Good morning, Hubsters. Obey Martin Manayiti here with the Wire, filling in for MK Flynn.
Today we are looking at Brookfield Renewable’s agreement to acquire the unregulated utility scale commercial renewables business of Duke Energy.
We will also have a look at Goldman Sachs’ investment in TV advertising software platform Madhive.
I also have a pair of health-related stories, first from my interview with Signet Health Partners about a recent exit and then another story from Rafael Canton about Trinity Hunt Partners’ investment in clinical research company Centricity Research.
But let’s start with the latest news.
Power up
Brookfield Renewables agreed to buy the unregulated utility scale Commercial Renewables business of Duke Energy at an enterprise value of approximately $2.8 billion late yesterday, including non-controlling tax equity interests and the assumption of debt.
Brookfield said this deal will enhance its position as one of the biggest players in the renewables space.
“With this acquisition, we are adding a scale operating renewable platform located in highly attractive markets that we expect will immediately contribute meaningful cash flows with significant upside from potential asset repowering and synergies,” said Connor Teskey, CEO of Brookfield Renewable.
“We are also adding to our pipeline of renewable development projects, solidifying our position as one of the largest renewable energy businesses in the US with almost 90,000 megawatts of operating and development assets,” he added.
Duke Energy’s expected net proceeds from this transaction are approximately $1.1 billion, subject to certain customary adjustments, according to the company.
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy is one of the biggest utility power providers in the US. The company said it will utilize the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet and avoid additional holding company debt issues. This will allow the company to focus on the growth of its regulated businesses, including investments to enhance grid reliability and helping incorporate over 30,000 megawatts of regulated renewable energy into its system by 2035, it said in a statement.
TV advertising
Goldman Sachs has made a $300 million investment in New York-based Madhive, a TV advertising software platform. The investment will enable Madhive to accelerate the growth and adoption of its CTV platform, according to a statement.
Madhive was founded in 2016.
“We believe Madhive’s purpose-built, end-to-end CTV platform which enables hyper-local precision targeting at national scale is truly differentiated within the ad-tech ecosystem,” said Joon Park, a managing director in the private equity business within Goldman Sachs, in the statement.
“We see tremendous growth ahead in the company’s existing and adjacent markets and look forward to supporting Madhive to further accelerate the company’s journey,” he added.
Generic drugs
Signet Healthcare Partners, a New York-based PE firm, exited its stake in drugmaker RK Pharma to realize a return of almost three times its investment, founding partner and managing director James Gale said.
In an interview after the exit, Gale said the demand for generic drugs helped the company to grow, while also heaping praise on the management team led by founder and executive chairman of RK Pharma, Ravishanker Kovi.
RK Pharma is now under the control of Hong-Kong based firm PAG, which has invested $200 million.
“As a vertically integrated pharmaceutical company, RK Pharma manufactured active pharmaceutical ingredients, had an effective research arm for developing both chemicals and drugs and handled the drug manufacturing process,” Gale said. “Additionally, the company had a commercial arm dedicated to selling the drugs.”
Clinical Research
The clinical research industry is highly fragmented and is in an early phase of consolidation, John Oakes, principal at Trinity Hunt Partners, told PE Hub’s Rafael Canton.
That’s one reason why Trinity Hunt Partners recently made a majority investment in Centricity Research, a Columbus, Georgia and Toronto-based clinical research services provider. The deal makes Trinity Hunt a majority stakeholder in the company.
The firm plans to acquire similar businesses for Centricity Research as add-ons.
Demand has grown partially because the clinical research industry is a fairly recession-resistant space, which makes it an attractive category to invest in. Another factor was covid, which placed a spotlight on the clinical trial industry.
Oakes said several trials that were focused on other therapeutic areas paused while researched worked urgently to develop a vaccine or effective treatment for covid.
That’s it for me today.
Chris Witkowsky, Buyouts editor, will be back with the Wire tomorrow.
Cheers,
Obey
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