M&A wrap: L Catterton, L’Occitane, Elemis, Churchill Capital, Carlyle, Huron

Beauty company L’Occitane International SA is buying British luxury skincare brand Elemis from L Catterton-backed Steiner Leisure Ltd. for $900 million. Elemis' products are sold in more than 1,600 spas, salons and retailers. "Elemis is well positioned for continued global growth due to the brand’s broad appeal, award-winning product portfolio, robust new product development pipeline and effective consumer-focused digital and brick-and-mortar distribution strategy," says L’Occitane CEO Reinold Geiger. "Elemis’ products garner strong cross-generational consumer appeal, with a proven ability to attract Millennials while maintaining loyal Gen X and Baby Boomer consumers," according to a L'Occitane release. A combination of aging baby boomers and a more conscious younger generation is driving demand for skin treatments. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is acquiring the stake it does not already own in Ci:Z Holdings Co. for about $2 billion, and in 2018, Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) bought PCA Skin and EltaMD. L Catterton was formed In 2016 when French Luxury goods maker LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton combined its PE arm L Capital with consumer-focused investment firm Catterton. L Catterton is majority owned by the partners of the firm, with the remainder being held by LVMH and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault. In 2018, L Catterton announced plans to buy hot sauce distributor Cholula. Jefferies, Nomura and Kirkland & Ellis are advising Elemis.

The construction data industry is fragmented, and there is a growing demand for technology that will help contractors, drawing deal activity particularly from strategic buyers. Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) and Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB) are among the buyers in the sector. “There is a huge opportunity to streamline all aspects of construction through digitization and automation,” says Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost. Read the full story: Strategic buyers look to capitalize on construction data demand.

Deal news
Special purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp. (NYSE: CCC) is merging with data and analytics firm Clarivate Analytics in a deal valued at around $4.2 billion.
Clarivate’s owners, Onex Corp. and Baring Private Equity Asia, are retaining their original equity interest. Citigroup Global Markets, M. Klein and Co., Blank Rome and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison are advising Churchill. Credit Suisse is advising Clarivate, Onex and BPEA. Latham & Watkins is representing Clarivate and Onex. Ropes & Gray is representing BPEA.

IPG Photonics Corp. (Nasdaq: IPGP) has bought Genesis Systems Group, a provider of robotic and automated services, for $115 million. Lincoln International advised Genesis.

The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG) has invested in Crimson Midstream Holdings LLC, a provider of crude oil transportation and storage services in California, Louisiana and offshore Gulf of Mexico.

Huron Capital-backed XLerate Group has purchased Morton Auto Auction and Southeastern Auto Auction.

Lindsay Goldberg has acquired Affordable Suites of America Inc., an operator and franchisor of extended-stay hotels in the Southeast.

WorkJam has bought employee communication software provider Peerio Technologies.

For more deal announcements, read the The weekly wrap: Advent, Eli Lilly, RLJ Equity.

Outlook 2019
Mergers & Acquisitions asked leading dealmakers about their outlook for the middle market in 2019. View the video conversations, shot at ACG Philadelphia's M&A East:

It is a seller's market, and deal activity is expected to remain steady, says Ramsey Goodrich of Carter Morse & Goodrich. Watch the video: Outlook 2019: Great time to sell.

Private equity firms and strategic buyers will use their excess cash and capitalto look for deals, says Bharat Ramprasad of Stifel Nicolaus. Watch the video: Outlook 2019: Excess capital to fuel M&A.

Rising interest rates and regulatory changes may increase volatility, cautions Mark Emrich of Murray Devine. Watch the video: Outlook 2019: Keep an eye on rising interest rates.

People moves
Stuart Barr and Cameron Cosby have joined Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as partners, where they are focusing on M&A in the real estate sector. They were both most recently with Hogan Lovells.

Joseph O'Connor, Sid Murdeshwar and Philip Viergutz have been promoted to managing directors at Carlyle Group's (Nasdaq: CG) AlpInvest.

Ben Gibson was hired by restructuring and advisory firm Gordon Brothers, where he is leading the firm's new Perth, Australia office. Gibson was most recently with Tiger Asset Group.

Jay Desai was promoted from managing director to partner at consumer and food and beverage-focused private equity firm Kainos Capital.

