| |
In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find: - An analysis of the surge in European unicorns and what that means for Europe's VC ecosystem.
- Merama raised $250 million from SoftBank and Advent, as brand aggregators continue to scale.
- Blue Prism has agreed to a $1.5 billion takeover by Vista Equity Partners.
| | | | | |
|
| |
| Europe's unicorns are multiplying—and it could have major implications for VC | |  | | (Anna Orsulakova/Getty Images) | | | The rapid rise of unicorns in Europe underscores the changing nature of venture capital on the continent. Since the start of 2018, European unicorns have grown threefold in number and sixfold in value, surpassing €253 billion in aggregate. That stampede has been a major force behind the broken records of 2021.
Our new analyst note explores the forces driving such skyrocketing growth among the continent's most valuable venture-backed companies—and what that means for the future of Europe's venture ecosystem. | | | | | | | | | | Advent, SoftBank plow $225M into Merama | |  | | (Imaginima/Getty Images) | | | Ecommerce company Merama, an aggregator of online brands, has attracted $225 million at an $850 million valuation from Advent International and SoftBank. - Brand aggregators like Merama, which amass portfolios of top-performing sellers on platforms such as Amazon, are scaling rapidly with the help of private backers. Advent previously invested in Thrasio, and SoftBank has staked Perch. Merama expects revenue of more than $250 million in 2021.
- Both Advent and SoftBank have raised multiple funds targeting Latin America, which has seen record venture capital investment this year. Based in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Merama is led by CEO Sujay Tyle, who founded car marketplace Frontier Car and sold it to a Prosus subsidiary in 2019.
- Merama plans to use the funds to acquire and expand existing sellers, and to incubate new ones. Globo Ventures, Monashees, Valor Capital, Balderton Capital and Maya Capital also participated in Merama's latest round. In April, the company raised $60 million in equity and $100 million in debt, TechCrunch reported.
Related read: SoftBank doubles down on LatAm after first fund tops its expectations | | | | | | | |
|
| A message from CohnReznick | | |
| Why are healthcare valuations currently difficult to forecast? | | Because COVID-19 has adversely impacted revenues throughout the healthcare services industry, dealmakers are struggling to accurately price transactions. Healthcare's eroded profits have led to a schism between buyer and seller expectations. Even though organizations with robust digital health platforms are receiving favorable attention, little history is available to calculate their value. Further, digital health revenues may not be sustainable.
Regulators expanded Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to include online appointments, but providers are questioning whether that adjustment will endure—and the answer will impact provider valuations. In the background, providers are adjusting their business models to remain competitive. As companies return to market, valuation metrics may become more predictable.
Learn more about healthcare valuations, investment trends and deal activity in CohnReznick's new Healthcare Investment Report. | | | | | | | |
|
| Vista inks $1.5B Blue Prism take-private | |  | | (MirageC/Getty Images) | | | Blue Prism has agreed to a takeover offer from US private equity firm Vista Equity Partners that values the UK-listed software company at £1.1 billion (about $1.5 billion). - The 1,125 pence-per-share cash offer represents a 35.2% premium to the company's closing price prior to the announcement of a potential deal.
- Founded in 2001, Blue Prism develops software that supports back-office automation and other tasks, and is recognized as one of the early entrants to the robotic process-automation space.
- The company went public in 2015, and since then its annual revenue has grown from around £6 million to as much as £160 million in 2021.
- Blue Prism also attracted interest from TPG. The deal is the latest in a series involving UK-listed companies being targeted by US private equity firms. US firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Fortress Investment Group are currently in competition to acquire supermarket chain Morrisons, while Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners recently upped its bid for listed waste management company Augean.
| | | | | | | | | | Goldman Sachs' Petershill Partners falls flat in London debut | |  | | (Scott Barbour/Getty images) | | | Shares in Goldman Sachs' private equity unit Petershill Partners closed flat on Tuesday after the company raised £1.16 billion (about $1.6 billion) in its London IPO at a valuation of £4 billion. - The firm priced its IPO at 350 pence per share, the midpoint of its target range, and briefly sunk below the offering price in afternoon trading.
- Petershill, which is operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, was founded in 2007 and has a portfolio of minority investments in 19 private equity and hedge fund managers. The firm's assets under management total $187 billion.
- The stock's lackluster first day comes less than a week after Antin Infrastructure Partners went public at a $4.1 billion valuation. The French asset manager started trading in Paris on Friday and remains above its IPO price.
