Buyout Acquisitions in 2019

Alera Group acquired Seattle-based Muench Financial, Inc., effective December 31, 2019. The deal brings Jon Muench and his team into Alera Group's wealth management and retirement services practice, expanding Alera's capabilities and presence in the Pacific Northwest.

Utilant, the provider of the Loss Control 360 SaaS platform, has acquired IMTI Systems via an asset acquisition to expand its loss control survey management capabilities and customer base. The deal (effective December 31, 2019) brings IMTI's experience, technology and data into Utilant's platform to broaden market share in the P&C insurance loss control market.

Alera Group, a national employee benefits and insurance firm, acquired Sylvia Group, a Dartmouth, Massachusetts-based insurance and employee benefits agency, effective December 31, 2019. The deal brings Sylvia Group's property & casualty and employee benefits expertise into Alera's national platform to strengthen capabilities and service coverage in New England; terms were not disclosed.

Smithereen Pest Management Services acquired Service Termite & Pest Control (transaction completed end of 2019, announced Jan. 30, 2020), expanding Smithereen's footprint into Danville and Champaign‑Urbana, Illinois and Crawfordsville, Indiana. The deal brings Service Termite customers under Smithereen's integrated pest management platform while maintaining local service continuity.

B&B Systems, Inc. has acquired The Quit Company, LLC from founder and CEO Matt Bucklin for an undisclosed sum. The deal adds The Quit Company's consumer health products (including Quit Tea) and related intellectual property, distribution channels and digital assets to B&B Systems' portfolio to expand its proprietary consumer health product line and leverage existing distribution synergies.

Discovery Behavioral Health acquired Associated Behavioral Health Care (ABHC) of Seattle, a four-center provider of outpatient addiction and mental health services in the Puget Sound region, with the deal closing on December 31, 2019. The acquisition expands Discovery’s footprint and clinical capabilities in the Pacific Northwest, adding services such as psychiatry, psychology, TMS, chemical dependency counseling and medication management across Bellevue, North Seattle, West Seattle and Kent.

AEA Investors' Small Business Fund completed the carveout acquisition of Univar Solutions' Environmental Sciences Business (ES). Headquartered in Austin, Texas, ES is a leading distributor of pest-control products and technical services with ~70 North American locations serving thousands of local service providers; AEA intends to grow the business and expand into adjacent markets leveraging its footprint and vendor relationships.

424 Capital, together with Eagle Private Capital and Plexus Capital, purchased a majority share in Practis from founder Elizabeth Pettrone and CEO John Pettrone Jr., who will remain investors and active managers. Practis is a digital marketing and SaaS provider serving independent healthcare providers (over 700 customers); the investors plan to accelerate growth, expand services, and enter new markets.

American Securities, a New York-based private equity firm, has acquired United PF Partners, the largest Planet Fitness franchisee, from Eagle Merchant Partners and JLM Financial Partners. United PF is headquartered in Austin, Texas and operates more than 160 clubs across 14 states serving over 1 million members; terms were not disclosed and the deal closed in late December 2019.

Affiliates of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and GIC have completed the acquisition of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in an approximately $8.4 billion transaction (including debt), taking G&W private at $112 per share. G&W — a Darien, Connecticut‑headquartered owner/operator of short line and regional freight railroads with about 8,000 employees and operations across North America, Europe and Australia — will be integrated into Brookfield's global infrastructure platform.

VMware, Inc. completed its acquisition of Pivotal Software, Inc., acquiring Pivotal for an enterprise value of approximately $2.7 billion and making Pivotal a wholly owned subsidiary. Pivotal's cloud-native platform and developer-focused offerings will be integrated into VMware's Tanzu portfolio to expand VMware's modern application and Kubernetes capabilities.

Boston-based private equity firm M/C Partners acquired the Managed Services division of West Monroe Partners in a carve-out deal that closed December 30, 2019. The business, a Chicago-based IT managed services provider serving small and mid-size businesses, will operate as a standalone platform under new CEO Wayne Kiphart to pursue growth and investments in service delivery and IT capabilities.

