PE Weekly: Acquisitions Reach From Aquaculture to PE Firms Themselves

Infrastructure, railway maintenance…fish health? This week’s private equity investments were diverse, ranging from fund administration services to auto glass repair software, and more. Plus, a recent trend of private equity firms becoming the acquisition targets themselves was reflected this week with the announcement of Volery Capital’s acquisition. See the latest deals below.

Platform Investments and Acquisitions

Volery Capital Acquired by Sustainable Development Capital. Energy-focused private equity firm Volery Capital has itself become an acquisition target with an investment from Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL), a specialist investment firm focused on clean energy. The acquisition will combine SCDL’s real assets expertise with Volery’s PE investment capabilities, supporting SDCL clients in search of funding their energy projects, according to a press release. The combined firm now has more than $2 billion in assets under management.

Cinven Backs Alternatives Fund Administration Tech Company. Alter Domus, which provides tech-enabled fund administration, private debt and corporate services for the alternative investment industry, announced this week a new investment from private equity firm Cinven. The investment values Alter Domus at $5.3 billion. Cinven will support Alter Domus’ long-term growth servicing the private equity, real assets and private debt sectors in Europe and across the globe.

Summa Equity Acquires STIM to Advance Fish Health. Summa Equity, an ESG-focused private equity firm, announced its investment in aquaculture innovation and fish health company STIM. A press release said STIM is the aquaculture sector’s largest supplier of fish health products and services. Partnering with Summa will help the company expand into new verticals and diversify its product and service offering.

Monomoy Capital Acquires Waupaca Foundry. Middle-market private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners announced the completed acquisition of Waupaca Foundry in a press release. This week. Waupaca is a leading supplier of cast and machined iron castings across North America. Monomoy acquired the business from metals company Proterial.

Leste Group Acquires Prestige Cosmetics. Global alternative investment manager announced in a press release it has acquired a stake in Prestige Cosmetics, a distributor of luxury perfumes and cosmetics. Prestige operates across Brazil and North America. Leste Group made the investment through its private equity platform, and plans to grow the business geographically.

Alphi Capital Backs K2 Fasteners. Canada-based Alphi Capital announced its acquisition of K2 Fasteners, a distributor of stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant fasteners based in British Columbia. The firm plans to grow the business by investing in talent and production capacity, and expanding its geographic reach.

Add-Ons

One Equity’s PGW Auto Glass Acquires AutoglassCRM. PGW Auto Glass, an automotive replacement glass and auto parts distributor, and portfolio company of middle-market private equity firm One Equity Partners, has acquired a VIN decoding service and point-of-sale software solution provider, AutoglassCRM. The investment complements PGW’s existing VIN decoding services and enables the launch of Everything Autoglass, a suite of business solutions to support automotive replacement glass installers.

DFW Capital’s North American Rail Acquires West Rail Construction. DFW Capital Partners portfolio company North American Rail announced its acquisition of West Rail Construction this week. North American Rail Solutions provides rail inspection, construction and maintenance services across North America. The company acquired West Rail Construction via its subsidiary American Track, which will expand its geographic presence and service offering throughout the Northwest and west coast as a result of the acquisition.

Godspeed Capital’s Stengel Hill Acquires Architect Consulting Business. Stengel Hill Architecture, the architectural, engineering and consulting platform backed by lower middle-market private equity firm Godspeed Capital Management, has acquired Smith Consulting Architects. The investment expands Stengel Hill’s presence in the California market, a press release noted.

Exits

Lee Equity Partners Backs PCS Retirement, LLR Exits. PCS Retirement, a retirement plan recordkeeper, announced a majority investment from middle-market private equity firm Lee Equity Partners. As part of the transaction, LLR is exiting its stake in the company. Lee Equity will support continued growth by accelerating new business sales and expanding existing relationships, while also optimizing the digital experience for customers. The investment will also support future M&A activity.

Palladium Equity Exits EverDriven to CharlesBank Capital. CharlesBank Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, has acquired alternative student transportation platform EverDriven, according to a recent press release. CharlesBank Capital is acquiring the company from its previous owner Palladium Equity Partners. While in Palladium’s portfolio, the company expanded its talent management team and board of directors.

Fundraising

Manulife Investment Management Closes Private Credit Fund. Manulife Investment Management, the wealth and asset management arm of Manulife Financial Corporation, announced the close of a new private credit fund with $752 million in capital commitments. Manulife Capital Partners VII will invest junior credit capital in middle-market companies in the U.S. The firm’s global private equity and credit platform currently has more than $25 billion in assts under management, the announcement noted.

Insights

Cullen and Dykman forms private equity, venture capital practice. A law firm on Long Island, New York has formed a private equity and venture capital practice, according to a recent press release. Cullen and Dykman has established a new team to serve PE and VC clients, supporting both sponsors and their portfolio companies in areas including M&A, corporate finance, tax, labor, business reorganization and more.

Biden Administration Examines PE’s Investments in Healthcare. This week, the Biden administration announced several new initiatives, including a new investigation into private equity’s investments in the healthcare sector and whether PE-driven M&A activity is raising costs for patients. The Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services will be collaborating on a probed into the “impact of corporate greed in healthcare,” with a focus on private equity transactions in the sector. Reuters reports said the group will examine how private equity deals “may increase consolidation and generate profits for firms while threatening patients’ health, workers’ safety, quality of care and affordable healthcare for patients and taxpayers.”

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