Tech tops fundraising, dealmaking

Happy Friday and Happy New Year!

Hope you enjoyed the break. Good to be back and gearing up for the new year. What are you looking at as we ease into 2020?

When it came to fundraising in 2019, tech was one of the hottest sectors around.

Tech is a strategy that cuts across sectors and all fund sizes, so it can be hard to pin down exactly what is a tech focus, compared to a generalist focus that incorporates technology. While the biggest funds in the market usually include a tech focus, we saw a lot of compelling emerging tech pools hit the market.

Out of the top 10 fundraisers in 2019, several of the firms were exclusively tech-focused, writes Kirk Falconer on Buyouts. This included Vista Equity Partners seventh fund that closed on $16 billion, and Thoma Bravo’s 13th fund that wrapped up on $12.6 billion.

A few established managers launched separate exclusively tech-focused funds, including Bain Capital and Advent International. Bain’s tech fund is targeting $1 billion, while Advent’s tech pool is eyeing up to $1 billion, Buyouts previously reported.

Another fund to pay attention to this year is Blackstone’s inaugural growth pool, targeting up to $4 billion. The growth fund is led by ex-GA executive Jon Korngold and will invest in sectors like consumer technology, enterprise tech and consumer, financial services and healthcare.

Some of the newer shops targeting tech included Crest Rock Partners, formed by two ex-Marlin Equity Partners principals, targeting $400 million; and OceanSound Partners, established by former TCV and Veritas Capital executives, which is seeking $750 million for its debut.

Check out Kirk’s story here.

Tech also came through as a major focus of dealmakers in 2019, writes Milana Vinn on PE Hub. In sponsor-to-sponsor activity, firms spent $591.3 million across 2,601 tech deals in 2019, according to M&A data from Pitchbook. Vista and Insight Partners had 26 sponsor-to-sponsor deals each, with TA Associates, Thoma Bravo and Providence Equity working on 22 transactions each, Pitchbook found. Check out Milana’s story here.

Top Scoops

The sales process for Premier Inc, a group purchasing organization, is on hold as the company goes through a process of determining which health system shareholders will remain investors and which will exit in a potential deal, writes Sarah Pringle over at PE Hub. Check it out.

State of Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds is going big on secondaries, writes Teddy Grant. The system committed up to $150 million to two HarbourVest Partners funds focused on secondary investments. Read it here.

That’s it! Have a great weekend! Hit me up as always with tips n’ gossip, feedback or just to chat at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com, on Twitter or find me on LinkedIn.