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NRG buys Vivint Smart Home, nurtured by Blackstone; and Investcorp picks up a biz advisory firm

Good morning, dealmakers. MK Flynn here with today’s Wire.

Let’s kick things off with a big public sector deal with private equity roots.

And we’ll share news of a PE purchase of a business services company.

Blackstone-backed. NRG Energy announced earlier this morning that it has agreed to acquire Vivint Smart Home for $2.8 billion in an all-cash transaction with an implied multiple of 6.3x run-rate enterprise value to adjusted EBITDA.

Houston-based NRG will acquire 100 percent of the outstanding equity of Vivint for a total transaction value of $5.2 billion, which consists of approximately $2.8 billion in cash and the assumption of $2.4 billion of debt (net of cash). The price tag represents a premium of approximately 33 percent to Vivint’s closing share price yesterday.

Vivint provides technology aimed at creating smarter, more efficient and safer residences.

Blackstone bought the Provo, Utah company in 2012 for roughly $2 billion and sold it to Mosaic Acquisition Group in 2019, with Blackstone retaining its investment in the company and making an additional investment. Vivint went public in January 2020 with a $4.2 billion enterprise value through one of the largest SPAC transactions in the US.

Business services. Also announced this morning: Investcorp is acquiring a majority stake in CrossCountry Consulting, a business advisory firm. In addition, Public Sector Pension Investment Board invested, and RLH Equity Partners will continue as an investor. CrossCountry founders Dave Kay and Erik Linn continue to be significant shareholders.

Founded in 2011, CrossCountry provides accounting, finance, risk, operations, cyber, and technology-enabled services for the office of the CFO in public and private organizations.

“There are several macro themes driving continued opportunity in accounting advisory, including the rise of outsourcing and the evolving role of the finance function to involve technology as businesses digitize their operations,” said Dave Tayeh, head of private equity, North America, at Investcorp, in a statement.

Don’t miss. Are you signed up for PE Hub Europe? We recently launched the new website, which provides in-depth coverage and exclusive insight on European private equity deals.  

Look to PE Hub Europe for: 

• The latest deal terms and pricing to bolster your negotiations 

• Deal trend analysis to know if a sector is hot or overheated

• Relevant and accurate intelligence on fund manager activity

• Rare insight about fresh investment opportunities & pending deals

We are currently offering complimentary access to PE Hub Europe. Sign in or register to start reading today!

Today, the PE Hub Europe team, led by editor Craig McGlashan and including reporter Nina Lindholm, covered KKR’s agreement to acquire Clinisupplies, a Watford, UK-headquartered continence care product provider. The seller is Healthium MedTech Private, an Indian medical devices and consumable products manufacturer, which in turn has private equity backing from Apax Partners.

See PE Hub Europe for more.

On that note, I’ll sign off. Buyouts’ Chris Witkowsky will be back with tomorrow’s Wire and then PE Hub’s Aaron Weitzman will write Thursday’s and Friday’s newsletters. I’ll be back on Monday.

Happy dealmaking until then,

MK

Read thefull wire commentaryon PE Hub …

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Macquarie Asset Management has raised about $4 billion for its latest Americas-focused infrastructure fund, sources have told Infrastructure Investor.

Generally, LPs today are focusing on re-ups to their existing managers, not to mention culling the underperformers, rather than adding to their portfolios. However, some good news for new managers: a fresh survey from Probitas Partners showed that LP interest in first-time funds remains strong, with the majority of interest in spin-outs of teams with experience working together. (Buyouts)

Private equity’s macro headache: As economic and geopolitical concerns permeate, GPs are arming themselves against fundraising uncertainty. (Private Equity International)

Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System could reduce how much it will commit to private equity in 2023 due to investment committee member concerns about the system’s overallocation to the asset class. (Buyouts)

GPs are leaving funds in market for longer as public market volatility disrupts investors’ annual commitment pacing. (Private Equity International)

Oak Street is on track to raise its first mega-fund with its latest real estate offering, Oak Street Real Estate Capital Fund VI, PERE has learned.

Ardian is doubling down on sharing profits with portfolio company employees. The $180 billion-AUM firm has become Europe’s first to join Ownership Works, the KKR-founded non-profit that pushes investors to share the upside with employees. (New Private Markets)

A change of lifestyle, tax break incentives and the ability to work from home are driving more PE professionals to move to Miami and Dallas-Fort Worth from New York City. (Private Funds CFO)

Professionally managed US farmland has produced a combined total return of more than 10 percent over the year ending in the third quarter, according to the National Council of Real Estate Investment. (Agri Investor)

"Blackstone’s $70 billion property fund may have performed too well for its own good. Sky-high rents for the nonmainstream real estate it favors look like another pandemic trend that is about to reverse." (Wall Street Journal)

"Enterprise spend management software company Coupa’s investors are ringing the alarm about a possible sale to private equity, concerned that any such transaction in the current investment environment may unreasonably limit its value." (TechCrunch)

"Lovell Minnick Partners is seeking a modest increase in size for its newest buyout fund. The Radnor, Pa.-based firm is targeting $1.5 billion for Lovell Minnick Equity Partners VI, to take control and minority positions in companies in the financial services industry and related sectors." (WSJ Pro)

"There’s Nothing ‘Dislocated’ About Private Equity In Today’s Discombobulated World": an op-ed on Forbes from Antoine Drean, founder of private equity advisory Triago and PE marketplace Palico.