Lower Middle Market Weekly Outlook

According to Preqin, 2013 was a good year to be an LP. The organization reported that “institutional investors received $568bn in distributions from their private equity investments last year, the highest annual amount ever recorded.”

Of equal importance, the distributions outstripped capital calls by a record margin. The strong performance made the news that Calpers was rethinking its strategy around ‘risky’ alternatives that much more surprising.

In other news, Shake Shack is going public and we announced the completion of our Series B last week, led by Comcast Ventures.

Transactions:

• Charter Oak Equity and Peninsula Capital Partners invest in Seaboard Folding
• Bregal Partners agrees to strategic partnership with Dental Partners
• Drew Industries acquires Duncan Systems
• Intervale Capital acquires Recapture Solutions
• Pine Tree Equity re-acquires Celtic Capital
• RLJ Credit Management invests in Lulu*s Fashion Lounge
• Kroger completes merger with Vitacost.com
• Resilience Capital acquires Fulton Technologies
• Graham Partners completes combined sale of Strata Products and Strata Proximity Systems
• Ridgemont Equity Partners invests in Cross River Fiber
• Graycliff Partners invests in Fairway Building Products

Opinions:

• Private equity is taking over Wall Street
• The most profitable types of small businesses
• In Silicon Valley, mergers must meet the toothbrush test
• 5 things to know about the first half in emerging markets PE
• Acquisitions are driving the global medical device market
• M&A on the rise in manufacturing
• Only 1/3 of mid-market executives are familiar with JOBS Act
• JPMorgan strikes deal to spin off its private equity arm
• Airline mergers look good now, but not in the long haul
• Private equity seeks assurances from US regulators over loans
• How to break into the white male private equity club
• Women are more likely to put their money in alternative assets
• Mergers by oil and gas companies trending toward consolidation
• Banks push US Fed to delay Volcker rule
• Rising IPO tide lifts all boats

This week in history… the Bankruptcy Act of 1841 is passed, allowing thousands to voluntarily declare bankruptcy for the first time (1841).

Member Spotlight

Clearview Capital, LLC is a private investment firm specializing in the acquisition and recapitalization of North American companies with operating profits of $4 – $20 million. As a team, the firm’s investment professionals have invested in over 50 companies including 22 platform companies and have also completed numerous add-on acquisitions.

In addition to searching aggressively for new platforms, the firm is actively seeking to build several existing portfolio companies with well-defined add-on acquisition criteria. Industries of focus include manufacturing, specialized services, and branded products. Click here to see the full list of portfolio companies and add-on acquisition criteria. For more information, contact Melissa Frederick at [email protected].