Mubadala and management to acquire Softbank’s Fortress; Amulet acquires clinical site platform

Good morning Hubsters, Craig McGlashan here with the opening Wire of the week.

There’s some big news in the investment sector, with Softbank-owned Fortress Investment Group set to be taken over by its management and Mubadala Capital.

We also touch on the healthcare sector, with Amulet Capital Partners acquiring a clinical site platform, and in the food sector with an add-on by a Swander Pace Capital portfolio company.

Finishing up, we have a hire by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

Investment
We’ve seen a string of financial services deals lately, including TPG’s $2.7 billion move for Angelo Gordon and TIAA selling its banking unit to a private equity investor group.

Well, add another one to the list, because this morning Fortress Investment Group and Mubadala Investment Company announced that they had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Fortress held by SoftBank.

When the deal closes, Fortress management is expected to own a 30 percent equity stake in the company while Mubadala Capital, the wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, will own a 70 percent stake.

“Fortress is a world-leading investment manager with a proven track record of delivering superior risk-adjusted returns to its investors throughout business cycles,” said Hani Barhoush, CEO and managing director of Mubadala Capital, in a statement. “Over the last 20 years, they have built an incredible franchise and established themselves as a premier credit and asset investor while simultaneously growing investment strategies across a wide range of asset classes.”

Founded in 1998, Fortress managed $45.8 billion of assets as of December 31, 2022. Its strategies are credit, private equity and permanent capital vehicles.

SoftBank has owned Fortress since 2017, when it took the company off the New York Stock Exchange for $3.3 billion in cash.

Financial terms on the new deal were not disclosed, but the Financial Times had earlier reported that the then-potential deal would be for up to $3 billion. We’ve asked for comment on the deal size.

Clinical
Amulet Capital Partners has acquired Dallas-based Alliance Clinical Network, a clinical site platform.

ACN will continue to be led by founder and CEO Anthony Abey, who will retain a significant ownership stake in the business. ACN was founded in 2014.

“For prominent sponsors, ACN’s scalable, technology-driven approach has established the platform as a partner of choice with exceptional on-site expertise and a patient-centric focus that consistently drives successful outcomes,” said Nick Amigone, a partner at Amulet, in a statement.

Pickle in
Patriot Pickle, which is backed by Swander Pace Capital, has acquired Garland, Texas-based First Place Foods, a producer of pickles.

Wayne, New Jersey-based Patriot Pickle manufactures and distributes pickles across the U.S. to restaurant chains, supermarkets and delis.

“The broader pickled and fermented foods category has enjoyed strong topline growth as consumers continue to gravitate towards healthier snacks, and Patriot Pickle is well positioned to take advantage of this consumer tailwind,” said Corby Reese and Tyler Matlock, managing directors at SPC, in a statement. “First Place Foods is the second acquisition for Patriot Pickle, and we believe there are additional opportunities to continue building out this exciting growth platform.”

With offices in California, New Jersey, and Ontario (Canada), SPC has raised cumulative equity commitments of approximately $2.2 billion since 1996. SPC invests in the consumer sector.

Hire
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe has named Andrew Hausman as an operating partner in its technology group.

In his most recent role, Hausman was the president of the finance and risk division at Dun & Bradstreet, which he helped take public. He had previously served as the president of pricing and reference data at Interactive Data Corporation. Prior to IDC, he held various senior leadership roles at Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg.

That’s all from me – MK Flynn will be back with you tomorrow after her well-deserved vacation.

Cheers,

Craig