I've been a business reporter for a while. I've covered Wall Street, venture capital and now private equity. I'm always looking for a scoop or something to talk about. I'm the eternal optimist and am still waiting for the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. Yes, I believe.
MineralTree said March 27 that it closed a $50 million growth equity investment led by Great Hill Partners. Existing investors .406 Ventures and Eight Roads Ventures participated. MineralTree is an accounts payable and payment automation solution provider.
3 min read · 27 March 2019
Asterion Industrial Partners said its Asterion Industrial Infra Fund I raised 519 million euros ($585 million) in a first close. Asterion also generated 120 million euros ($135.37 million) of co-investment for investors alongside the fund. The target of Asterion Industrial Infra Fund I is 850 million euros ($958.9 million). Asterion said Guido Mitrani, formerly a director in the KKR infrastructure team, is joining Asterion as a partner.
5 min read · 27 March 2019
GED Capital, a Spanish lower middle market firm, said March 27 that its latest fund has clinched a 100 million euro ($112.8 million) first close. The target for GED VI España is 175 million euros ($197.4 million).
3 min read · 27 March 2019
Nautic Partners LLC said March 27 that its latest flagship closed on its $1.5 billion hard cap. Nautic focuses on investments in the healthcare, industrial products, and outsourced services sectors. Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised Nautic in connection with the formation of Nautic IX.
2 min read · 27 March 2019
To start your morning, Chicago prosecutors have dropped all charges against actor Jussie Smollett, the NFL is allowing challenges on pass interference plays and U.S. health insurer Centene Corp is buying smaller rival WellCare Health Plans Inc for $15.27 billion.
1 min read · 27 March 2019
Kainos Capital said March 26 that it filed an answer and counterclaims in Delaware Chancery Court against Sarah Bradley, a partner and co-founder who sued the Dallas private equity firm in January. Kainos, in its counterclaims, alleges breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty against Bradley. The buyout shop said emails and other evidence show Bradley “understood and agreed to changes in her ownership interest and the firm’s governance.” Kainos claimed that from October 2018 to January 2019, while the PE firm was working to launch its third fund, Bradley deleted thousands of relevant e-mails from Kainos’s servers in an attempt to destroy evidence, a court filings. “Ms. Bradley’s case is a baseless attempt to extort a financial settlement,” Kainos said in a statement. “Ms. Bradley’s actions are not those of a partner or a fiduciary and should not be rewarded.” Bradley, who is still listed on the Kainos site as a partner, claimed in a Jan. 25 lawsuit that Kainos cofounders perpetrated a fraudulent scheme to steal her 25 percent stake in the firm’s investment manager, Kainos Capital. See the Kainos counterclaim here
3 min read · 27 March 2019
TPG has agreed to buy Entertainment Partners. Financial terms weren’t announced. Entertainment Partners, of Burbank, California, provides production workforce management and automated production software and services to the entertainment industry. American Discovery Capital provided financial advice to Entertainment Partners, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as M&A counsel.
4 min read · 27 March 2019
Sayata Labs said March 26 that it raised $6.5 million in seed funding led by Elron. Sayata, of Tel Aviv, Israel, provides software for the cyber insurance industry.
4 min read · 26 March 2019
TerViva said March 26 that it raised another $20 million in its first close of its Series D round led by a diversified agricultural family office, Evans Properties, The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, and a group of Florida agricultural family offices. Existing investors Elemental Excelerator, the Yield Lab, Astia Angels, Allotrope Ventures and Howard Fischer of Gratitude Railroad participated in the round. TerViva is an agriculture technology firm that is seeking to commercialize resilient pongamia trees.
4 min read · 26 March 2019
Ascensus said March 26 that it agreed to buy Wrangle. Financial terms weren’t announced. Wrangle, of Junction City, Oregon, provides health & welfare Form 5500 preparation and related ERISA compliance services in the country.
3 min read · 26 March 2019
