Babson Capital announced that it provided $22.2 million of mezzanine debt financing and made an equity co-investment of $2.2 million to support Kohlberg & Co.‘s acquisition of SouthernCare Inc. SouthernCare is based in Dallas and is a provider of hospice care. The company was formed in 1994.

Former Kohlberg & Co. Co-Managing Partner Chris Lacovara is transitioning out of the firm as it seeks to raise $1.5 billion for its next fund, sister publication Buyouts reported. The mid-market buyout fund, started by Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts & Co. co-founder Jerome Kohlberg in 1987, has so far raised $520 million for Kohlberg Investors [...]

Harris Williams, an investment bank focused on middle-market transactions, announced today that it advised Niagara LaSalle Corp. on its pending sale to Optima Specialty Steel. Niagara, which makes cold finished steel bars, is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. Optima Specialty Steel is a subsidiary of Optima Acquisitions, a U.S.-based investment [...]

PE-backed Phillips Plastics will acquire Medisize Corp. from Ratos AB and other shareholders. Medisize is a European outsourcer of manufacturing and design services for healthcare companies. White & Case Oy served as local counsel in Finland. Ropes & Gray represented Phillips Plastics Corporation and its parent company, private equity firm Kohlberg & Company. Specifics of the transaction were not publicized.

Kohlberg & Co. portfolio company Chronos Life Group completed the acquisition of a majority ownership stake in Life Equity LLC, an Ohio-based life settlement provider and asset servicer. Ranks will be shuffled as part of the deal; Kyle Kibler, who was COO of Life Equity, will succeed company co-founder Brian Smith as CEO.

After three years, Bauer Performance Sports, the hockey equipment maker, plans to part ways with Kohlberg & Co.

Bauer, which makes skates and boots used by many NHL players, plans to go public in Canada. Bauer didn’t disclose how many shares it planned to sell on the Toronto Stock Exchange or how much it would raise via the IPO. That information will come in future filings. However, The Globe and Mail says the IPO is expected to raise $75 million and Kohlberg is looking to sell a 20% stake.

Kohlberg & Co. has acquired Maverik Lacrosse, a Long Island City-based maker of lacrosse equipment, apparel and accessories. No financial terms were disclosed. The company will be merged into the Kohlberg Sports Group platform, which also recently acquired hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer Hockey.

(Reuters) – A unit of private equity firm Kohlberg & Co said on Thursday it acquired a maker of lacrosse equipment for an undisclosed amount, adding to holdings that include ice hockey equipment maker Bauer Hockey. Kohlberg Sports Group Inc said Maverik Lacrosse and Bauer Hockey will operate independently while sharing information in such areas [...]

Kohlberg & Co. has sold U.S. Infrastructure Corp., a provider of outsourced sub-surface utility locating services in the U.S., to OMERS Private Equity. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was managed by Harris Williams & Co.

Sponsor-to-sponsor deals aren’t always popular, but they’re certainly in vogue right now.

The first quarter of this year saw a surge in sponsor-to-sponsor, or secondary buyouts, in which one private equity firm sells a portfolio company to another private equity firm (or group of firms). Data provider Preqin reports 24 such transactions last quarter worth $7 billion in deal value, compared to just $5.1 billion for 43 deals in all of 2009. And this doesn’t even include a rash of transactions announced today (see below).

What’s driving the activity? First, private equity pros are desperate to do deals. Despite everyone’s peacocking that ’08 and ’09 were “the best investing opportunities of our lives,” most buyout pros were all talk. The deal volume speaks for itself-PE pros were largely on the sidelines during