Bridge Growth’s Alok Singh s ays strategics are in the dri ver’s seat as the firm comple tes sale of Accedian to Cisco

View this email online

Bridge Growth’s Alok Singh says strategics are in the driver’s seat as the firm completes sale of Accedian to Cisco

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with the Wire.

Let the fourth quarter begin! Many of you have told us that dealflow will pick up this quarter, and we’re on the lookout for evidence of that.

Bridge Growth Partners kicked off the morning by announcing the closing of its sale of Accedian to Cisco. I’ve got an interview with Alok Singh, the PE firm’s co-founder and CEO, about the opportunities for tech companies in Q4.

In other deals announced this morning: Chicago’s Hughes & Company is backing a healthcare data management provider; and Boston’s Bain Capital is marking its first investment in Vietnam.

We’re also featuring senior reporter Michael Schoeck’s story about AEA Investors’ pursuit of add-ons for its portfolio company SiteLogIQ. Michael spoke with AEA principal Anneka Kamel about the strategy.

Strategics in the driver’s seat

Bridge Growth Partners, a technology-focused investment firm based in New York, is announcing this morning the completion of its sale of Accedian, a Montreal-based network performance specialist, to Cisco, the San Jose-based tech giant known for networking equipment and services.

I interviewed Alok Singh, CEO and co-founder of Bridge Growth, to get his thoughts on the sale process and making an exit in today’s challenging dealmaking environment.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to read the interview.

Fast charging

Following its expansion into the fast-growing electric vehicle charging market earlier this year via acquisition, energy services provider SiteLogIQ and sponsor AEA Investors are in active dialogues with add-on deal targets aimed at offering more services that lower customers’ carbon footprints, Anneka Kamel, a principal in AEA’s middle-market private equity group, told PE Hub’s Michael Schoeck.

Upgrade to read the story.

New deals

PE Hub Europe’s Irien Joseph has been doing double duty lately, covering a steady stream of PE deals with European targets as well as those with North American ones, as she’s filling in for Iris Dorbian, who’s on vacation.

Here’s a quick look at a couple of North American deals Irien reported on this morning:

Hughes & Company has made a strategic investment in Health Data Innovations (HDI), a healthcare data integration software provider.

Boston’s Bain Capital has agreed to invest at least $200 million in equity capital in Masan Group, based in Ho Chi Minh City. The deal marks Bain Capital’s first investment in Vietnam. The Boston PE firm said the deal “underscores its confidence in Masan's ability to realize the immense opportunity to fulfill 100 million Vietnamese consumers' daily grocery, financial, and other life needs.”

On that note, I’ll sign off for the day. I’d love to hear your forecast for dealflow in Q4. Feel free to reach out to me at mk.flynn@pei.group.

PE Hub Europe’s Craig McGlashan will be with you tomorrow.

Happy dealmaking,

MK

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Clearlake Capital Group is seeking $15 billion for its eighth flagship fund, breaking a streak where the manager doubled the size of funds it brought to the market. (Buyouts)
In Buyouts' latest "Off-duty" coulmn, Vista president and COO David Breach discusses Taekwondo, dude ranches and singing karaoke.
(And while you're on Buyouts, make sure to check out stories from the October issue: The LP brain drain – how overworked investors are moving on; LPs and GPs butt heads over fees; Blackstone on the opportunities its Tac Opps team is finding in a dislocated climate; Plus much more...)
Infrastructure investment in North America is being turbocharged by the US Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed into law in August 2022. In the year since, the impact of that bill in taming inflation may be debatable, but its impact on the North American infrastructure space is easier to discern: market participants are excited and a vast number of opportunities are being opened up, from energy generation to electric vehicles. (Infrastructure Investor)
The ability to construct a robust value-creation plan and strategically pull the appropriate growth levers has always been integral to the private equity playbook. But with the cost of capital climbing and entry valuations remaining stubbornly high, GPs will need to leverage all the operational expertise at their disposal to support and grow portfolio companies and generate returns for investors. In a new report, Private Equity International examines evolving approaches to value creation, and reviews some of the most valuable tools in the operating partner’s toolbox today.
Whether it’s evergreen structures, the use of AI or the inroads being made in attracting retail clients via tokenization, this year’s Future of Private Debt issue reveals significant progress on some age-old themes. (Private Debt investor)
As the private funds industry increasingly moves towards widescale automation within the back- and middle-office, the potential of artificial intelligence integration is has captured the imagination of fund leaders. In a new special report, Private Funds CFO explores how AI is being adopted into fund processes and the hurdles faced by the managers on this front, as well as how GPs are navigating the complexities of modern data management processes.