53 per share in cash.

Cosmetics. TSG Consumer Partners has acquired a majority stake in Denver-based Radiance Holdings, a platform representing a collection of brands in the beauty, wellness, and self-care sectors. No financial terms were disclosed.

As part of the transaction, Radiance Holdings’ management team will continue to lead the company.

Manufacturing. Wynnchurch Capital has acquired Houston-based Industrial Service Solutions, a provider of manufacturing services. The sellers were Edgewater Funds and JZ Capital Partners.

“ISS is a leading industrial MRO platform for rotating and process equipment with services that are critical for its customers across a wide variety of industries,” said Greg Gleason, a managing partner at Wynnchurch, in a statement.

Open wide. Avista Capital Partners has acquired Scottsdale, Arizona-based Spear Education, a dental education provider.

And finally. This is the last week of the year we’ll be producing the Wire, with the final edition on Friday, December 23. The first Wire of 2023 will be on Tuesday, January 3.

But for me, today is the last day of the year as I’m on vacation from tomorrow. I hope you all have a great new year and we’ll speak again in 2023.

Cheers,

Craig

Read thefull wire commentaryon PE Hub …

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

The Carlyle Group’s AlpInvest Partners has joined the small group of firms raising dedicated GP-led funds as it undergoes a change in leadership and rebrands some of its strategies. (Secondaries Investor)

Brian Sauvigne, who has worked as chief operating officer on Blackstone’s growth platform, is moving into the firm’s GP stakes business. The move comes as Blackstone Growth is in the process of raising its second fund, targeting $7bn to $8bn. (Buyouts)

Sponsors now have an expanded valuations roadmap for navigating market dislocation – and it comes at a key time amid shocks including high inflation, rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine. (Private Equity International)

Czech SIF leads the way on ESG integration in CEE: CEO Julian Toth discusses the challenges and opportunities of integrating sustainability in CEE markets, and why it requires a different approach from Western Europe. (Responsible Investor)

Fundraising will get harder for VC funds because they compete with other private funds for investors’ PE allocations – and those allocations may get trimmed as fixed income investments become more attractive. (Venture Capital Journal)

Climate continued to be the number one sustainability concern this year. This was evident in both the sophistication of investors’ understanding of how climate risk should be addressed across their portfolios, and also in the flow of private markets capital to climate-focused funds. (New Private Markets)
 

In an FT column headlined, "How private markets became an escape from reality," contributing editor (and chairman of Rockefeller International) Ruchir Sharma kicks off like so: "If a bubble is a good idea gone too far, the $10tn global market for private investing in everything from debt to companies to real estate may be one."

"Carlyle Group Inc. aims to boost commitments to its latest main buyout fund by helping investors in a predecessor vehicle cash out while asking buyers of those stakes to back the new fund, according to several people with knowledge of the matter." (WSJ Pro)

"[L]arge for-profit groups and private equity backers have spied an opportunity [in childcare providers], increasing acquisitions and growing their share of a sector traditionally dominated by smaller chains." (Financial Times)

The New York Times also took a look at private equity's interest in childcare.

"Patrick Vizzone, Franklin Templeton Global Private Equity's Managing Director and Head of Agri-Food Tech and Impact Investment, discusses his outlook for private equity in 2023 and the global agri-food supply chains." (Bloomberg Video)

"Subsidies to renewable energy in Europe attracted a number of U.S. private-capital firms to the region more than a decade ago. Now, their European peers expect to benefit from government incentives to build clean energy in the U.S." (WSJ Pro)