Blackstone merges units; EnCap-backed Triple Oak Power draws PE interest, sources say

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday!

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the Wire.

We’ve got an exclusive look at EnCap-backed Triple Oak Power’s sale process, based on conversations with several industry sources.

And we’re capping off the week with a look at four recent supply chain deals that show continuing momentum in the sector.

But first let’s take a quick look at recent deals from Blackstone and Quad-C.

Sights set on $1 trillion
Blackstone is merging its corporate credit, asset-based finance and insurance groups into a single new unit, Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BCXI).

Gilles Dellaert, global head of Blackstone Insurance, will serve as global head of BXCI. Dwight Scott, global head of Blackstone Credit, will serve as chairman.

“We see the opportunity for BXCI, along with Real Estate Credit, to reach $1 trillion in the next ten years,” said Steve Schwarzman, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Blackstone.

Infrastructure rehabilitation
This morning, Charlottesville, Virginia-headquartered Quad-C Management closed on an investment in the Vortex Companies, a global provider of trenchless infrastructure rehabilitation products and services.

Vortex is split into two divisions. Vortex Services operates in 12 strategic locations throughout the US and Europe, and Vortex Products maintains two US facilities.

Its Sandy, Utah facility formulates, manufactures, and distributes geopolymers, hybrid mortars, polymerics, and resins; while the other, located in Greenville, South Carolina fabricates, trains, and sells sewer robotics, monitoring technology, and installation equipment, the company said.

“We believe Vortex will be a great fit for Quad-C, as we are very focused on the specialty products and services sectors and we have a long history of successfully partnering with privately held, entrepreneurial minded businesses,” said Tom Hickey, a Quad-C Partner.

Power up
The sale process for renewable energy development company Triple Oak Power is attracting both financial sponsors and strategic companies seeking to establish a presence in the burgeoning US onshore wind power market, four sources familiar with the matter told PE Hub senior reporter Michael Schoeck.

Marathon Capital is advising the sale process for the company, which is backed by EnCap Investments, Yorktown Partners and global energy and commodity trading company Mercuria Energy. Currently in the second round, a sale of the Portland, Oregon-based company is expected to wrap up in October, Michael reports.

With a 7.5GW development pipeline and small operating portfolio, the target company is likely to see between $500 million and $750 million in sale proceeds, based on its nimble corporate structure and capital light business model, two of the sources said.

The nascent company formed in 2020, with less than 30 employees, making it an easy add-on acquisition for either a sponsor or new market entrant strategic, while management would stay involved following a deal, the source added.

“There’s a huge shortage of quality wind development companies, and new operating assets outside of the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) market right now,” said the source, pointing out the company’s western and Midwest market presence, and its management team’s prior experience at Iberdrola’s US utility Avangrid, as selling points for Triple Oak.

EnCap and Marathon declined to comment. Triple Oak, Yorktown and Mercuria did not respond to requests for comment.

Supply chain
Since the beginning of the pandemic, private equity-backed investments in the supply chain sector have been on the rise, driven by pent-up demand from manufacturers, retailers and other businesses looking for better ways to move their goods domestically or across borders.

Although the pandemic pressure on the supply chain has receded, PE firms are still very much interested in this space.

Harris Williams noted in a recent report that expanding cross-border trade activity, growing demand for supply chain technology, ballooning ecommerce volumes and ongoing diversification from single-source suppliers are among factors contributing to the resilience of this sector.

Last year, PE Hub identified multiple supply chain private-equity backed deals that were prompted by onshoring trends. Earlier this year, PE Hub rounded up six PE backed deals.

And today, I covered four more deals.

Here is one example:
Trident, a New York-based firm, last month invested in Priority Courier Experts, a St. Paul, Minneapolis-based same-day local B2B delivery provider.

Founded in 1996, Priority serves customers in several industries in the Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area, including building products, third-party logistics, healthcare, electrical equipment, food and beverage, and automotive.

Trident is partnering with Bluejay Capital, a Key Biscayne, Florida-based firm that invests in transportation and logistics businesses on the deal.

Read the full roundup for more.

Reach out to me at obey.m@pei.group.

That’s it for this week.

MK Flynn will be back with the newsletter on Monday.

Have a nice weekend,

Obey