| | | | | | Family offices: Forbes is reporting that nearly two-thirds, or 62 percent, of family offices are currently investing in private equity. Of the group studied, 91 percent invest through funds and 40 percent use direct assets to achieve portfolio exposure to private markets, Forbes said. The story is interesting because Bloomberg News is also reporting that the Koch brothers have started a family office to invest their vast fortune. Called 1888 Management LLC, the family office is tucked inside Koch Industries and has been quietly scouting for personal investments for the Kochs, Bloomberg said. Will they be investing in PE? The Koch's have reportedly already begun taking part in LBOs. The super secretive brothers last year also hired Ken Spain, the former Communications Director for the PEGCC, to lead external communications for Koch Industries. Read the Bloomberg story here. Employment: Are you looking for a job? Well, Hamilton Lane, Fortress, CPPIB and Carlyle are looking for people. Check out the story here. Deals: Final bids for AssetMark were due yesterday, sources said. I'm waiting to hear who put in offers. Any idea who made it? Chris also has written a column on how private equity is "slowly moving toward greater diversity." Read it here. Who doesn't love a mystery? Buyouts' David Toll has been trying to figure out the strategies and capital sources of some PE funds, including Pantheon Ventures. Read his story here. If you have a comment, a tip, or something nice to say email me here at lbeltran@buyoutsinsider.com. If you have a complaint, email Chris at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com. -- Luisa |  | | Today's Take | | | PE HUB First Read In First Read, Lyft and GM roll out car rental program to attract more drivers, Sony to pay Michael Jackson's estate $750 mln for its share of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog, and Amazon is trying to patent paying with a selfie. Jobs of the Week: Hamilton Lane, Fortress, Carlye and the CPP Investment Board are hiring In Jobs of the Week, Hamilton Lane is seeking an associate or senior associate, Fortress is hiring a financial analyst, Carlyle is looking for an analyst in Beijing, and the CPP Investment Board is hiring an associate. Sequoia Capital partner departs amid sex abuse allegations: Reuters A partner at Sequoia Capital has left, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm said on Sunday, days after a lawsuit was filed accusing him of sexually abusing a woman and not honoring an agreement to compensate her. PE HUB Second Opinion In Second Opinion, Starwood receives an unsolicited $12.8 bln offer from a Chinese-led consortium, Viacom shareholders vote to re-elect the company's board, and a longtime Sequoia partner resigns amid sexual abuse allegations. Private Eye: Mystery shrouds Pantheon and Serpent funds Despite my best intentions to get to the bottom of every story, I've recently run into a handful of private equity funds whose strategies and capital sources remain unfathomable. My calls and research led to some tantalizing tidbits but incomplete narratives. Editor's Letter: Private equity is slowly moving toward greater diversity It's perhaps inevitable that we would write a story on women in private equity and receive a nasty anonymous email in response. I won't go into the details, but suffice to say it wasn't supportive of women. LP Profile: PSP Investments' new PE chief hits the ground running The new head of private markets at Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is off to a running start after being quietly hired by the system last fall. Chart of the Week: LPs have enjoyed positive cash flows from buyout firms since 2011 For limited partners, distributions from global buyout firms outpaced draw-downs by nearly $170 million in 2015, a little less than the nearly $183 million differential the year before, according to PitchBook. Chart of the Week: Seller's market yields record number of U.S., European exits Last year saw U.S. and European firms set a high-water mark for buyout-backed exits with 2,320 deals totaling $554 billion in value, according to Pitchbook. In terms of dollars, that is more than twice the 2010 level. Talking Deal Prices: Potential BDC mergers stalled, energy swoon may hit IRRs When it comes to consolidation among public Business Development Companies, it's not just about price. One would think at least a couple of closed deals would have been chalked up by now given sustained weak stock levels of several names in the public BDC space. But while the class seems ripe for consolidation, no deals [...] Fund performance: Late vintage venture portfolio generating mixed results for California investor Funds from Column Group and OrbiMed are off to good starts, while those from Khosla and Cannann aren't distinguishing themselves from the pack | | | | | | VC Deals | | | Sorenson Capital leads $30 mln round for Couchbase Couchbase said Tuesday it raised $30 million in a Series F round led by Sorenson Capital. Current investors including Accel Partners, Adams Street Partners, Ignition Partners, Mayfield Fund, North Bridge Venture Partners and West Summit also participated. Mountain View, California-based Couchbase is an operational database. NimbeLink raises $2.5 mln NimbeLink said Tuesday it raised $2.5 million in funding from First Analysis. Minneapolis-based NimbeLink is a solution integrator and system provider for the Internet of Things market. KKR leads $45 mln round for Spirox Spirox Inc. said Tuesday it closed a $45 million Series C round led by KKR. Also participating in the round were HealthQuest Capital along with existing investors Aisling Capital, Aperture Venture Partners and Venrock. Menlo Park, California-based Spirox is a medical device company. Hicks Equity leads $7 mln round for Sight Sciences Sight Sciences Inc has closed a $7 million Series B round led by Hicks Equity Partners. All Series A investors participated in the round including Scientific