Web Ventures, a division of InMotion Hosting, acquired Elegant Marketplace on December 30, 2019. The acquisition brings the WordPress / Divi-focused digital marketplace and its founder Andrew Palmer into the InMotion family to expand offerings across the WordPress ecosystem for freelancers, agencies and product makers.

Sea Lion Corporation, an Alaska Native Village Corporation based in Hooper Bay, acquired Proto Technologies, a Liberty Lake, Washington-based prototyping and low-volume manufacturing firm that provides machining, 3D printing and urethane casting services. The deal was announced by ACT Capital Advisors, which represented Proto Technologies in the sale.

Asia Pacific Village Group Limited (APVG), owned by EQT Infrastructure IV, has entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement to acquire 100% of Metlifecare. The deal was announced in two versions: an initial offer of NZ$7.00 per share (approx NZ$1.5bn) and a later revised SIA at NZ$6.00 per share (approx NZ$1.3bn); NZ Super (holding ~19.86%) has committed to vote in favour and the parties agreed to discontinue related litigation.

Blue Point Capital Partners (Fund IV) acquired Country Pure Foods, Inc., a leading producer of better-for-you beverages and related juice products, in partnership with Country Pure management and former CEO Raymond Lee. The deal includes Silver Springs Citrus, LLC and positions Blue Point to grow the platform across grocery retail, healthcare and education foodservice, and into plant-based and frozen-novelty beverage categories.

Astellas Pharma has acquired Xyphos Biosciences, gaining Xyphos' ACCEL convertible-CAR technology platform and immuno-oncology talent. The deal included $120 million paid at closing and potential milestone payments bringing the total transaction value to up to $665 million.

Blackford Capital, a private equity firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, completed an investment to acquire the U.S. brand licensing rights for Cartridge World, a franchised network of printer consumables retailers headquartered in McHenry, Illinois. The U.S. business operates nearly 230 franchised retail store locations; Blackford intends to strengthen supply chain and distribution relationships and support franchisee growth through operational and strategic initiatives.

OpenText completed the acquisition of Carbonite, Inc., a provider of cloud-based data protection, backup, disaster recovery and endpoint security, for approximately $1.45 billion in cash. Carbonite becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of OpenText as part of a strategic move to expand OpenText's cloud and endpoint data protection capabilities and extend EIM to SMBs and prosumers.

EQT Mid Market Asia (via its Mid Market Asia III fund) has invested in Health Management International Ltd (HMI), a Singapore-headquartered regional private healthcare provider. EQT will support HMI's regional expansion and capability build—investing in capacity, digitalisation and exploring potential future acquisitions to scale the group's platform across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Broadtree Partners has acquired CanSource, a Longmont, Colorado-based supplier of shrink-sleeved cans for craft beverage producers. Broadtree said it will support CanSource's growth and geographic expansion while CanSource founders Pat Hartman and Ron Popma move to advisory roles on the board.

IK Investment Partners' IK VIII Fund has agreed to acquire a majority stake in MDT technologies GmbH from the company's founders. MDT is a German manufacturer of KNX-based building automation products; IK intends to support the company's next growth phase and international expansion while maintaining focus on product innovation.

Diversis Capital Partners I LP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, has acquired WorldAPP, the Braintree, Massachusetts provider of the Form.com mobile workflow platform and Key Survey enterprise survey software. Diversis will supply growth capital and operational support to extend WorldAPP's platform capabilities and accelerate market penetration across industries such as oil & gas, financial services, retail, and restaurants.

On December 23, 2019 Prairie Capital VI, LP partnered with Rising Point Capital to acquire Fairway Lawns, a Little Rock-based provider of residential lawn treatment and pest control services. The investment backed a buyout of the company’s founders and supported management to accelerate growth through investments in people, sales and marketing, infrastructure, and add-on acquisitions; at the time Fairway served over 40,000 customers from 12 lawn-treatment and 2 pest-control locations across six states.

Hg (via its Saturn 1 Fund) has acquired a majority stake in Personal & Informatik AG (P&I), a Germany‑headquartered provider of cloud‑based HR software, from funds advised by Permira for an enterprise value of €2 billion. Permira funds retain a substantial minority stake and Hg-managed funds will be the majority shareholder, marking the fourth investment from the Hg Saturn 1 Fund and reinforcing Hg's focus on cloud HR/SaaS businesses.

