Lower Middle Market Weekly Outlook

Congratulations to all Germany fans out there…

According to a NYTimes article last week, private equity firms have been drawn to urgent care centers around the country. Whether it is in response to the Affordable Care Act or because the “Doc in a Box” business draws an estimated $14.5 billion, there appears to be a cultural shift in their favor. Apparently, the “race is on to build large chains with powerful, national brands — a McDonald’s or a Gap of health care,” wrote Creswell in her NYT article.  Maybe there will be a dollar menu, too.

Hospitals, the big brothers of these urgent care clinics, have found the M&A strategy less favorable. There have been recent challenges to some large hospital mergers, namely the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital of 1994.

In other news, it was a record first half for exits, but ‘meh’ for private equity deals.

Transactions:

• Castle Harlan acquires Tensar Corporation
• Cronus Partners announces Botanicals Industry financing
• Standard Chartered Private Equity backs Longfor Group
• Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill hires Mastodon Ventures to consider exit
• Resilience Capital Partners acquires Phoenix Installation Services
• Entropy invests in Argand Energy Solutions
• Catterton Partners makes growth investment in Pain Doctor
• Kainos Capital acquires Slim Fast
• Polyester Fibers announces management buyout
• Seacoast Capital backs Cinetopia

Opinions:

• CalSTRS to target small, mid-market private equity firms
• Private equity: The next wave of SEC enforcement actions?
• Why Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are so successful, in one word
• Private equity takes on big pharma’s carve-out challenge
• The inner workings of a deal: When it’s time to hire an intermediary
• Business M&A for strategic growth on the rise
• It’s a busy time for mergers in Texas
• One way to solve private equity’s recruiting problem
• More US companies doing deals to avoid US taxes
• PE firms face new scrutiny in age of wiretaps and prosecution
• Why investing in women investment bankers pays off
• Why a merger of pet retailers would make sense
• Top 20 states for PE investment
• Law firm mergers continue to target small firms
• Inequality in private equity: Some firms 95% male

This week in history… Johnson Controls, Inc. makes a bid of $1.35 billion to acquire Prince Holding Corporation (1996).