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KKR generates returns for GSI employees; Partners Group sees thematic tailwinds in Gateway Fleets deal

Good morning, PE Hubsters! Rafael Canton here with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

The first topic for today is in the industrial and manufacturing sector. We have a story about KKR’s exit of GeoStabilization International. The piece also looks at how all 900-plus employees will receive significant payouts on their ownership stakes in GSI.

Also today, we have a deep dive into Partners Group which announced a majority investment in Gateway Fleets.

Finally, we have a couple of deals from the morning to look at. First, Castle Harlan has acquired Alumni Educational Solutions, amanufacturer of educational furniture for pre-school, K-12, and higher education classrooms across North America.

Then, Turnspire Capital Partners has acquired GHP Group, a provider of consumer outdoor living and indoor heating products.

Making a return

In September, KKR announced that it exited geohazard mitigation and roadway safety services provider GeoStabilization International, selling the company to Leonard Green & Partners. To learn more about the deal, PE Hub reporter Iris Dorbian chatted with Brandon Brahm, a partner at KKR and co-head of KKR’s Ascendant Strategy.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn more about the exit.

An EV Fleet

Recently, Partners Group announced a majority investment in Gateway Fleets, a San Francisco-based provider of electrification services for logistics fleet operators in the US.

PE Hub reporter Obey Martin Manayiti has the story on the deal. Obey caught up with Andre Burba, a managing director on Partners Group’s Infrastructure Americas team, to learn more about the Gateway Fleets deal.

Premium subscribers to the Wire can learn more about Partners Group’s recent deal.

Building a connection

We also have a couple of deals to highlight from this morning. Castle Harlan has acquired Alumni Educational Solutions, a Waterloo, Ontario-based manufacturer of educational furniture for pre-school, K-12, and higher education classrooms across North America.

Private equity dealmakers have become bullish on education as PE Hub’s Iris Dorbian covered in September. There’s been a rise in deals, especially in edtech, that have occurred recently.

Upgrade to learn more about Castle Harlan’s deal this morning.

Keeping warm

In another deal this morning, Turnspire Capital Partners has acquired GHP Group, a Niles, Illinois-based provider of consumer outdoor living and indoor heating products.

Premium subscribers to the Wire can learn more about the deal.

That’s it from me today. If you have any questions, thoughts, or want to chat, please email me at rafael.c@pei.group.

Tomorrow, Craig McGlashan will be writing the Europe edition of the Wire, and Nina Lindholm will cover the US edition.

Cheers,

Rafael

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Archimed’s private ownership of Jeisys Medical will provide the agility needed in the fast-moving skincare field as aesthetics takes market share from cosmetics, Denis Ribon, chairman and managing partner, told PE Hub.

The Disruption Matters special podcast series is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value. (PE Hub)

Alaska Permanent Fund is set to ramp up its private equity pacing in the new fiscal year. The sovereign wealth fund will likely have to increase its commitments to the asset class to $1.5 billion in FY2025. (Buyouts)

Coller Capital has launched Coller Private Credit Secondaries – known as CollerCredit – that will be accessible to private wealth investors outside of the US, according to a statement. Over $250 million of capital from global investors will be used to seed the program. (Secondaries Investor)

The “missing middle” of climate technology – the growth stage for hardware, asset-heavy companies and first-of-a-kind projects – is being widely discussed among impact-focused investors. Venture firm managers at New York Climate Week said that climate tech founders should take advantage of government grants and incentives and add software components to their businesses. (New Private Markets)

Tokenization is gaining traction in the secondaries market as more private wealth platforms seek exposure to the strategy. (Private Equity International)

Data center managers have a deployment problem: Power constraints have become the biggest obstacle in moving forward with developing new assets in the sector. (Private Equity Real Estate)

Sozo Ventures, which was founded by Forbes Midas List member Koichiro “Koh” Nakamura, has set out to raise $500 million for its Fund IV, according to an SEC filing. (Venture Capital Journal)

Blackstone has brought on board two veterans of the private credit world to beef up its infrastructure and asset-based credit platform. The new partners at Blackstone Credit and Insurance are Aneek Mamik and Chris Yonan. Mamik arrives from Värde Partners to head financial services in the platform. Yonan, from Jefferies, will head infrastructure. (Private Debt Investor)

Monarch Alternative Capital held a final close of its sixth opportunistic fund on over $4.7 billion, significantly exceeding its $3.5 billion target. (Private Debt Investor)

They said it

“This is a company that had great growth, good margins, but there were some things related to scaling they were grappling with as they had grown quickly from a smaller size. GSI is an example of what we thought was a big opportunity in the middle market. It was a good business we could invest in and make it great. That’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

— Brandon Brahm, partner at KKR and co-head of KKR’s Ascendant Strategy on why the firm initially invested in GeoStabilization International