Gerald Farano has joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP as a partner. Farano was previously with Jones Day, and concentrates on M&A in the energy sector.

Robert Kahan was hired by Blank Rome as a partner. Most recently with DLA Piper, Kahan focuses on M&A across the entertainment, lifestyle, marketing and restaurant sectors.

Featured content
Mergers & Acquisitions has named 36 leaders the 2019 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A, including Kainos Capital's Sarah Bradley, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors' Nishita Cummings and Pelham S2K Managers' Venita Fields. All 36 are outstanding dealmakers both inside and outside of their firms. This year, we asked the featured dealmakers to tell their own stories through Q&As, including their advice for women. "Actively lobby and ask from day one to work on deals, so you can gain dealmaking experience early in your career," advises Bradley. "Too often, women are steered into functions like marketing, business development, and investor relations – the 'softer side' where it is easier to place a female. The excuse often used is that the females don’t have the deal experience of their male counterparts. That is why you must be an advocate for yourself and work on deals from the very beginning."

Related: Meet the 2019 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A.

Private equity firms are giving back - organizing groceries at food pantries, mentoring students in schools, running races for cancer cures and pitching in at animal shelters.Mergers & Acquisitions highlights the philanthropic and volunteering initiatives of 5 PE firms: the Carlyle Group LP (Nasdaq: CG), Frontier Capital, Huron Capital, the Riverside Co. and Star Mountain Capital. Read the full story, The Big Give.

GTCR managing director Phil Canfield learned the fundamentals of private equity investing at the Business Honors Program at The University of Texas at Austin. Now he and his wife Mary Beth are giving back to UT’s McCombs School of Business. In recognition of the $20 million gift, the program has been renamed the Canfield Business Honors Program. "Private equity investors are wired to look for opportunities to get the very best returns for their investment," Canfield tells Mergers & Acquisitions in a Q&A. Read the full story: GTCR's Phil Canfield donates $20M to UT's McCombs School of Business.

Dealmakers share their thoughts on Giving Back in video interviews conducted by Mergers & Acquisitions at ACG Philadelphia's M&A East. Check out our video with Reed Smith's Jonathan Moyer: For millennial dealmakers, giving back is part of who they are. And watch our conversation with Baker Tilly Capital's Judit Nagy-Eichelber: Volunteer work brings teams together.

Infrastructure investors can no longer afford to think about only concrete, glass and steel. Digitalization is transforming the role played by physical assets, and Paris private equity firm Ardian has identified five critical attributes, which form the foundation of a new approach to value creation called Augmented Infrastructure. For more, read: How digital disruption is transforming private equity investments in infrastructure.

With the rising number of cyberattacks, conducting due diligence on data is more important than ever in dealmaking. Read the full guest article by Neil Coulson and Cynthia Cole of Bakter Botts: Why mitigating data risk is crucial in M&A.

The Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints all won their games and will move on to the championship title round. Off the field, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady recently teamed with former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who is the co-host of ABC’s Good Morning America, to launch a sports media startup called Religion of Sports Media. Muhsin Muhammad, who played wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bears, is a managing director of private equity firm Axum Capital Partners. Steve Young, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, is a co-founder of private equity firm HGGC. Check out: NFL stars Tom Brady, Michael Strahan, Steve Young go PE.

Events
ACG New York Women of Leadership Summit brings together women in the middle-market dealmaking community for a day focused on networking and knowledge sharing on Jan. 17 at the Intercontinental Barclay Hotel. Alexa Von Tobel, chief innovation officer of Northwestern Mutual, keynotes.

Exponent Women kicks off the new year with an evening of networking on Jan. 24 at The Campbell, at New York's Grand Central Terminal. Jazz Age financier John W. Campbell converted the space to his private office and reception hall in 1923, and it has recently been restored by design firm Ingrao Inc.

ACG Boston, ACG Connecticut, ACG New Jersey, ACG New York & ACG Philadelphia host ACG Northeast Dealmaking at the Mountain at Stowe Mountain Resort in Stowe, Vermont Jan. 27-29. The event provides a chance for middle-market M&A professionals from across the northeast to come together for two days of close knit networking, shared conversations and valuable time spent to deepen your relationships within the deal community.