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Editor's note: A reminder that we won't be publishing PE Hub Wire tomorrow as we'll be off for the Thanksgiving holiday. On Friday, PE Hub Europe Editor Craig McGlashan will be writing an abbreviated version.

Garnett Station builds regional restaurant brand platform; LPs push back on NAV loan distributions

Morning Hubs!

This is Chris, on for Wire Wednesday.

Today we have news that Garnett Station Partners added-on Fiesta Restaurant Group to its Authentic Restaurant Brands.

We also discuss the growing awareness and, in some cases, concern among LPs about use of fund financing strategies as a way to deliver distributions.

Fortress foods

As we here in the US get ready to feast on turkey, stuffing and other starch-heavy dishes, we’ll leave you with some food-laden M&A.

Garnett Station Partners, formed in 2013, is building out a branded restaurant platform, developing regional chains taking bigger chunks of market share. The firm’s platform, launched in 2021 and called Authentic Restaurant Brands, in October added-on Fiesta Restaurant Group for $225 million. Fiesta is the parent company of Miami’s Pollo Tropical restaurant chain. Read more here on PE Hub.

Debt

As liquidity from PE portfolios has dried up, GPs are considering various options for ways to deliver proceeds to existing LPs (not to mention for future M&A activity or even for emergency support for challenged port cos). But many LPs I’ve spoken to recently are not fans of a GP taking on fund-level leverage as a way to distribute to LPs. Taking on additional debt to bulk up a DPI rate, in most cases just to make that metric more attractive to potential LPs in a future fundraising, is not looked on favorably by many LPs. Subscribers can read more in the premium version of The Wire. 

That’s it for me! Finish off the week strong and have a great holiday (if you’re celebrating). Hit me up as always at christopher.w@pei.group with tips n’ gossip, feedback or The Drama (and I know there’s a good amount going on out there). Or find me on LinkedIn.

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has emerged as the buyer in a transaction where CPP Investments partially divested 12 North American energy funds, Secondaries Investor has learned.

Sacramento County Employees Retirement System will target deployment of $250 million in commitments to private equity over the next year. (Buyouts)

Court Square Capital Partners, spun out of Citigroup Venture Capital in 2006, is seeking $3 billion for a fifth flagship buyout offering. (Buyouts)

Tim Short, a former managing director for renewables at Capital Dynamics and KKR, has formed a new outfit, Acadia Infrastructure Capital, that will seek to serve “more sophisticated LPs” in the US clean energy market. (Infrastructure Investor)

In a decision that will have raised eyebrows among investors in the still-nascent cellular agriculture sector, Italy last week became the first country to completely ban the production, sale or import of cultivated meat or animal feed. (Agri Investor)

Texas infrastructure projects to benefit from $7.5bn windfall after vote. Three statewide funds were approved, totaling $7.5bn for energy, water and broadband projects. (Infrastructure Investor)

Diminished appetites among western investors for Chinese private equity aren’t denting client demand for Asia-Pacific more broadly, according to Paris-headquartered investment manager Flexstone Partners. “Some of our big SMA European clients, we have been able to convince them to allocate more capital to Asia,” managing partner Eric Deram told Private Equity International.

Six more trade groups have joined the battle against the SEC’s sweeping new private funds rules, filing five separate amicus briefs urging federal appellate judges to set the new regulations aside. (Private Funds CFO)

Most investors seeking liquidity in the secondaries market have found prices gradually aligning with their expectations as the bid-ask spread has narrowed over the course of the year, a report from Montana Capital Partners shows. (Secondaries Investor)