M&A wrap: TA Associates, GTCR, Riverside, Blackstone, Rising Stars

TA Associates has raised its 13th fund at $8.5 billion. The PE firm invests up to $500 million in equity in middle-market businesses valued at $100 million to $3 billion. TA invests in the technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services industries. “TA XIII will build on our existing strategy of providing transformational capital and strategic resources to great businesses and management teams across the globe,” says TA managing partner Ajit Nedungadi. “We look forward to investing the fund to help companies accelerate growth and deliver compelling investment performance for our investors.” In April, TA made a minority investment in Indira IVF, an India-based infertility treatment provider. In 2018, the firm invested about $2.8 billion in 17 new investments and 11 add-on investments, and it realized $3.4 billion in liquidity for completing seven company exits, eight partial sales, three equity recapitalizations and two public offerings. Since its 1968 start, the firm has raised $24 billion and invested in more than 500 companies. Goodwin Procter advised TA on its latest fundraise. TA ranked among the top private equity firms compiled by PitchBook, based on volume of completed deals in 2018. Check out Mergers & Acquisitions' profiles of 21 firms that led the league tables: Top private equity firms: Genstar, Audax, HarbourVest and more. Call for nominations: Mergers & Acquisitions has opened up the nomination process for the second annual 2019 Rising Stars of Private Equity. Last year, we named 11 PE investors to the list, including Ethan Liebermann who was recently promoted from principal to director of TA Associates, and Jennifer Roach Pacini, a vice president of Yellow Wood Partners. For the Rising Stars of Private Equity, we look for individuals who are full-time private equity investors and whose best days are yet to come. These are the folks you predict will one day play a key leadership role at your PE firm – or will head up their own. There is no age cutoff. As a general rule of thumb, we are looking for candidates beyond entry-level investing but before making partner. We publish the list online in July and in the July/August issue of the magazine. The deadline for nominations is end of day Thursday, May 23, 2019. Nominations will be accepted only through our online form. There is no fee. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE A RISING STAR OF PRIVATE EQUITY Click here for the 2018 Rising Stars of Private Equity. Healthcare companies are spending more on information technology than ever before. Private equity firms including Bain Capital, Great Hill Partners, GTCR, New Heritage Capital and the Riverside Co., are investing in the innovations most in demand, including big data, SaaS and artificial intelligence. See 5 private equity-backed healthcare technology deals. DEAL NEWS Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) has launched a new investment platform that will target investments in health and wellbeing, financial access, sustainable communities and green technologies. The platform will be part of Blacktsone's strategic partners group, led by Tanya Barnes, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). "As a firm, we seek to deliver value for our investors while also having a positive impact on the communities in which we operate," says Blackstone COO Jon Gray. Transom Capital-backed SemiTorr has acquired Tru-Flow. The target is a distributor and manufacturers’ representation firm that provides products and services for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. The advisor to SemiTorr is: Russ, August and Kabat. The legal advisor to Tru-Flow is Fairfield and Woods. Financing was provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Hg has purchased software company Litera Microsystems from K1 investment Management. Litera's technology helps users create, check, repair, collaborate, and share high-quality complex documents in the legal and life sciences sectors. William Blair advised Litera. Midwest Growth Partners has invested in Jackrabbit Equipment, a manufacturer of tree nut harvesting equipment and handling systems. The Sterling Group-backed Construction Supply Group has bought construction material suppliers Best Materials, Advantage Construction Supply and Spec-West Concrete Systems. As global players such as FIS and Fiserv make multi-billion-dollar acquisitions, PayU, a Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based subsidiary of technology investor Naspers, has made a series of strategic plays over the past two years. Its most recent is a $70 million deal to acquire Wibmo, a Silicon Valley mobile and digital payment security company. Read the full story: PayU invests millions to bridge issuers, merchants. PEOPLE MOVES Ruulke Bagijn has been promoted to head of investment solutions at the Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG). The division builds private