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Abry Partners latest to bet on accounting and advisory services; Mark Cuban and others launch new PE funds to invest in sports

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here, back in New York with the US edition of the Wire.

I’ve just returned from a week in London, where I met with many PEI Group colleagues, including PE Hub’s London-based team. Craig McGlashan, Nina Lindholm, Irien Joseph and I discussed plans for deepening our coverage of deal activity in the most active sectors. I’m looking forward to sharing more about those plans in the coming months!

I also met with Ben Moss and Brix Sumagaysay, who are hard at work planning our NEXUS 2026summit,which will be held February 22-25 at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes. (Pro tip: Book now and save $1,300+ until June 27.) For full coverage of this year’s conference, visit the NEXUS 2025 landing page on PE Hub.

This morning on the Hub, we’re featuring a newly announced deal in a subsector we’ve been tracking closely: PE investments in accounting and advisory firms. See below for coverage of Abry Partners’ news.

And speaking of hot subsectors, we’ve seen a flurry of sports funds launch lately with well-known backers, including tech entrepreneur/investor Mark Cuban, golf pro Rory McIlroy and sports exec Dave Checketts. PE Hub reporter Rafael Canton takes a look at the investment strategies for these emerging managers.

Play ball

Private equity is chomping at the bit to invest in sports. This Spring, PE Hub has seen three new sports funds launch, reports Rafael Canton. In May, Mark Cuban, Steve Cannon and Rashaun Williams launched Harbinger Sports. Also in May, TPG launched TPG Sports, a new firm with pro golfer Rory McIlroy and his firm Symphony Ventures. And in April, sports executive Dave Checketts and the Cynosure Group (an investment firm founded by the Eccles family) formed Cynosure | Checketts Sports Capital.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn all about the investment strategies of each fund.

Critical, recurring services

PE Hub is seeing a lot of deal activity in CPA firms, including some said to be up for sale. Senior reporter Michael Schoeck recently revealed that EisnerAmper and Wipfli hope to attract new PE investments.

Activity in the subsector is being driven by two trends: the rise of high-net-worth individuals and the growing complexity of regulation in the financial services sector.

This morning, Boston-based Abry Partners announced it is making a strategic investment in Burgess Hodgson, an accounting and business advisory services provider to SMEs and individual clients in the UK.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for details on the deal.

As always, I’d love to hear from you – especially if you’ve got leads on subsectors you’re seeing a lot of deal activity in or suggestions about how PE Hub might deepen our sector-based coverage. Please reach out to me at mk.flynn@pei.group

Before I sign off, I want to thank Craig, Nina and Irien for hosting me in the London office last week. Special thanks to Craig for suggesting I see Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, the longest running show ever. I loved it! On Friday, I went to Cambridge to visit a cousin of mine who will soon turn 93. It turns out he saw the play on opening night – 73 years ago!

Tomorrow, Craig will bring you the Europe edition of the Wire, and Obey Martin Manayiti will bring you the US edition.

Cheers,

MK

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

PE insiders call for managers to shake themselves out of the funk: Prevailing wisdom in the industry has always been to wait out the storm. But some now call for managers to bite the bullet and make exits in order to flush the system and move on. (Buyouts)

HarbourVest, Blackstone, Pantheon to buy in Yale’s PE portfolio sale: The overall buyers on the deal could account for a portfolio of around $3-$4bn, Secondaries Investor understands.

Danish buyout firm CataCap to raise its first defence fund: The firm's new vehicle will target European LPs and invest in European SMEs amid rising appetite for defence-related assets, partners Peter Ryttergaard and Lasse Lynge tell Private Equity International.

$8bn windfall for Circle’s VC backers: General Catalyst and IDG Capital were the biggest winners in Circle's IPO, with each holding 20.9m shares valued at $1.7bn at the closing price of $83.23. (Venture Capital Journal)

Barings sells City of London office for £170m: The manager purchased the asset in 2021 for £130.5m and refurbished it at a cost of £11m. (PERE Deals)

Igneo makes debut North American strategy investment with aviation acquisition: The asset manager will invest equity via its core North American Diversified Infrastructure Fund, in line with that strategy’s typical cheque size of $75m to $250m. (Infrastructure Investor Deals)

Deals

They said it

“Investors historically have been essentially locked out of sports, and I think that’s leading to a lot more activity and demand for assets.”

— Colin Neville, partner at the Raine Group, on the new crop of sports funds

Today's letter was prepared by MK Flynn

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