Sentinel Capital Partners has acquired ECM Industries, a New Berlin, Wisconsin-based manufacturer and supplier of branded electrical products (including Gardner Bender, King Innovation and Bergen) from Genstar Capital. Terms were not disclosed; Sentinel said it will partner with ECM management to build an electrical-products platform and pursue multiyear growth across core markets and adjacencies.

Palo Alto Networks completed its acquisition of Aporeto Inc., a machine-identity based microsegmentation company, integrating Aporeto’s technology into its Prisma Cloud native security platform. The deal (reported at about $150 million) brings Aporeto’s co-founders and microsegmentation capabilities into Palo Alto’s cloud security offerings to expand cloud-native workload protection.

Ergon Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Palex, the leading distributor of hospital equipment, technology and solutions in Spain and Portugal, from Corpfin Capital, the Knuth family and the management team. Corpfin will retain a minority stake alongside Ergon and Palex’s management as Ergon supports the company’s national and international growth plans.

Carlson Private Capital Partners made a significant investment to take a long-term position in founder-owned Lakeshirts / Blue 84, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of customized apparel headquartered in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Yukon Partners provided mezzanine financing in support of the transaction to back Carlson's platform investment and the company's next phase of growth.

3 Rivers Capital, a lower middle-market private equity firm, has acquired Aptus Group USA, a Charlotte-based provider of bridge-attached utility repair and maintenance services. The founder, Scott T. Dill, remains CEO as 3RC partners with Aptus to expand its geographic footprint beyond the eastern U.S. and accelerate strategic growth.

Strength Capital Partners has made an investment in CALco Pallet Company, a vertically integrated wooden pallet manufacturer headquartered in Richmond, Illinois. Midwest Mezzanine participated with subordinated debt and equity and financing partners included Byline Bank and Northcreek Mezzanine; the deal establishes CALco as a PE-backed platform for Strength's buy-and-build consolidation strategy with founders Matt and Greg Calhoun remaining in leadership.

Champlain Capital Partners has acquired FireKing International, a New Albany, Indiana-based manufacturer of fireproof and impact-resistant file cabinets, safes and document storage systems. Midwest Mezzanine provided subordinated debt and equity financing to support the transaction.

Indecomm Digital Services, a Warburg Pincus-backed provider of product engineering and digital experience services, has acquired nearshore software development firm Avantica Technologies. The acquisition expands Indecomm's footprint and delivery capacity across Latin America (Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia) and strengthens its nearshore product-engineering capabilities for North American clients.

Better Choice Company, Inc. (BTTR) has completed its acquisition of Halo, Purely for Pets, adding the 30-year premium holistic pet food brand to its animal health and wellness portfolio. The Company also closed $28 million of senior secured financing as part of the transaction; total consideration for Halo was approximately $46.9 million (cash, junior notes and equity), and Halo’s CEO Werner von Pein and CSO Rob Sauermann will remain to run the business.

Woolpert, a U.S.-based architecture, engineering and geospatial firm, has acquired Southern Mapping, a Johannesburg-based aerial survey and geospatial solutions provider specializing in high-accuracy LiDAR, hyperspectral imagery and remote sensing. The acquisition expands Woolpert’s geospatial footprint into Africa and strengthens its airborne surveying and mapping capabilities for engineering, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and environmental clients.

NV5 Global, Inc. completed the acquisition of Geospatial Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries including Quantum Spatial in an all-cash transaction (reported around $303–$318 million). The acquisition expands NV5's geospatial data analytics capabilities and diversifies its customer base across federal, state and commercial clients, with Arlington Capital Partners selling the company.

FASTSIGNS International, Inc. acquired Sign Me Up Signs & Advertising and will convert its seven locations (six on Long Island and one in New Jersey) plus a corporate office/production center to FASTSIGNS centers by February 2020. The deal expands FASTSIGNS' presence on Long Island to eight locations and Sign Me Up co-founder Bryan Schwartz will join FASTSIGNS as a franchisee.