equity and real estate portfolios through funds of funds, secondary purchases of existing portfolios and managed co-investment programs. Bagijn is currently co-head of AlpInvest Partners’ primary funds investments team. Gareth Burton has joined TA Associates-backed SaaS provider Think Project! as CEO. Burton is the former chief information officer of U.K. contractor Laing O'Rourke. Paul Licursi has been promoted from chief financial officer to chief operating officer at PE firm Grain Management, and Jeannie Jones has been promoted from director of finance and accounting to CFO at the same firm. Jason Myers was hired by law firm Barnes & Thornburg as a partner. Previously with Hudson Advisors, Myers advises on complex transactional, legal and regulatory matters in the real estate sector. FEATURED CONTENT Technology is revolutionizing the healthcare industry and fueling an explosion of transactions. Some of the most promising areas of innovation are: big data, medical devices, revenue cycle management, Software-as-a-Service and payment processing. “Healthcare IT is the largest cottage industry in the world,” says Sam Hendler, who leads healthcare IT deals at Harris Williams, which recently won Mergers & Acquisitions’ 2018 M&A Mid-Market Award for Investment Bank of the Year. “Healthcare IT is a highly fragmented, multi-billion-dollar market with thousands of companies focused on different $250 million to $500 million sub-markets. Savvy investors see there is an opportunity to aggregate assets and build platforms of scale. It’s an incredibly exciting time in healthcare IT.” For an in-depth look at five technologies driving M&A in healthcare, see Healthcare's must-have technologies. The potential for merger-related disruption has banks and credit unions eyeing Denver. Seven banks based in the market have sold in the last two years, including Citywide Banks, Guaranty Bancorp and CoBiz Financial. Those deals have competitors eager to hire lenders and bring in new customers. Read the full story: Mergers stir up competition in Denver banking market. Technology permeates dealmaking today. “Tech is, more or less, touching everything,” as the authors of The 2019 BDO Technology Outlook Survey put it. You can see the impact of tech throughout the 2018 winners of Mergers & Acquisitions’ M&A Mid-Market Awards especially: Luminate Capital Partners founder Hollie Hayne scoring Dealmaker of the Year for raising a second fund to invest in enterprise software companies; and TA Associates winning Private Equity Firm of the Year for investing a record $2.8 billion in new portfolio companies, most of which are infused with technology one way or the other. Related: Why private equity firms still love technology Related: 10 private equity firms share strategies for tech M&A. Excelled. Innovated. Inspired. That’s what the eight winners of Mergers & Acquisitions’ 12th Annual M&A Mid-Market Awards did in 2018. Our awards honor the leading dealmakers and deals that set the standard for transactions in the middle market. In addition to Nike, award winners include: Fortive, TA Associates, the Riverside Co., Harris Williams, Monroe Capital, Goodwin and Luminate Capital Partners' Hollie Haynes. Read our full coverage: Meet the winners of the M&A Mid-Market Awards: Nike, Fortive, TA, Harris Williams. Genstar Capital, Audax, HarbourVest ranked as the top U.S. private equity firms of 2018, based on volume of completed deals, according to PitchBook. Check out Mergers & Acquisitions' profiles of 21 firms that led the league tables. Top private equity firms: Genstar, Audax, HarbourVest and more Also see: Top investment banks in PE-backed deals: KPMG, Houlihan, GS, William Blair. 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. Related: Meet the 2019 Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A. EVENTS InterGrowth 2019 takes place May 6-8 at the Waldorf Astoria & Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando, Florida. Innovation Works holds its second annual AI/Robotics Venture Fair in Pittsburgh May 15-16. ACG Chicago hosts the Midwest Capital Connection, at The Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, May 21-22. ACG New York, ACG Boston and ACG Philadelphia are holding the Industrial Conference with Value Creation at the Infor in New York on June 6. The event is part of the Northeast Industry Tour. ACG Minnesota hosts the The Upper Midwest ACG Capital Connection at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot, June 10-11. ACG Boston brings together 700-plus dealmakers for DealFest Northeast and DealSource Select 2019 at the Cyclorama & The State Room, June 12-13. Exponent Women hosts the Annual Exchange, which brings a trusted network of women dealmakers together for a focused day of robust content and networking, at Second in New York, on July 11. The Exchange provides attendees with opportunities to establish new connections, reinforce existing ones, and absorb timely and relevant knowledge from industry leaders.