PE HUB Wire Highlights, 8.5.19

KKR to buy majority of heidelpay; Linden Capital scoops up Collagen Matrix; Sponsors cash in on tech overhaul of legacy industries

Normally, I try to keep politics out of the morning missive but sometimes things are so heinous that I have to say something.

My father loved Walmart. Even after my protests that the company doesn’t pay its workers well, leads to a decline in neighboring small businesses, my Pops would say to me: “I’m shopping.” I’d drop him off at Walmart where he would meet his brother. There, these two little old men would have a coffee together at the Subway inside the retailer. I imagine they talked about their lives, their families and their decision to come to the U.S. My father would return home happy and loaded with a month’s supply of toilet paper, cheerios and sandwiches for the family.

My father’s gone now but he wouldn’t have survived the El Paso massacre. Hubsters, you know where I stand on gun control. My heart and thoughts are with the victims of all the shootings.

Now, back to the news. We have a big payments deal this morning. KKR is buying a majority of heidelpay, a European payments provider. The deal is valued at north of 600 million euros ($670.5 million), according to media reports. KKR beat out bids from Nordic Capital and EQT, the Financial Times is reporting.

KKR has long been a player in the payments sector. The buyout shop bought First Data back in 2007. This year, KKR clinched a $39 billion sale of First Data to Fiserv.

Separately, Wind Point Partners has sold Evans Food Group to Highlander Partners. Evans, of Chicago, produces and sells pork rinds. Check out our brief here.

Chris has a column on the appropriate commitment a new GP should make to his or her own fund or the level of risk the GP is taking on. Read Chris’s column here.

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