Health Development (Series A Co-Lead), Allegro Investment Fund, and various other institutional and angel investors. Menlo Park, California-based Sight Sciences is a commercial stage ophthalmic medical device company. Outpost Medicine raises $41 mln Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd and Frazier Healthcare Partners have formed Outpost Medicine, which just completed a $41 million financing led by Frazier Healthcare. Other investors include Adams Street Partners, Novo A/S, and Vivo Capital. Outpost Medicine is developing treatments for urologic and gynecologic diseases and disorders. Librestream raises $8.2 mln Librestream said Tuesday it raised C$11 million ($8.2 million) in financing led by Emerald Technology Ventures. BDC Capital's Industrial, Clean and Energy Venture Fund also invested. Librestream, of Canada, develops mobile video collaboration solutions for energy, field service, manufacturing, and public sector industries. Next Insurance attracts $13 mln seed Next Insurance, which plans to launch an online insurance solution for small businesses, raised $13 million in seed funding from Zeev Ventures, TLV Partners and Ribbit Capital. The company's three founders are former executives at mobile payments company Check, which was acquired by Intuit in 2014 for nearly $400 million. Crate secures $4 mln in seed round led by Dawn Capital Crate Technology, which provides a scalable SQL database, announced it has raised $4 million in seed-stage funding. Dawn Capital led the round, which included existing investors Sunstone Capital, Draper Esprit (formerly known as DFJ Esprit) and Speedinvest. Solomon Hykes, creator of the Docker project, also invested in the latest round. The company was founded in 2013 and has offices in San Francisco, Berlin and Austria. PowerCore raises $2 mln in seed funding PowerCore Inc, which offers a platform for for independent mobile game companies, raised $2 million in seed funding. East Ventures, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, and Cherubic Ventures participated in the funding round. PowerCore has offices in Palo Alto, California and Tokyo, Japan. Illuminate Financial leads $4 mln Series A for ChartIQ Charlottesville, Virginia-based ChartIQ, which offers financial charting for capital markets, raised $4 million in a Series A financing round led by Illuminate Financial, with participation from existing investors ValueStream, Tribeca Angels and several angel investors. Arterys raises over $12 mln in Series A financing Arterys Inc, a medical imaging company using machine learning to create diagnostic software, closed its Series A financing round at over $12 million. The investment round was led by Emergent Medical Partners with participation from new investors GE Ventures, Stanford-StartX Fund and Norwich Ventures as well as existing backers Asset Management Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures and Morado Ventures. Forge nabs $4.5 mln seed Forge Inc, a San Francisco-based company that lets PC gamers connect and share gaming clips, raised $4.5 million in a seed financing round led by True Ventures and Resolute Ventures with participation from WME Ventures. LendInvest raises $25 mln Series B from Atomico LendInvest, an online marketplace for property finance in the UK, completed a 17 million pound ($25 million) Series B equity investment from Atomico. The investment brings the company's total equity funding to 39 million pounds ($56 million). In June, LendInvest secured a 22 million pound ($33 million) Series A investment from Beijing Kunlun, a listed Chinese technology company. Future Finance nabs $170 mln for student loan platform Future Finance Loan Corp, which makes student loans across the UK, raised 119 million pounds ($170.19 million) in growth and lending capital from QED Investors, Blackstone Strategic Opportunity Fund, Colchis Capital, Invus Opportunities, KCK, DW Partners, Fenway Summer Ventures, Ridge Road Partners, 1/0 Capital and others. Of the recent funds raised, 100 million pounds is for lending capital, supplementing Future Finance's existing credit facility with Goldman Sachs. Marley Spoon attracts $17 mln in Series B funding Marley Spoon, a recipe kit delivery service, raised $17 million in Series B funding from QD Ventures, Kreos Capital, returning investor Lakestar and others. To date, Marley Spoon has raised a total of $32 million in funding. GV leads $21 mln Series B for Cambridge Epigenetix UK-based Cambridge Epigenetix (CEGX), a developer of epigenetic sequencing technologies, closed a $21 million Series B financing round led by GV with signification participation from Sequoia Capital. Current investors New Science Ventures, Syncona Partners and Cambridge University also joined the round. | Meet The Man Who President Bill Clinton Described As
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| | | | | Providence Equity to buy 63% of Starman Group East Capital Explorer AB has agreed to sell its 63 percent stake in Starman Group to Providence Equity Partners. The transaction represents an enterprise value of about 210 million euros ($232.6 million) It will consist of an upfront cash consideration of approximately 81 million euros ($89.7 million) with an additional earn-out of up to 5 million euros payable in 2017. Starman Group is a TV and internet provider in the Baltics. Blue Wolf Capital sells CTG Advanced Materials to CTS Corp for $73 mln Blue Wolf Capital Partners sold CTG Advanced Materials LLC to CTS Corp for $73 million in cash. Based in Bolingbrook, Illinois, CTG makes crystal piezoelectric parts for medical equipment. Blue Wolf has owned CTG since 2013. Francisco Partners to lead $52 mln investment in Connecture Private equity firm Francisco Partners agreed to invest $52 million in Connecture Inc, a Nasdaq-listed company that provides information systems used to create health insurance marketplaces. Existing shareholder Chrysalis Ventures will also participate in the investment. At closing, Connecture will issue and sell Series A preferred stock, which will be convertible into common stock. When the investment has been completed, Ezra Perlman, co-president of Francisco, will join the Connecture board. Enlightenment Capital invests in Aurora Flight Sciences Enlightenment Capital, an aerospace, defense, and government-focused investment firm, made a strategic investment in Aurora Flight Sciences, a developer of unmanned aircraft systems based in Manassas, Virginia. