S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.
Private equity-backed M&A activity appears to be gaining some real momentum after a nearly two-year lull.
Global private equity and venture capital entries in the third quarter totaled $161 billion, up more than 27% from $126.56 billion during the same period in 2023, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Combine the third-quarter results with the $166.87 billion private equity firms deployed globally in the second quarter, and you have the industry's biggest six months of dealmaking since the first half of 2022.
Falling interest rates lower the cost of leveraged buyouts and are likely to spur more private equity dealmaking in the months to come. Blackstone Inc. President Jonathan Gray said on the firm's third-quarter earnings call Oct. 17 that one early indicator of deal activity — nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) signed with potential acquisition targets — was running 2.5 times higher in September than the same month in 2023.
Gray quickly noted those NDAs do not always translate into deals. But it is a sign the M&A market is regaining its appetite after a long fast.
Read more about private equity and venture capital entries in the third quarter.
CHART OF THE WEEK: Private equity drives TMT dealmaking
⮞ Private equity invested $52 billion in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector in the third quarter, extending the 2024 recovery in TMT deal value, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
⮞ Private equity activity in the TMT sector is surging as strategic buyers remained sidelined by concerns that deals will not survive heightened scrutiny from regulators, Steve Barth, a partner at law firm Foley & Lardner, said in an interview with Market Intelligence.
⮞ Blackstone Inc. backed the second-largest TMT deal announced in the third quarter, the planned $16.1 billion acquisition of Australian datacenter operator AirTrunk Operating Pty Ltd.
TOP DEALS AND FUNDRAISING
– H. Lundbeck A/S agreed to buy biopharmaceutical company Longboard Pharmaceuticals Inc. at an equity valuation of about $2.6 billion in equity. HBM Partners Ltd. is the seller.
– Hillhouse Investment Management Ltd. and Rava Partners launched a tender offer to buy Samty Holdings Co. Ltd. in a deal valuing the Japan-based real estate company at ¥169 billion. The ¥3,300-per-share offer represents a 14.1% premium to Samty's highest publicly traded stock price.
– Life sciences-focused venture capital firm Forbion Capital Partners BV pulled in €1.2 billion for its Forbion Growth Opportunities III fund and €890 million for Forbion Ventures VII.
– Blackfin Capital Partners SAS raised €1.8 billion for BlackFin Financial Services Fund IV at final close. The vehicle will invest in asset-light financial services companies.
– Insight Partners secured about $1.5 billion in total commitments at the close of Insight Partners Continuation Fund III LP, with HarbourVest Partners LLC as the lead investor. The fund was formed to buy stakes in software companies across multiple Insight Partners funds.
– Adams Street Partners LLC garnered more than $1.2 billion in capital commitments at the close of its Adams Street Venture Innovation Fund IV LP program. The program comprises venture fund investments, secondaries and direct investments.
– Aerospace and defense-focused Liberty Hall Capital Partners LP raised an undisclosed amount at the close of its single-asset continuation fund. The vehicle will support the growth of compliance, safety and training services provider Comply365.
MIDDLE-MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
– Corbel Capital Partners raised more than $200 million in capital commitments at the close of its Corbel Capital Partners SBIC LP fund. The fund will make growth and buyout investments in the lower middle market.
– Blue Point Capital Partners LLC acquired mechanical services provider Pinnacle MEP Holdings LLC. As part of the deal, The Firmament Group LLC exited its investment in the company.
– Source Capital LLC acquired a majority stake in industrial equipment company Pinnacle Central Co. Inc.
FOCUS ON: INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS
– UK development bank British Business Bank PLC is set to launch a fund that will invest in local startups, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said. The British Growth Partnership will raise capital primarily from private institutional investors such as pension funds, supported by a government investment of up to 20% of the overall fund, the bank said in an emailed response. An initial fund will seek to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to target mainly venture capital investments.
– Datacenter company DataBank Holdings Ltd. raised $2 billion in an equity funding round led by superannuation fund Australian Super Pty. Ltd. As part of the transaction, AustralianSuper will become a significant minority owner of DataBank.
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For further private equity deals, read our latest In Play report, which looks at potential private equity-backed M&A, including rumored transactions, each week.
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