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Ted Koenig weighs in on Monroe’s biggest fund close; deal flow slowed in Q1

Good morning, dealmakers. MK Flynn here with the Wire.

PE Hub reporter Aaron Weitzman is in Las Vegas for ACG’s InterGrowth conference with his ear to the ground. If you’re at the conference, shoot Aaron an email at aaron.w@peimedia.com

And check out Aaron’s latest healthcare story, an interview with GTCR’s Sean Cunningham about the firm’s new healthcare services platform, Avryo with long-time exec Kelly McCrann.

Q1 slowdown. EY’s quarterly Pulse report is out this morning with analysis of Q1, and the numbers reflect some slowdown in deal activity.

Private credit. Earlier this morning, Monroe Capital announced the final close of its 2022 Monroe Capital Private Credit Fund IV with $4.8 billion of investable capital, including targeted fund leverage and separately managed accounts investing alongside the fund. It marks the Chicago firm’s largest fund to date, exceeding the previous fund, which closed at $2.3 billion in 2018. Backing lower middle-market US companies with less than $35 million in EBITDA, the fund has already invested over $1.7 billion in 90 transactions.

For more on private debt, see my recent Q&A with Randy Schwimmer, co-head of senior lending at Churchill Asset Management and founder and publisher of The Lead Left.

Inside the exit. Earlier this week, New York-based private equity firm Castle Harlan sold Tensar to publicly-traded Commercial Metals Company, a steel and metal maker in Irving, Texas, for $550 million. Tensar, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, makes materials known as “geogrids,” which reinforce soil in foundations for a range of applications, including roads, airports and railroads. The company is benefiting from a renewed focus on infrastructure in the US and throughout the world. PE Hub’s Obey Martin Manayiti spoke with Castle Harlan senior managing director Marcel Fournier about the exit.

For more, read Obey’s story.

Feel free to reach out to Obey about PE deals in energy, infrastructure and supply chain. His email address is obey.m@peimedia.com.

You can reach me at mk.flynn@peimedia.com. And you can reach assistant reporter David Wansboro, who joined PE Hub this week to focus on PE deals in Europe, at david.wansboro@peimedia.com.

That’s it for now.

Until tomorrow,

MK

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