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. PRESS RELEASE Manassas, Virginia, and Chevy Chase, Maryland – March 14, 2016 – Enlightenment Capital, an aerospace, defense, and government-focused investment firm, [...] Charterhouse agrees to sell Doc Generici to CVC Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP agreed to sell Doc Generici, a generic pharmaceutical company based in Italy, to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, although Reuters reported on Friday the deal is valued at between 650 million euros ($725.08 million) and 700 million euros. Doc was acquired by Charterhouse in a primary buyout in May 2013. Carlyle to buy Japananese software company WingArc1st The Carlyle Group agreed to buy a 100 percent stake in Tokyo-based WingArc1st, a provider of enterprise output management software and business intelligence software, from WingArc1st's president and chief executive Hiroyuki Uchino and OPI2002 Investment Fund, a subsidiary of Japanese financial services group ORIX Corp. The equity for the transaction will come from Carlyle Japan Partners III LP. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. China-led group targets Starwood; tops Marriott offer: Reuters U.S. hotel operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc received a buyout offer from a consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group, possibly derailing the company's planned takeover by rival Marriott International Inc. | How can you get involved at Buyouts East? ACG Boston
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| | IPOs | | | | | Allegiancy plans $30 mln 'mini-IPO' Fintech company Allegiancy is launching a $30 million 'mini-IPO', made possible by new equity crowdraising rules approved last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The rules allow companies to raise up to $50 million in debt or equity securities from non-accredited investors through a Regulation A+ offering. Richmond, Virginia-based Allegiancy offers an asset management [...] | | | | | | | Thoma Bravo-backed Landesk agrees to buy AppSense IT company Landesk agreed to acquire AppSense, a provider of secure user environment management solutions. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Landesk has been backed by Thoma Bravo since September 2010. VC-backed InVision acquires Silver Flows Venture capital-backed InVision, a collaborative platform for product designers, acquired Silver Flows, a prototyping tool for developers, according to a blogpost on the company's website. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Last year, InVision raised $45 million in a Series C financing round led by Accel. VC-backed App Annie acquires AppScotch Venture capital-backed App Annie, a data and insights platform for the app market, acquired AppScotch, an app marketing data company based in San Francisco. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. App Annie, also based in San Francisco, has raised over $94 million from investors including Institutional Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Greycroft Partners, IDG Capital Partners and others. | | Firms & Funds | | | | | Data Collective seeks to raise $280 mln for two new funds Venture capital firm Data Collective, which invests in big data companies, has set out to raise its fourth early-stage fund and its second opportunity fund to back growth-stage companies. Data Collective IV LP and DCVC Opportunity Fund II LP are sized at $155 million and $125 million, respectively. The firm has not yet raised any capital for the funds, according to the filings. | | Human Resources | | | | | Partners Group to build North American headquarters in Colorado Partners Group said Tuesday it would build a headquarters in the Denver Metro Area to house its Americas operations. The firm will open a temporary office in Denver in May until the new campus is ready. Partners Group already has offices in New York, San Francisco, Houston and So Paulo. Ex-Sequoia Capital partner alleges extortion in sex abuse complaint: Reuters A former partner in leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital on Monday countersued a woman who claimed he sexually abused her for more than a decade, arguing that she was trying to extort $40 million from him. Square acquires the team behind VC-backed Framed Data Square has acquired the team behind venture capital-backed Framed Data, according to a blogpost. The new hires will build models for Square Capital. Framed Data, which offered a machine learning product, raised $2 million in seed funding from GV, Innovation Works and others. Sequoia Capital partner departs amid sex abuse allegations: Reuters A partner at Sequoia Capital has left, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm said on Sunday, days after a lawsuit was filed accusing him of sexually abusing a woman and not honoring an agreement to compensate her. | | Odds & Ends + Hot Links | | | | | PE HUB First Read In First Read, Lyft and GM roll out car rental program to attract more drivers, Sony to pay Michael Jackson's estate $750 mln for its share of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing catalog, and Amazon is trying to patent paying with a selfie. PE HUB Second Opinion In Second Opinion, Starwood receives an unsolicited $12.8 bln offer from a Chinese-led consortium, Viacom shareholders vote to re-elect the company's board, and a longtime Sequoia partner resigns amid sexual abuse allegations. |
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