HGGC, the Silicon Valley private equity firm led by founders Rich Lawson, CEO, and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, managing director, is expanding. The Palo Alto, California firm has announced six new additions to its team and two promotions, following the most active period in its history. Between January 2017 and March 2018, HGGC closed seven platform investments and 16 add-on transactions and conducted five liquidity events. Over the last five years, the firm has made nearly 50 portfolio investments, a 60 percent increase in deal volume from the previous five years. Randy Jacops, the CEO of HGGC-backed Idera, won Mergers & Acquisitions' M&A Mid-Market Award for 2017 Dealmaker of the Year. The new hires include three executive directors: Chad Clawson, previously a principal in the operations group at American Capital, where he held C-suite positions at companies including Global Conference Partners, Paradigm Precision and most recently Service Experts, which was sold to EnerCare Inc.; Bennett Nussbaum, who brings decades of executive leadership experience from well-known global brands, including Burger King, Kinko’s, Winn-Dixie Stores, Billabong, American Apparel and PepsiCo; and Scott St. Clair, who has more than 20 years of experience as a finance and operations executive and recently served as the CEO of Atrium, a Golden Gate Capital portfolio company.

Investors love athletes. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan have recently launched a sports media startup called Religion of Sports Media. Their partner is Gotham Chopra, a director and producer and the son of Deepak Chopra. They are executive producers of a documentary series called "Religion of Sports," which explores the significance of sports around the world. The company has raised $3 million in venture capital funding from CourtsideVC and Advancit Capital. Meanwhile, David Ortiz, a.k.a. Big Papi, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, led a group of former professional baseball players in the launch of Dugout Ventures, a firm focused on investing in companies involved in baseball.

KKR, LLR Partners, the Riverside Co., Shore Capital Partners, TA Associates and other private equity firms and strategic buyers, including Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), are investing in eye doctors, dentists and veterinarians, plus revenue cycle management providers and other areas of healthcare that are ripe for consolidation, as Mergers & Acquisitions explores in our in-depth feature, Why private equity firms like veterinarians, opthamologists and dentists, and slideshow, 6 healthcare specialties driving M&A deals.

Ridgemont Equity Partners-backed Cook & Boardman Group has acquired Girtman & Associates, a division of Bass Security Services. Girtman is a distributor of commercial doors, door frames, and door hardware specializing in providing door entry systems.

GenNx360 Capital Partners-backed Tooling Technology Group has bought CTG Holdings from First Capital Partners. The target is a manufacturer of medium to large compression molds for composite materials serving the automotive, heavy truck, aerospace and personal watercraft industries. Angle Advisors advised CTG.

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) has acquired Lone Star Western & Casual, a three-store retail chain in Texas. Boot Barn CEO Jim Conroy says: “Texas is the largest western and work market in the U.S., and the acquisition of Lone Star’s three stores enables us to expand our presence in this important region."

Ardian has sold its minority stake in French on-the-go frozen snack manufacturer Piz’Wich to Frostkrone. Ardian recently agreed to sell its 49 percent stake in London Luton AIrport to AMP Capital.

CenterState Bank in Winter Haven, Fla., has agreed to buy Charter Financial in West Point, Ga. The $10.3 billion-asset CenterState will pay $360.1 million in cash and stock for the $1.6 billion-asset parent of CharterBank. Charter will provide CenterState with its first commercial banking operations in Georgia and Alabama. Read our full coverage here.

Eric Goldstein has joined Goodwin's private equity practice as a partner in New York. Previously with Insight Venture Partners, Goldstein focuses formation and operation of private equity, venture capital and other private investment funds, including advising on regulatory, compliance, structuring and governance matters involving private funds and sponsors.

Ted Rosen was hired by Akerman as a partner in New York. Most recently with Fox Rothschild, Rosen concentrates on M&A, on middle-market and private equity.

For more new hires, promotions and other dealmaker career news, including Baird's hiring Brett Skolnik as healthcare managing director and Tony Armand's joining Norwest Equity Partners as an operating partner, read People Moves.

KKR, LLR Partners, the Riverside Co., Shore Capital Partners, TA Associates and other private equity firms and strategic buyers, including Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), are investing in eye doctors, dentists and veterinarians, plus revenue cycle management providers and other areas of healthcare that are ripe for consolidation, as Mergers & Acquisitions explores in our in-depth feature, Why private equity firms like veterinarians, opthamologists and dentists, and slideshow, 6 healthcare specialties driving M&A deals.

Read full coverage of Mergers & Acquisitions' 11th annual M&A Mid-Market Award winners: Campbell Soup, Huron Capital, Idera CEO Randy Jacops, LLR Partners, McGuireWoods, Stryker, Twin Brook and William Blair.