Middle Market Weekly Outlook

Good morning, all. There appears to be a lot of capital flowing between LPs and GPs right now. On the one hand, Preqin reports that GPs are returning record amounts of cash to investors. On the other hand, the record performance comes at a great time, as a record amount of PE funds hit the fundraising market. It is reported that an “all-time high of 2,209 private equity funds is seeking $811 billion from investors.” This tops the previous record of 2,043 funds seeking $787 billion in February of last year.

Transactions

• Shore Capital buys Summit Medical
• H.I.G. Capital completes The Newark Group add-on
• Patrick Industries acquires Better Way Partners
• Thoma Bravo seeks top-up fund amid tech LBO bonanza
• CenterGate Capital buys The Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse
• Generational Equity announces merger of Hesco with Health Food Ingredients
• NewSpring Capital to buy X5 Solutions
• Syncsort acquires William Data Systems
• Evergreen Pacific Partners invests in Abracon Corp.
• Velocis makes big real estate buy in Scottsdale
• The Audax Group invests in Corepoint Health
• TE Connectivity to acquire AdvancedCath
• Crown Holdings completes EMPAQUE acquisition
• Wingate Partners acquires Myers Industries Lawn & Garden Group
• Lynx Equity buys Kitchen Creations
• KRG Capital exits Diversified Foodservice Supply
• JAM Capital to invest in BACE
• The Riverside Company invests in Bike24
• Blackeagle Energy Services acquires assets of Polaris Drilling
• Altamont Capital Partners buys Cotton Patch Cafe
• Panasonic acquires TS Sports
• Monroe Capital provides credit facility financing to Diesel Direct

Events

• Wednesday: Texas ACG Capital Connection

Opinions

• Under external fire, European PE opts to specialize
• Who gets paid more: Asset managers or investment bankers?
• Compliance enters the private equity lexicon
• Seeking growth capital? 8 pieces of advice
• U.S. sues to stop proposed merger of Sysco and US Foods
• British regulator to examine competition in investment banking
• IPO boom with no women in the room
• Does merger-madness signal the return of the mega-utility?
• PE & VC firms see intense competition in 2015
• Three game-changing PE industry trends
• Why private equity matters to Tampa Bay
• Are hospital and health system mergers falling out of favor?
• Stanford endowment urges caution in frothy market
• 8 tax loopholes the Obama administration could close
• Tracking investment banking in the East African market
• A boom in private equity’s secondary market
• Classic antitrust principles apply to health care mergers even post-ACA
• M&A watch: What shoe company could be next?
• The best and worst places to work in investment banking
• PE networking habits spark reverse acqui-hire

This week in history… Congress passes the Glass-Steagall Act (1932).