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Ridgemont to shop Crete United in early 2025; deal momentum picks up in H2

Good morning, Hubsters. Senior reporter Michael Schoeck here with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

Today we’ve got a scoop to highlight in the HVAC services market, which has seen strong interest from private equity firms in recent years.

Next we’ll provide an update on my ongoing reporting about companies coming to market. Deal activity appears to be picking up in H2.

And last up today we have a data analytics and AI deal to highlight.

HVAC systems upgrade

Ridgemont Equity Partners is expected to test the market for commercial HVAC and energy efficiency service provider Crete United in early 2025, sources told PE Hub.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more details.

Companies for sale

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been tracking companies or corporate carveout assets that sources have told me are on the market, or coming to the market in a matter of months, potentially attracting PE buyers. The list I’m tracking has grown to 210 companies and carveout assets.

In a sign of how slow dealflow has been, just 54 of those 210 companies or carveouts have been announced in deals, showing a 25 percent margin for deal activity conversion. But it’s worth noting that 48 of those 54 deals have been announced since early June, suggesting an uptick in deal activity in the second half of the year.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more data and details on companies coming to market.

Got tips on companies coming up for sale? Shoot me a note at michael.s@pei.group to connect.

Cloud data melds with AI

Data analytics is a cornerstone of the AI technology movement. The combination of AI and cloud services has driven considerable interest from private equity investors.

Earlier this morning, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and KKR-backed Cloudera, a data analytics and AI provider, announced an agreement to acquire Octopai’s data lineage and catalog platform from Octopai BI Limited.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more AI coverage.

That’s a wrap for me today. Just a head’s up I’ll be on annual leave next week for two weeks, as I’m travelling to Peru to visit extended family. Obey Martin Manayiti has graciously stepped in to fill in for me. Stay tuned for Irien Joseph bringing you the Europe edition of the Wire tomorrow and John R Fischer delivering the US edition.

Cheers,

Michael

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Wind investors holding their breath after Gulf of Maine lease auction: Blackstone-backed Invenergy and Iberdrola’s Avangrid were successful in a floating turbine lease auction for the Gulf of Maine, but it could be the last conducted under the Biden administration. (Infrastructure Investor)

Seine Capital, a secondaries firm launched by Mantra Investment Partners’ former head of secondaries, is one step closer to raising its debut fund, Secondaries Investor has learned.

Trump’s election victory could thaw private equity exit activity, according to Hamilton Lane chairman Hartley Rogers. Rogers told Private Equity International he expects the US election result will create “much more fluidity” in exit markets, driven by IPOs and M&A.

Limited partners are now able to select from a broader and more seasoned pool of sustainable private markets strategies, according to panellists at the New Private Markets Impact & Transition Investing Summit in New York this week.

After a difficult down market, returns from US real estate could come roaring back in the second half of the 2020s, at least compared to private equity. Speaking at PERE Network’s America Forum on Wednesday, David Lebovitz, managing director at JPMorgan Asset Management, said the outlook for the alternative asset class once again looks more enticing than private equity.

Are semi-liquids more competitive on pricing? The answer is nuanced. Research suggests evergreens can pay 6 points higher on average for LP portfolios than closed-end funds – findings that may not fully reflect all market dynamics. (Secondaries Investor)

They said it

“When using data to make business-critical decisions, enterprises can’t afford to have blind spots or inaccuracies, and they certainly shouldn’t let identifying trusted data slow down progress.”

— Charles Sansbury, chief executive officer of Cloudera, on the PE-backed company’s add-on deal for Octopai’s data lineage and catalog portfolio.