Ardian has agreed to acquire Cérélia, a Paris-headquartered producer of ready-to-bake dough, pancakes, crepes and cookies, from the IK VII Fund advised by IK Investment Partners. Management, led by Guillaume Réveilhac, will retain a meaningful stake alongside Ardian as the buyer seeks to accelerate Cérélia's organic growth, acquisitions and geographic expansion across Europe and North America.

Health Management Associates (HMA) has acquired NPO Solutions, a California-based management consulting firm focused on strengthening nonprofit and public sector organizations. NPO Solutions will operate as a division of HMA Community Strategies, expanding HMA's capabilities in strategy, capacity building and evaluation and furthering its California footprint; terms were not disclosed.

Affiliates of funds advised by BC Partners completed an all-cash acquisition of Presidio, Inc. for approximately $2.2 billion (including net debt), taking the company private and resulting in the delisting of Presidio’s common stock. BC Partners said the transaction will support Presidio’s growth initiatives and strategic investments to expand its digital infrastructure, cloud and security capabilities.

Bain & Company acquired Pyxis, an alternative data consumer-behavior analytics firm, to strengthen Bain's Advanced Analytics Group and improve due diligence and investment analysis for private equity, institutional and corporate clients. The acquisition integrates Pyxis' proprietary algorithms and large consumer datasets with Bain's consulting capabilities to provide more granular market-share, pricing and consumer-behavior insights.

Hubbell Power Systems, a subsidiary of Hubbell Incorporated, has acquired Cantega Technologies, Inc. and affiliated Reliaguard, Inc. The deal adds Cantega and Reliaguard’s wildlife-mitigation products for substations and overhead distribution to Hubbell’s utility product portfolio, expanding its capability to reduce animal-related outages across utility networks.

Belgium-based Unifiedpost Group SA has acquired UK document-management specialist Prime Document from private equity owner Maven Capital Partners. The deal gives Unifiedpost an entry into the UK market and complements its e-billing, EDI and digital document services with Prime's print, portal and distribution capabilities.

Belgian snack producer Beltaste (Vanreusel) announced it will acquire Dutch artisanal croquette and bitterballen maker Oma Bobs, with the transaction effective early January 2020. The deal strengthens Beltaste's presence in the Netherlands and aims to grow Oma Bobs' artisanal production while preserving its independent character.

Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. (Mercer Advisors) has acquired SD Financial Pathways, LLC, a Dearborn, Michigan-based wealth management firm serving about 85 households with roughly $100 million in AUM. SD Financial will consolidate into Mercer Advisors' Detroit office and founder Steven Deceuninck will join Mercer as part of the transaction.

Visible Supply Chain Management has acquired Kansas Continental Express (KCX), a nearly 30-year-old Emporia, Kansas-based shipping logistics and freight transportation provider. KCX will join the Visible family and operate under the parent company's name, expanding Visible's Midwest footprint and cross‑North America logistics capabilities to better serve small and midsize business customers.

Focusrite plc has acquired high-performance loudspeaker manufacturer Martin Audio from private equity owner LDC in a £39.2 million transaction. The acquisition will see Martin Audio operate as an autonomous subsidiary of Focusrite, supporting international growth and extending Focusrite’s product portfolio in the professional audio and commercial installation markets.

Beauty Industry Group (BIG), a Salt Lake City-based leader in professionally installed hair extensions and beauty products, has acquired Beauty Works, a UK luxury hair extension brand headquartered in Cheshire. The acquisition gives BIG a strong market position in the United Kingdom and Europe; financial terms were not disclosed and Beauty Works' leadership will remain in place.

Elysian Capital has acquired a majority stake in Mergon Group, a Castlepollard, Ireland-based plastics moulding specialist, while the Beirne family retains a substantial minority ownership. The investment will fund an ambitious growth plan — including international expansion (notably China) and product diversification — with Mergon targeting 50% revenue growth over the next three years.

Amadeus FiRe AG has completed the acquisition of COMCAVE Holding GmbH, a Dortmund-based tech-enabled provider of vocational retraining and workforce solutions, from funds advised by Gilde Buy Out Partners. COMCAVE—known for its GECS learning ecosystem and nationwide footprint—will continue to be led by its current management as Amadeus FiRe expands its training and workforce-services capabilities across Germany.