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KKR buys 1-800 Contacts for $3.1bn-plus as eCommerce and telemedicine take off, Sponsors circle logistics tech provider Shipmonk as sale process kicks off, LPs grant Hellman & Friedman more time to manage out 2007 fund
 
Thursday, September 24, 2020
 
 
Morning!

AEA Investors and Thomas H. Lee Partners are selling 1-800 Contacts to KKR in a deal valued between $3.1 billion and $3.2 billion, writes Sarah Pringle on PE Hub today.

KKR Felix Gernburd said the company has been on the firm's radar for several years. KKR in 2014 acquired National Vision from Berkshire Partners.

“The idea of putting the consumer at the front of everything and being a tech-enabled business caught our eye as the company became available,” Gernburd said. “It plays on two big themes that we have been thinking about and investing behind – the growing adoption of eCommerce and the growing adoption of telemedicine.” Read more here.
 
 
 
Top Scoops
 
ShipMonk, a tech-driven logistics provider, is seeing private equity interest in a new sales process, writes Milana Vinn on PE Hub. Goldman Sachs is advising ShipMonk on the process. In October 2018, the company raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by SJF Ventures, with participation from Grotech Ventures, Supply Chain Ventures and a strategic group of individual angel investors. Read it here on PE Hub.
 
 
 
LPs granted Hellman & Friedman more time to manage out three remaining investments in its 2007, sixth fund. Fund VI, which closed on $8.4 billion, still holds Change Healthcare, Associated Materials and Grosvenor Capital Management. Grosvenor is set to merge with a SPAC sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, which will leave Fund VI with two assets.

Term amendments giving GPs more time to manage out funds will likely increase as the pandemic pushed back exit timelines for many firms. LP sources have said in recent interviews they’ve seen upticks in amendment requests for term and investment period extensions. Read it here on Buyouts.

Have a great day! Reach me with your thoughts, tips, gossip, whatever at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com, on Twitter or find me on LinkedIn.

HOUSEKEEPING: Deadline extension! Invitation to Perspectives 2021

In its ninth year, Perspectives is Buyouts's annual study of how institutional investors will approach private equity over the coming year. If you are an institutional investor, your participation in the study is greatly appreciated.

CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE. Deadline to participate: 03 October, 2020

Participating takes less than 10 minutes (I promise!) and in return you will be provided with a complimentary copy of the full results of the study. A $5 donation to UNICEF will be made for every completed set of responses, with your answers remaining strictly anonymous. For any questions, please email Nicole Douglas, Head of Investor Research: nicole.d@peimedia.com
 
 
 
 
Premium
 
 
 
 
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