PE HUB Wire Highlights, 2.7.19

KKR invests in OneStream; Accel-KKR considers liquidity options for 2008 fund; Great Hill makes 6x on ZoomInfo sale

Howdy, Hubsters. This morning we woke up to one of the biggest bank deals since the financial crisis. Remember bank deals? Yeah, those were trendy back in the day. This time, its BB&T buying SunTrust Banks in a merger valued at $66 billion. Read the Reuters story here.

Everything seems to be back to normal now that the government is working again. But a second shutdown, apparently set for Feb. 15, still looms. For IPOs, this is a huge worry, according to Keith Townsend, a partner with King & Spalding.

The shutdown in January put a damper on the IPO market, with only one company — we’re not counting SPACS — actually going public. That’s down from the usual 15 to 20 IPOs that typically get done during the January window, Townsend said.Wealthbridge Acquisition, a SPAC, priced this week, while two biotechs are expected to price this week, Renaissance Capital said.

This means companies looking to go public, but couldn’t, may get pushed to the next IPO window, which is usually late February and March, he said. But a second shutdown could mess all that up and lead to a dearth of Q1 IPOs, Townsend said.

While biotech companies and SPACs will be able to go public, a second shutdown could put a chill on IPOs. Townsend doesn’t think a second shutdown would kill the IPO market but “it could take the tailwinds out,” he said.

Also, some big Unicorn deals might just not happen, he said.

The real issue, hubsters? Another shutdown may cause companies to ignore IPOs and just seek out mergers. “You don’t need the IPO markets open to sell yourself,” Townsend said.

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