Growth Capital Investments in 2018

NewAlpha Asset Management has acquired a majority stake in Presto Engineering through its Growth Equity fund, investing alongside founder Michel Villemain and with minority participation from Adaxtra Capital and Bpifrance Investissement. The transaction (from sellers Seventure Partners and CM-CIC Capital Privé) will support Presto's international growth, expand its recurring services for the ASIC production value chain, and accelerate deployment into automotive, IoT and other industrial markets.

Strattam Capital made a majority growth investment in Rock Solid Technologies, a Puerto Rico-based software and IT services firm specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions. The partnership is intended to accelerate Rock Solid's expansion into North American markets (U.S. and Canada) and support job creation and product growth.

Mill Valley-based private equity firm Vopne Capital provided an undisclosed capital investment in Dolphin Machine Inc., a precision-machining manufacturer based in North Las Vegas, Nevada. As part of the transaction, Scott Kelley will become CEO and Vopne managing partner Jim Bloom will join Dolphin Machine’s board while founder Dan DiCello remains president.

Onex Corporation acquired a 42% interest in Ryan, LLC for $317 million, valuing the Dallas-based global tax services and software provider at approximately $1.1 billion. The minority investment will support Ryan's continued expansion of service lines and global growth while partnering with founder and CEO G. Brint Ryan and the existing management team.

Corbel Capital Partners closed a structured investment (senior secured debt and common equity) into Baker's Computer Services, LLC, alongside independent sponsors Fields Texas, LTD and Cave Springs Group, LLC. The capital and operational support are intended to support BCS's technical repair and reverse-logistics services for retail point-of-sale hardware and accelerate growth.

Dallas-based private equity firm SunTx Capital Partners announced an investment in Anchor Partners, the Dallas holding company for a family of metal manufacturing businesses. The investment will support Anchor's recent acquisition of a provider of proprietary intermodal equipment storage and transportation systems to the U.S. government and position the platform to pursue further add-on acquisitions and scale production; financial terms were not disclosed.

ProcessUnity, a cloud-based provider of third-party and integrated risk management software, received a majority growth capital investment from Long Ridge Equity Partners. The capital will accelerate ProcessUnity's product and market growth in third‑party/vendor risk management and provide partial liquidity to existing shareholders; Comerica provided senior financing and advisors included Morris, Manning & Martin and DCS Advisory.

Houston-based private equity firms Junction Energy Capital and Ara Partners Group announced a joint investment in PURAGLOBE (Puralube, Inc.), a technology-driven base oil producer that uses recycled oil feedstock. Allied Resource Corporation, the founding shareholder, will retain a substantial stake alongside the new investors as PURAGLOBE expands operations in Germany and the United States.

H.I.G. Capital has made a strategic investment to combine Trace3 and Data Strategy, creating a national IT solutions provider. The combination pairs Trace3's security, data intelligence and cloud capabilities with Data Strategy's mobility, collaboration, integration, inventory and managed services to broaden capabilities and scale for enterprise and mid-market clients. Century Technology Group (parent of Data Strategy) and its leadership will remain involved as shareholders.

Charterhouse Capital Partners has made an investment in Funecap Groupe, the second-largest funerals company in France, alongside founders Thierry Gisserot and Xavier Thoumieux and the company's management team. The capital will support Funecap's buy-and-build strategy and further consolidation of the fragmented French funeral services market as the business continues its organic and inorganic growth.

Level Equity has made a growth investment in TeamSupport, a B2B customer support software provider, to accelerate the company’s product development, customer success, sales, and marketing initiatives. Software Equity Group served as exclusive advisor to TeamSupport on the transaction.

Broadtree Partners announced a strategic investment in ListEngage in July 2018. The investment is intended to help the Salesforce consulting firm scale its operations, deepen its relationship with Salesforce, and provide management support to realize growth opportunities.

Enel has agreed to invest €150 million to acquire a 21% stake in Ufinet International, an independent fibre network operator headquartered in Madrid. Cinven will retain a 79% majority holding; the strategic partnership gives Ufinet additional capital and access to Enel's Latin American assets to accelerate FTTH, wholesale fibre deployment and M&A-driven expansion.

Texas-based private equity firm Calidant Capital made an equity investment in The Five Star Institute, a Dallas-based trade association serving the U.S. residential mortgage and real estate market. The Five Star founder Mark Hulme and CEO Ed Delgado will remain with the company as Calidant provides capital to strengthen the business, expand offerings, and pursue organic growth and add-on acquisitions.

Onex Corporation acquired a minority equity stake in Ryan Specialty Group through a $150 million preferred equity and $25 million common equity investment to support RSG's growth and M&A strategy. The capital injection establishes a long-term strategic relationship between Onex and Ryan Specialty Group while leaving RSG management (Pat Ryan) in place.

O2 Investment Partners has made a significant growth investment in EMEX, LLC, partnering with President Dan Marzuola and management to accelerate the energy procurement platform’s growth. Tree Line Capital participated as a financial partner; terms were not disclosed. EMEX is a Houston-based technology-driven energy brokerage and enterprise software provider serving commercial, industrial and government customers across U.S. regulated and deregulated markets.

THI Investments, a single-family office, is making a EUR 60 million strategic growth investment in Apologistics, one of Germany's largest online pharmacies, to expand logistics capacity and strengthen its technology platform. Apologistics will expand its Leipzig site and build a second fully automated logistics centre to enable same-day delivery across Germany and pursue market consolidation.

Kinderhook Industries announced a growth investment in StudyKIK, partnering with founders Matt Miller and Jerome Chiaro to accelerate the patient-recruitment company's growth. StudyKIK, headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, provides social-media-driven patient recruitment and retention solutions for clinical trials and will work with Kinderhook to scale its technology and market penetration.

Battery Ventures has acquired Plixer, a provider of network traffic analytics and security incident response software, in a transaction that will provide growth capital and operational support to scale the business. Jeff Lindholm has joined Plixer as CEO, Russell Fleischer of Battery will join the board, and founders Mike Patterson and Marc Bilodeau will remain involved in the leadership team.

Deaconess Associations, Inc. has made a growth capital investment in LifeSpring In-Home Care Network to support the company's regional expansion and pursue additional acquisitions. LifeSpring, headquartered in Norman, Oklahoma, provides home health, hospice and private duty services across 27 Oklahoma counties and employs more than 250 people.

CenterGate Capital, L.P. made an equity investment in AC Photonics, Inc., a Santa Clara-based manufacturer of precision optical and fiber-optic components and modules. Dinan Capital Advisors served as exclusive financial advisor to AC Photonics and its shareholders in the transaction, which provides capital and strategic support to accelerate the company's growth and operations.

VSS, a private investment firm, made a growth investment in Caravan Health, a Kansas City-based provider of value-based care advisory services that helps hospitals and physician practices participate in Medicare ACOs. Terms were not disclosed; VSS said it will support Caravan Health with resources to invest in new products, services and technology to expand its value-based care offerings.