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Brynwood pauses Hometown Food sale; THL co-CEO sees ‘some green shoots’ in the market

Morning Hubs!

This is Chris, on for Wire Wednesday. Things ostensibly are trending better on the deal side, but as we often hear, exits are the true challenge in today’s market. The question is, at what point does a sponsor finally decide to simply lock in a lower valuation – maybe even a loss – to generate liquidity for LPs in older funds?

Here’s some news:

• Brynwood puts Hometown Food sale process on ice, sources say

• THL co-CEO Todd Abbrecht sees ‘some green shoots’ in the market

• SDC Capital runs single-asset secondary on dark-fiber company

Longer hold

Brynwood Partners paused its auction of Hometown Food Co. after receiving low bids, according to sources, writes Michael Schoeck on PE Hub this morning. The firm will likely hold the platform for at least a year after the pause, Michael writes. Read more here on PE Hub.

Green shoots

Todd Abbrecht, co-CEO of Thomas H Lee Partners, chatted with Hub reporter Obey Martin Manayiti about the firm’s recent $2.5 billion take-private of Agiliti, which provides medical tech management and services, as well as what the firm is seeing in the market around M&A. A portion of the Q&A is below:

What about the challenges? How would you compare those challenges to previous years?

Last year, we weren’t sure if the world was moving toward rapid inflation or a severe recession. While extreme macroeconomic outcomes appear less likely than 12-18 months ago, operating visibility is still challenging. Because we operate only in subsectors that meet stringent criteria, and because our [Strategic Resource Group] has spent 17 years mastering the art of helping middle market companies achieve their objectives, we feel confident that we can be a strong partner to our portfolio companies in any macro environment.

Read more here on PE Hub.

Continuation

SDC Capital, a digital infrastructure-focused fund, has been running a continuation fund process to extend its hold over SummitIG, which runs fiber-optic networks for carriers, data center operators, content providers and large businesses in northern and central Virginia. Read more here on Buyouts.

That’s it for me! Have a great rest of your Wednesday. Hit me up with tips n’ gossip, feedback or book recommendations at christopher.w@pei.group or find me on LinkedIn.

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

FTV Capital is gearing up to bring two funds into the challenging fundraising market, including its debut pool focused on smaller investments, sources told Buyouts.

Ian Brown, head of banking and investments at UK Infrastructure Bank, tells Infrastructure Investor how the bank is doing its bit to get the UK to net zero, one risky deal at a time. "We’re the catalyst to get other investors to come in and do things."

In the sixth episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing podcast miniseries, Secondaries Investor sits down with HarbourVest Partners' Jeffrey Keay and PJT Park Hill's Adrian Millan to discuss the phenomenon of repeat sellers on the secondaries market.

Liz Kettler, former CFO for OpenView Venture Partners, has departed the firm, which appears to have lost about two-thirds of its staff since telling LPs in December that it would stop making new investments. (Venture Capital Journal)

They said it

“As the firm evolved to specialize and add extra capabilities, the one constant has been the culture, which is rooted in intellectual humility. Many of our executives came from modest beginnings. Those are all very useful experiences for general partners.”

— Todd Abbrecht, co-CEO of Thomas H Lee Partners, talks about the firm.