- Petershill is the second PE business to go public in London this year after Bridgepoint Advisers listed in July. By contrast, Bridgepoint's shares jumped as much as 30% in its first day on the market and is still trading above its debut price.
| | | | | | | | | | Investors who backed funds based on the UK's FTSE 100 index are wondering just when the long game might come to an end. [Financial Times]
Baring BDC's planned acquisition of Sierra Income is the next step in Jonathan Bock's mission to make BDCs investor-friendly. [Institutional Investor]
Many funds are sitting on their extra pandemic cash, but here's why big tech companies are scooping up real estate. [The Wall Street Journal] | | | | | |
|
| |
| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 504 Deals | 1967 People | 488 Companies | 32 Funds | | | | | | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| 2009 Vintage Global Real Estate Funds | | | | | | |
|
| |
| |
| Coalition picks up $205M Series E | | | | | | | | | Insurtech Cover Genius secures new funding | | | Cover Genius has raised A$100 million (about $72.4 million) in a Series C led by Sompo Holdings. Founded in 2014, the Australian startup is the developer of an insurance distribution platform intended to help companies such as Wayfair and Booking.com manage customer claims. | | | | | | | | Stellar Health raises $60M | | | | | | | | | Omaha National lands $45M | | | Omaha National has raised a $45 million Series B led by Accomplice VC. Founded in 2016, the company offers workers' compensation insurance and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. | | | | | | | | | Kytopen has raised a $30 million Series A led by Northpond Ventures. The biotech company operates a cell engineering platform intended to help researchers discover and create personalized medicines. | | | | | |
|
| |
| |
| Francisco Partners backs investment data platform SourceScrub | | | Francisco Partners, a San Francisco-based investment firm that specializes in supporting tech businesses, has invested in SourceScrub. The startup's platform uses private company data channels, including conference lists, buyer guides, fundraising news and more, to provide information on over 1.7 million companies. | | | | | | | | TA Associates invests in Caprock | | | TA Associates has invested in Caprock, a custom wealth solutions office for high-net-worth individuals. Caprock advises on over $7.5 billion in client assets and has offices in San Jose, Seattle, New York and other cities. | | | | | | | | OceanSound Partners stakes infrastructure testing company RMA Group | | | OceanSound Partners has completed a strategic investment in RMA Group. Founded in 1962, the California-based company provides testing, inspection and quality management services for critical infrastructure end markets including transportation, healthcare, power and water. | | | | | |
|
| |
| |
| Amplitude goes public in $7B debut | | | Data analytics company Amplitude completed its direct listing on the Nasdaq, ending its first day of trading at $54.80 per share for a fully diluted value of around $7 billion. Going into the listing, Benchmark was the largest private investor, with shares worth $836.5 million at Wednesday's closing price. Amplitude was valued at $4.15 billion in a Series F round earlier this year, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | AutoStore eyeing $315M in public offering | | | Norwegian warehouse robotics company AutoStore, backed by EQT, Thomas H. Lee Partners and SoftBank, is seeking to raise $315 million in an Oslo IPO. The company could reach a valuation of over $10 billion in its public offering, Bloomberg reported. | | | | | | | | Minerva Surgical files for IPO | | | Femtech startup Minerva Surgical has filed to go public on the Nasdaq under the ticker "UTRS." The Bay Area company, which makes equipment for minimally invasive treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding, recorded $37.8 million in revenue and a net loss of $18.3 million in 2020. Minerva was valued at $141.4 million in 2016, according to PitchBook data. NEA currently owns a 38.6% stake in the company. | | | | | | | | Advent shopping Learning Lab division | | | Advent International is reportedly seeking a buyer for the Southeast Asian operations of tutor chain The Learning Lab at a $500 million value. Advent acquired The Learning Lab business in 2014. | | | | | | | | Thoma Bravo sells stake in Command Alkon | | | Thoma Bravo has sold a 45% minority stake in supply chain management software company Command Alkon to HeidelbergCement in a deal that values the company at $1.7 billion. Thoma Bravo will maintain a majority stake in the Birmingham, Ala.-based company. | | | | | |
|
| |
| Acrew Capital raises $680M in new funding | | | Acrew Capital has raised $680 million across two new funds. The Long Term View Fund closed on $380 million to deploy to early-stage deals, while the firm's $300 million Diversify Capital Fund is a late-stage vehicle. Managing partner Lauren Kolodny said San Francisco-based Acrew now manages assets of nearly $1 billion. | | | | | | | | Vertex Ventures eyes $400M fund | | | Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures is aiming to raise $400 million or more for a fund that will target Southeast Asia and India, Reuters reported. The firm closed a $305 million fund, its fourth focused on the region, in 2019. Vertex has backed Singapore-based "super app" maker Grab and Indian ecommerce companies Xpressbees and FirstCry. | | | | | |
|
| |
"US middle-market PE dealmaking continued at a frenetic pace in Q2 2021. Firms closed 925 middle-market deals in the quarter for a combined $142.9 billion, with 2021 on track to easily eclipse the prior annual record set in 2019. The year-end figures may be even more remarkable, given that stakeholders will likely be rushing to push deals across the line before the end of the year, which may result in a Q4 spike similar to what we saw at the end of 2020."
Source: PitchBook's Q2 2021 US PE Middle Market Report | | | | | |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment