TPG to enter new sectors with Angelo Gordon acquisition; Sixth Street kicks-off soccer series

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

TPG grabbed the headlines this morning, as it agreed to acquire alternative investment manager Angelo Gordon. The firm has also reopened its interest in an Australian funeral services provider.

Elsewhere, we have plenty of sports news as a Sixth Street portfolio company launches a soccer series and we also take a look at the new Form PF rules.

In credit
Private equity firm TPG is making a push into new sectors, after agreeing to acquire Angelo Gordon, an alternative investment firm focused on credit and real estate investing, for about $2.7 billion.

New York-headquartered Angelo Gordon will become an investing platform within TPG after the deal closes, which is expected in the fourth quarter.

Angelo Gordon’s co-CEOs Josh Baumgarten and Adam Schwartz will become co-managing partners of the platform, reporting to TPG CEO Jon Winkelried.

TPG and Angelo Gordon had $208 billion in combined assets under management as of December 31.

“Both firms have grown organically over the past three decades, from private founder-led businesses into seasoned firms with next-generation executive leadership poised to accelerate further growth as part of a diversified platform,” added Jim Coulter, TPG’s co-founder and executive chairman, in a statement.

It’s been a busy day for TPG, as it also made a fresh bid for publicly listed Australian funeral services provider InvoCare, just weeks after the potential deal looked unlikely to go ahead.

The A$13 per share indicative offer gives an equity value of around A$1.9 billion ($1.3 billion) and enterprise value of A$2.2 billion. That’s a premium of 45.3 percent to the closing share price before its initial interest was announced on March 7. That original A$12.65 per share offer was withdrawn on April 24.

We’ve seen a wave of take-private attempts over on PE Hub Europe in the last couple of months. Check out the latest on a tussle between Silver Lake and Bain Capital for a German software firm and a roundup of all the deals.

Bankruptcy
Envision Healthcare, which KKR took private at a valuation of nearly $10 billion including debt back in 2018, filed for bankruptcy today.

The company cited several pressures it had suffered since the acquisition, including a drop in patient volumes at the outset of the covid pandemic and health insurers excluding Envision clinicians from their networks.

Envision provides physician care in areas such as emergency departments, surgical suites and intensive care units.

Sports news
Private equity interest in sports just seems to keep growing, and one of the busiest in that area – Sixth Street – has made its latest announcement in the sector.

Soccer Champions Tour, a series of games featuring the world’s most iconic soccer clubs, has formed. Soccer Champions Tour is being backed by a new Sixth Street portfolio company.

The games will be played this summer in major markets across the U.S. Spain’s Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Italy’s Juventus and AC Milan, and England’s Arsenal and Manchester United will compete in eight matches between Saturday, July 22, and Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

Sixth Street’s announcement came as former baseball player Alex Rodriguez was reported by the New York Post to be planning a buyout fund to invest in professional sports teams in the US and abroad.

As well as looking at minority stakes in franchises in US leagues such as the MLB, NFL and NHL, the fund could look at overseas leagues in sports such as soccer and cricket, according to sources cited by the Post.

European soccer has certainly been attracting a lot of interest from US investors over the last few years. Check out this round-up over on PE Hub Europe for more.

Form PF
Rounding out the day with a bit of regulation news, and our colleague Bill Myers over at Regulatory Compliance Watch has everything you need to know on the SEC’s new Form PF rules.

The rules are more modest than were first put forward, Bill writes, but some private fund advocates still see a move from requiring funds disclose risks to making sure they prevent risk.

For more on the new rules, check out RCW’s practice tips article and a deep dive into the regulations.

That’s it from me – I’ll be back with you again tomorrow.

Cheers,

Craig