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Red Arts’ Chad Strader: Diversity is ‘good for business’; US PE firms vie for public European names

Good morning Hubsters, Craig McGlashan here filling in for MK Flynn on the Monday Wire.

Opening up today we have Obey Martin Manayiti speaking to Chad Strader, managing partner and co-founder of Red Arts Capital, in the latest in our Black History Month interviews with private equity professionals who are Black.

We then take a look across to Europe as some US private equity companies try to snap up listed firms, and we examine a trend that Permira has spotted in European financial services.

Switching back to the States, a Carlyle veteran is retiring and we have a deal in the semiconductor industry to report.

Priorities. PE Hub’s Obey Martin Manayiti has the latest in our Black History Month series of interviews with private equity professionals who are Black.

Fielding the questions this time is Chad Strader, managing partner and co-founder of Red Arts Capital, a Chicago-based PE firm.

You can read the full interview here.

Take-privates. Over on PE Hub Europe,we’ve been seeing a lot of interest from US private equity interest in taking publicly listed firms.

One of the most interesting is the bidding battle between Bain Capital and Triton Partners for Finnish construction firm Caverion (see here to get up to speed) and that story has taken another twist.

The Caverion board said this morning that it was mulling an improved offer from Triton that came in late last week, as well as Bain’s improved offer from 24 January – which the board unanimously recommended to shareholders.

Read PE Hub Europe’s coverage to learn more about the latest bid from Triton.

For more take-private news involving US private equity companies and European listed firms, check out our coverage of Providence Equity bidding for conference firm Hyve Group and Apollo making a play for engineering firm John Wood Group.

Outsourcing. Another trend we’ve seen at PE Hub Europe is private equity interest in financial services companies. One driver in that industry is outsourcing, Permira principals Chris Pell and Daniel Tan told PE Hub Europe’s Nina Lindholm.

Permira is acquiring a majority stake in Acuity Knowledge Partners from Equistone Partners Europe.

Read the full interview on PE Hub Europe to find out about Permira’s plans for growing Acuity.

Retirement. People news now, and Peter Clare, chief investment officer of corporate private equity and chairman of the Americas at Carlyle, is retiring on 30 April, after 31 years at the company.

Sandra Horbach and Brian Bernasek, co-heads of Carlyle’s US buyout and growth platform, become co-heads of the Americas to manage the firm’s private equity business across the region.

Semiconductors. AEM, which is backed by Industrial Growth Partners, has acquired Hauppauge, Long Island-based Central Semiconductor, a maker of semiconductor solutions. No financial terms were disclosed.

Based in San Diego, AEM is an electronics platform of mission-critical circuit protection, power conditioning, and RF components.

Central Semiconductor was founded in 1974.

That’s it from me – MK will be back with you tomorrow after her well-deserved break.

Cheers,

Craig

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Macro uncertainty remains a “deal killer” in private markets investing, yet signs of a modest recovery are slowly taking shape, Bain & Company’s Global Private Equity Report 2023 has found. (Private Equity International)

Private equity and venture capital rank as the most popular asset classes for college endowments, according to a new report from an organization representing college financial officers. (Buyouts)

Anti-ESG model policies ‘increase liability risk’ for pension fiduciaries: Research comes as investors call on Congress to vote against an expected Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn a Department of Labor ruling.  (Responsible Investor)

Onex is seeking $1.5 billion for a fifth offering earmarked for mid-market and small-cap investing. (Buyouts)

Lotus Infrastructure has elected to establish its own hydrogen pipeline company – NeuVentus – due to both a lack of existing assets and doubt that natural gas pipelines can be effectively converted into hydrogen pipelines. (Infrastructure Investor)

Sub lines hit a milestone with Fitch’s draft ratings methodology: Ratings could broaden investor base, and may open the door to a future capital markets solution for the fund instruments. (Private Funds CFO)

"US insurance regulators on Monday will meet to consider boosting capital charges on complex corporate loan instruments [used by private equity-backed insurers] that some in the industry warn are creating excessive risk." (Financial Times)

"Focus Financial Partners Inc has agreed to be taken private by affiliates of buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in an all-cash transaction valued at more than $7 billion, the companies said on Monday." (Reuters)

"Investcorp, the Bahrain-based alternative investment manager that once owned Tiffany and controlled Gucci, is opening an office in Tokyo to raise funds and pursue acquisitions of high-end Japanese manufacturers and other hidden gems." (Financial Times)