Good morning, Hubsters! Rafael Canton here. I’m filling in for Chris Witkowsky for the next few Wednesday Wires, as he works on other assignments.
Up first today, I’ll share my chat with Stride Consumer Partners’ Tim Burke about the young firm’s investments out of its first fund and trends in the consumer space.
Then, we’ll highlight a deal announced this morning from Leonard Green and Advent International.
And finally, we’ll take a look at the relationship between the deal downturn and value creation, a key theme from a recent Bain & Co. report.
A-plus assets
Stride Consumer Partners is about halfway through investing its $420 million inaugural fund. The Boston-based private equity firm is looking to make four to five more investments from the fund.
Stride focuses on four segments (beauty, food and beverage, active lifestyle and multi-unit services. I chatted with Tim Burke about trends he’s seeing in the consumer sector, and some of the investments the firm has made since its fund launch two years ago.
Upgrade to the premium version to read the interview.
While dealmaking in the consumer sector has been choppy throughout 2024, this week there have been a few deals in the sector.
Yellow Wood-backed Suave Brands closed on its deal to acquire the Chapstick brand from Haleon. I spoke with Yellow Wood partner Tad Yanagi about the firm’s focus on corporate carveouts as a buyout strategy and more in February.
Also this week, Consortium Brand Partners announced it acquired Outdoor Voices, an Austin-based athletic apparel brand. It was the firm’s second acquisition after the announcement of a majority stake in Reese Witherspoon’s fashion & lifestyle brand Draper James in September 2023. PE Hub’s Iris Dorbian covered the Draper James deal in September which saw CBP take a 70 percent stake in the company.
To follow deal announcements in the sector on an ongoing basis, check out PE Hub’s Consumer & Retail landing page here.
Asset intensive
Advent International and Leonard Green & Partners have teamed up on a deal, acquiring Prometheus from Genstar Capital.
To find out the details on the deal, upgrade to the premium version.
Secret sauce
In the deal downturn, portfolio management is more important than ever, a theme highlighted in Bain & Co’s Private Equity Midyear Report 2024 which was released this week.
The report offers some advice for GPs, which subscribers to the premium edition may read.
At PE Hub, we’ve seen firms focus more on value creation. To take a close look at the trend, earlier this year, senior reporter Michael Schoeck attended The Riverside Company’s leadership conference. Held in Orlando in late March, more than 400 executives convened at the summit, including leaders from 130 of Riverside’s portfolio companies. Subscribers to the premium version may read that story.
That’s it from me today. If you have any thoughts, questions or want to chat – especially about deals in the consumer sector - please email me at rafael.c@pei.group.
Michael will have the Wire for you tomorrow.
Cheers,
Rafael
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