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End of an Eras: Ardian sees Swift growth for Audiotonix after partial exit; Allied Industrial in entertainment play

Whether it’s sports, movies or music, private equity just can’t get enough of the entertainment sector. This morning we’re featuring a company that touches all three – Audiotonix, whose audio mixing equipment can be found at everything from Taylor Swift’s Eras tour to the Super Bowl.

Ardian has agreed to sell its majority stake in the company to PAI Partners, while retaining a minority position. We hear from Ardian’s Edward Little about how Audiotonix can grow from here and why private equity is so interested in the world of live entertainment.

We stick with entertainment for the second deal of the day, this time involving touring logistics as an Allied Industrial-backed company makes an add-on.

You Belong With Me

North American acquisitions are on the horizon for Audiotonix, a company whoseaudio mixing tech is used by global music superstars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. Ardian has just agreed to sell its majority stake in the business to fellow private equity firm PAI Partners.

PAI agreed on Tuesday to buy Ardian’s majority stake in Audiotonix, with Ardian retaining a minority stake.

Read the subscriber version of the Wire to find out the deal value, where Ardian expects Audiotonix to grow further and why the live entertainment sector is so popular with private equity.

Editor’s note: We’ll be publishing the full interview with Ardian’s Little in the coming days.

On the move

Of course, it’s no good having all these superstars and audio tech if they can’t get themselves and their equipment from A to B, or arena to bowl, if you will.

Step in Celebrity Coaches, which is backed by Allied Industrial Partners and has just acquired Moonstruck Leasing, a Nashville-based entertainment coach leasing company.

Fund out more in the subscriber version of the Wire.

While concerts are booming, so is recorded music – at private equity thinks so. In case you missed it, check out our coverage from yesterday about a tussle between Blackstone and music publisher Concord Music – whose bid has financing from Apollo Global Management – for London-listed Hipgnosis, which owns rights to songs by artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and Neil Young.

OK that’s all from me today. Chris Witkowsky will be with you tomorrow as usual for Wire Wednesday.

Cheers,

Craig

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Pacenote Capital, formed in 2019, is providing a way to aggregate capital from LPs interested in building direct exposure to investments. The firm closed its debut fund on $87.5 million to directly invest in deals alongside independent sponsors, according to sources. (Buyouts)

Triton Partners decided to sell Norstat following “significant interest from various parties” in a tricky exit environment, Daniel Björklund, investment advisory professional, told PE Hub Europe.

Buyouts' latest 'Off duty' column talks with Searchlight Capital co-founder Erol Uzumeri about his dream job as a coffee shop owner, his 'happy place' in Turkey and the value of surrounding oneself with talented people.

Main Capital Partners will sell Enovation, a software provider in the healthcare communications sector, to Legrand. The exit is by far the largest strategic exit for the firm, Sjoerd Aarts, partner and Benelux head at Main told PE Hub Europe.

Blackstone has amassed $7.6 billion in commitments for its seventh opportunistic real estate fund in Europe, a little over a year after launching the fund. (Private Equity Real Estate)

Cari Lodge, CF Private Equity's head of secondaries, tells Secondaries Investor about deployment plans for the firm’s fourth secondaries vehicle, which closed on $1.1bn earlier this month.

World Fund has set aside €200m of its new €300m fund for follow-on investments in its best-performing companies to help them through the 'Series B Death Valley' for climate start-ups in Europe. (Venture Capital Journal)

They said it

“Twenty years ago, to display your wealth you’d have a nice fancy car or you’d show off your bling watch. Now it’s about a square on Instagram which shows an experience that you have managed to go to, or time that you have that allows you to do these things. Increasingly these experiences in a live capacity are becoming more sophisticated. And for that sophistication you need higher quality audio and Audiotonix is the forefront of that. A lot of that is reflected in the touring.”

— Edward Little, director, Ardian