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.
Argonne Capital Group said May 21 that a continuation fund closed on $530 million. LPs of the fund include GCM Grosvenor, Hamilton Lane and Strategic Partners. Argonne Capital Partners I LP has invested the $530 million in six Argonne portfolio companies: Sunshine Restaurant Partners, the sole master licensee for IHOP in the U.S.; ACG Texas and Peak Restaurant Partners, two IHOP franchisees; On The Border; Krystal; and, National Fitness Partners. The fund acquired all of the equity of the IHOP assets from Argonne and bought partial investments in On The Border, Krystal and National Fitness Partners.
3 min read · 22 May 2018
L Catterton Asia, the Asian unit of L Catterton, has invested in Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd. Financial terms weren’t announced. L Catterton Asia is buying about 10 percent of Future Lifestyle through a mix of preferential allotment and secondary purchase of shares. Future Lifestyle, of Mumbai, is a fashion company with brands including Lee Cooper, Indigo Nation and Jealous 21. Lazard India advised Future Lifestyle.
5 min read · 22 May 2018
FTV Capital has invested $35 million in Tango Card. Chris Winship and Robert Anderson are joining Tango Card’s board. Tango Card, of Seattle, provides digital incentives and rewards.
4 min read · 22 May 2018
Main Capital has acquired a stake in SDB Ayton. Financial terms weren’t announced. SDB Ayton, of The Hague, is a healthcare HR specialist.
4 min read · 22 May 2018
TransUnion said May 18 that it agreed to buy iovation. Financial terms weren’t announced. Iovation, which provides consumer-authentication and fraud-detection software, has raised about $17 million in venture funding. Investors include Sapphire Ventures. In a separate announcement, TransUnion said it also agreed to acquire Healthcare Payment Specialists, a provider of Medicare reimbursement. Terms were not disclosed. Nautic Partners is the seller. Morrison & Foerster advised iovation.
4 min read · 22 May 2018
BMC Software is up for sale and is working with Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to find a buyer, Bloomberg confirmed. The BMC process has drawn interest from Thoma Bravo and KKR, the story. Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital acquired BMC in 2013 for $6.9 billion.
1 min read · 21 May 2018
Ant Financial’s $10 billion fundraise is oversubscribed and has attracted investors including Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, Silver Lake Partners, Sequoia Capital China and Warburg Pincus, sovereign wealth fund Temasek, and institutional funds including Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and BlackRock, the Financial Times reported. The fundraise values Ant Financial at $150 billion, the story said. Investors in Ant’s $10 billion fundraising will receive convertible instruments rather than equity, the story said. The instruments will convert into shares when the company lists, the FT said.
1 min read · 21 May 2018
Blackstone Group is exiting Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc after 11 years. BX agreed to sell 15.8 million shares of Hilton common stock in privately negotiated transactions. The sale was valued at about $1.3 billion, Bloomberg said. With the sale, Blackstone is exiting Hilton after 11 years and will realize $14 billion in profit, more than tripling its initial investment, the story said.
1 min read · 21 May 2018
Apax Partners has agreed to sell its stake in GlobalLogic Inc to Partners Group. Financial terms weren’t announced. The deal values GlobalLogic at $2 billion. In 2017, Apax sold 48 percent of its stake in GlobalLogic to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Partners and CPPIB now have an equal stake in GlobalLogic, of San Jose, a provider of digital product engineering services.
5 min read · 21 May 2018
3 min read · 17 May 2018
