PE Weekly: New Private Equity Firm Launches for Tech-Enabled Services

The services space is red-hot this week as investors focus their investments across a wide variety of sectors. Recent deals span service providers across technology, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications advisory and more. Plus, a new private equity firm emerges. Read up on the latest deals below.

Platform Investments and Acquisitions

Ardian Acquires Ohio State Parking Management Company. Private investment firm Ardian announced this week that it has acquired CampusParc, which manages the parking facilities at The Ohio State University’s flagship campus. Ardian acquired the business from QIC. CampusParc is the first and largest university parking concession in the U.S., according to a press release.

Atlantic Street Tops up its Investment in Zips Car Wash. Atlantic Street Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm, said this week it provided an additional $70 million investment in Zips Car Wash to support its operating strategy, member experience, leadership team and wash quality. Atlantic Street first invested in the business in 2020 and increased its stake in the company in 2022.

Ardian Takes Stake in Wealth Management Firm Groupe Orion. Ardian also announced this week it is acquiring a stake in France-based wealth management firm Groupe Orion, according to a press release. Siparex ETI, which has been a stakeholder in the firm since 2022, is divesting its ownership; two founders and the management team of Groupe Orion are joining Ardian in acquiring the stake.

ArchStar Capital Acquires Tess Oral Health. ArchStar Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm, announced its acquisition of Tess Oral Health, a manufacturer of custom toothbrushes and other oral hygiene products. The investment will support Tess’s sales, marketing and operational capabilities, according to a press release.

Add-Ons

Blackford Capital’s PACIV Acquires Eight12 Automation. PACIV Industrial Automation, the industrial automation platform backed by lower middle-market private equity firm Blackford Capital, has made its second add-on acquisition. PACIV acquired Eight12 Automation, an automation and controls engineer business, a press release revealed.

LLCP’s Blue Ridge Acquires Tax Sheltered Corporation. Blue Ridge Associates, a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital partners, announced this week its acquisition of Tax Sheltered Corporation. A press release said the acquisition of TSC, which provides administration solutions for retirement plan benefits, expands Blue Ridge’s position as an ESOP and retirement savings plan administration and recordkeeping company.

Stone-Goff’s JSI Acquires Telco Compliance Firm. JSI, a full-service compliance firm servicing the communications service provider market, and a portfolio company of lower middle-market private equity firm Stone-Goff Partners, has announced its acquisition of Inteserra. A press release said the investment in the business, which is a telecommunications compliance and advisory firm, broadens JSI’s support for telco clients in the U.S.

FalconPoint’s JENNMAR Acquires G&R Gas Services. Infrastructure product provider JENNMAR, a portfolio company of FalconPoint Partners, announced it has acquired G&R Gas Services in a recent press release. G&R provides well tending and other services to the oil and gas industry in Virginia, expanding JENNMAR’s geographic footprint and oil and gas service capabilities.

Exits

Caymus Equity Exits TriplePoint MEP. Caymus Equity Partners, a lower middle-market private equity firm, announced the sale of its portfolio company TriplePoint MEP, a provider of HVACR installations, repair, design and other services to commercial clients. The business was acquired by Stellex Capital Management, a middle-market private equity firm. Caymus Equity first acquired TriplePoint MEP in March 2018.

Palladium Equity to Exit Trachte to nVent. Palladium Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, has reportedly reached an agreement to sell its majority stake in Trachte, a provider of highly engineered protection and control buildings. Palladium Equity will sell the company to nVent Electric, a publicly-listed electrical services business, in a transaction worth $695 million, a press release said.

BGL Sells Fiberglass Manufacturer to Liberty Lane. Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) announced this week the sale of Superior Huntingdon Composites, a manufacturer of fiberglass reinforcements. Private equity firm Liberty Lane Partners acquired the company. Superior Huntingdon was formerly a portfolio company of Stonewood Capital Management, a press release noted.

Fundraising

InTandem Capital Raises $715 Million for Fund III. InTandem Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, announced the close of its Fund III with $715 million in capital commitments. The fundraise exceeded its initial target of $650 million. The fund will continue InTandem’s exiting investment strategy of making control investments in the pharmaceutical services space.

Insights

Investors Increase Appetite for Alternative Assets: Coller Capital Study. A new survey released by Coller Capital an investor in the secondary private capital market, has found continued growth in investor appetite for alternative assets. The findings of the Global Private Capital Barometer, sent to Middle Market Growth, reveal nearly one-third of investors surveyed expect to increase their target allocation to alternative assets in the coming year. More than half expect those allocations to remain the same. Forty-five percent said they expect to increase their target allocation to private credit, while appetite for private equity and secondaries also remains strong.

Niobrara Capital Partners Launches as New Private Equity Firm. A new private equity firm, Niobrara Capital Partners, has made its debut, according to a press release. The firm will focus on investments in technology and tech-enabled services in the middle market. Based in New Yorik, Niobrara has made its first acquisition, a $175 million control equity investment in Polar Semiconductor.

Middle Market Growth is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.