Align Capital makes growth investment in We Are Rosie, 17Capital in talks to be acquired

Morning!

Is your week winding down yet? Based on the number of palm tree icons showing up on my Slack feed, it looks like a lot of folks are bailing out early for the break. I don’t blame them …

But here at the Wire, we keep it going to the end (the end being Friday morning). And then it’s time to pack up the car and take our annual family tour of the tri-state area. Just a reminder, Friday is our last Wire until Jan. 4.

Till then, here’s some stuff:
I can’t keep up with all the GP-led deals closing as the year ends. We’ve had CD&R and Belron, Platinum Equity and United Site Services. Today we have news that Thompson Street Capital closed its first-ever GP-led deal on two assets, Revenue Management Solutions, from Thompson’s Fund IV, and BCM One Holdings, from the firm’s fifth fund.

The two assets were moved out of the older funds and into a continuation pool that gives Thompson Street more time and capital to grow the businesses. AlpInvest Partners led the concentrated asset deal, valued at about $1.2 billion, Thompson Street said in a statement. Evercore worked as secondary adviser on the process. Read more here on PE Hub.

As Secondaries Investor’s Michael Baruch points out, the market has seen several first-time GP-led deals this year, including from firms like Jordan Co., Kohlberg & Co., Arclight Capital Partners and General Atlantic.
Another one that came across the desk this week was LaSalle Capital, which completed a deal to move two assets, Fresh Origins and Westminster Foods, out of older funds and into a continuation pool.

PineBridge Investments and Kline Hill Partners co-led the deal. “This new capital will allow us to invest in facility expansions, increased automation and marketing and new product development initiatives at both companies, which will lead to enhanced shareholder value,” said David Murav, partner at LaSalle, in a statement. Read more here on PE Hub.

In a lot of the deals that have closed, it’s not clear what kind of options existing LPs have in terms of either cashing out or rolling or reinvesting into the continuation fund. We talked about the differences between rolling and reinvesting yesterday, and there’s a growing feeling among LPs that the loss of an option to keep their original terms in the older fund is frustrating.

“I don’t think you’re going to see the same status quo, the same momentum behind offering a status quo option as you had [before],” a secondaries adviser told me recently. “Because … now you’re not talking about a solution to a problem anymore.”

What do you think? Hit me up at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com with your thoughts.

M&A: Secondaries also have seen consolidation this year, with at least nine firms involved in this niche market either pitched or in talks to be acquired.

Here’s another one — 17Capital, which provides preferred equity, has been in talks to be acquired, Adam Le and I reported yesterday. Bids were submitted and one interested buyer was described by sources as a large asset manager. A spokesperson for 17Capital declined to comment.
If 17Capital is acquired, it would be the seventh acquisition in the secondary market this year, following Franklin Templeton’s agreement to buy Lexington Partners. Read more here on Buyouts.

That’s it for me! Have a great rest of your day. Hit me up at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com or over on LinkedIn.

HOUSEKEEPING: A reminder: we’re looking for your recommendations for rock star women in private equity, mostly on the deal side (which has been historically male-dominated). Deadline to get in your recs is January 17, for publication in March. Our annual Women in Private Equity project comprises 10 mini-profiles of highly regarded women in the industry and a feature story about some burning topic around the status of women in the industry. Check out our past coverage of Women in PE here.
Reach me with questions and recs here at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com.