One Rock Capital Partners is buying Innophos Holdings (Nasdaq: IPHS) for $932 million. Innophos is a producer of ingredients for food and beverage, health and nutrition and industrials products. “We remain confident that our transformational strategy is the right path forward for Innophos; however, executing on this strategy in an increasingly volatile macroeconomic and complex financial environment as a small-cap public company remains challenging and could take longer than initially expected," says Innophos CEO Kim Ann Mink. Private equity firms are looking for food ingredients to back, betting on growth opportunities in the sector. The Riverside Co. has created an advisory board to help the firm find deals in the food flavors and ingredients industry, saying: Increasing consumer demand related to better-for-you and clean label food and beverage products is enabling best-in-class flavor and specialty ingredient companies to further differentiate themselves driven by curated innovations." Lazard and Baker Botts LLP are advising Innophos. RBC Capital Markets and Latham & Watkins are advising One Rock. M&A East is taking place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Oct. 22-23. Managing editor Demitri Diakantonis is covering the conference for Mergers & Acquisitions. Keynote speakers include: former professional poker player Annie Duke and Admiral James Stavridis, NATO’s 16th Supreme Allied Commander Europe. DEAL NEWS A group led by shareholders of Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson's Bay Co., led by chairman Richard Baker are taking the company private in a deal valued at $1.45 billion. J.P. Morgan and Centerview Partners are providing a fairness opinion to Hudson's Bay board. S.C. Goldman & Co.-backed Mid-Atlantic Topco LLC has acquired DentalOne Partners from Dental Investments LLC. Houlihan Lokey and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP advised DentalOne. Duane Morris LLP and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis advised Mid-Atlantic Dental. Centre Partners has invested in Wisconsin Cheese Group Holding, a manufacturer of branded and private label Hispanic foods, including cheeses, desserts, meats and spices. Dechert LLP advised Centre. Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has acquired Happen, a healthcare-focused digital technology and consulting firm. FEATURED CONTENT The private equity model has held up very well over the decades, continuing to outperform the public markets, even as economic cycles come and go. But the rate of growth has slowed, leading PE firms to seek adjacent areas of business to expand. As PE firms face increased pressure to produce higher returns on their investments, many of them are turning to a familiar area of business: lending. Read the full story: Private equity firms are becoming lenders. Here’s why. It’s a milestone year for the Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX), which transitioned from a publicly traded partnership to a corporation on July 1. Most recently, the New York firm announced the final close of its latest global real estate fund With $20.5 billion of total capital commitments, Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX is the largest real estate fund ever raised. Mergers & Acquisitions spoke with Stephen A. Schwarzman, the firm’s co-founder, chairman and CEO. Read the full story: "Complete control" is the beauty of private equity, says Blackstone's Stephen A. Schwarzman. Bank M&A has been soaring, creating the perfect backdrop for Piper Jaffray’s announced acquisition of Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP. “There has been a lot of consolidation in the bank space,” Piper Jaffray CEO Chad Abraham told Mergers & Acquisitions. “But there are still 5,000 banks, and we expect the pace of consolidation to continue.” For analysis of the deal, see Counting on bank M&A: Why Piper Jaffray bought Sandler O'Neill. Looking for a glimpse of what’s to come in the private equity industry? Meet Mergers & Acquisitions' 2019 Rising Stars of Private Equity. As the PE industry undergoes a generational shift, and many firm founders retire, it’s well worth getting to know these emerging leaders, including Branford's Austin Collier, Sterling Partners' Shawn Domanic and Summit Partners' Sophia Popova. For profiles and video interviews, see Meet Mergers & Acquisitions' 2019 Rising Stars of Private Equity. For Q&As, see 10 Rising Stars of Private Equity tell their tales. To celebrate deals, dealmakers and dealmaking firms, Mergers & Acquisitions produces three special reports every year: the M&A Mid-Market Awards; the Rising Stars of Private Equity; and the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A. For more on the timeline and nomination process for each, see Special reports overview: M&A Mid-Market Awards, Rising Stars, Most Influential Women. EVENTS ACG Charlotte is hosting Deal Crawl at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Nov. 6-7. The Third Annual Women in Alternative Investments Career Forum is taking place at the New York Hilton on Nov. 8. ACG New York is hosting Middle Market Week in New York from Nov. 11-15.