Middle Market Weekly Outlook

Good morning, all. The Wall Street Journal reports that M&A borrowing has surged amid deal splurge. The Fed is right now debating whether to raise interest rates later this year.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that some savvy investors have found ways to indirectly profit from valuable start-ups, confident “there is money to be made on this big gap between public and private company valuations.”

Transactions

• GI Partners acquires Kansas City data center
• TPG Real Estate to acquire TriGranit
• TDR Capital to sell Lowell Group to Permira
• Capital South Growth Fund invests in Fresh Dining Concepts
• Private equity group Penta to buy Czech newspaper company
• Wafra sells Best Lighting to Corinthian Capital
• Equistone Partners buys Wealth at Work
• Abraaj invests in Urbano

Opinions

• M&A borrowing hits a fresh record amid deal splurge
• U.S to charge hackers that tapped early deal news
• A realistic look at startup investing
• Investors find ways to indirectly profit from valuable startups
• Private equity healthcare M&A small slice of record July
• M&A deal activity on pace for record year
• A new inning for impact investing
• On the defensive, the S.E.C quietly pursues high-profile cases
• Secondaries players debate ‘third option’ in fund restructurings
• M&A deal activity on pace for record year
• Family office direct investing in private equity deals
• Ease on federal spending cuts prompts deals
• Middle market companies can learn from Warren Buffet’s elephant deal to acquire Precision Castparts
• How to make private equity honest
• 2014 private equity compensation trends
• M&A the Buffet way
• The biggest buyouts from before the crisis —  where are they now?
• Impact investor leads charge for “clean money” to create change
• Red-hot M&A doesn’t signal a bubble
• Why you shouldn’t lose sleep over the tech boom
  

This week in history… Wang Laboratories falls prey to the intense competition of the computer industry and files for Chapter 11. It was a hard fall for one of the industry’s oldest and most ambitious companies. (1982)