Ascend Capital makes majority investment in Seoul Medical Group; SK Capital completes acquisition of Milestone Environmental Services

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Ascend Capital makes majority investment in Seoul Medical Group; SK Capital completes acquisition of Milestone Environmental Services

Morning Hubsters!

After a historic hard-right revolt in the House led to Tuesday’s ousting of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the markets have become skittish about a potential recession if the government shuts down next month.

In the wake of rising recession fears, uncertainty is back on investors’ minds, which is never a good place to be, especially in the opaque world of private equity valuations. Republicans believe they’ll vote on a new speaker next week.

As the economy wobbles along, we have some news:

Ascend Capital makes a majority investment in Seoul Medical Group.

SK Capital completes its deal in Milestone Environmental Services.

And Excellere Partners is running a two-asset continuation fund deal to extend its hold over AIS Healthcare and LucidHealth.

Community health
Ascend Capital Partners, formed in 2019 to back entrepreneurial community health organizations, acquired a majority stake in Seoul Medical Group, a physician-run group providing clinical and non-clinical healthcare services to patients.

Specialty
SK Capital completed the acquisition of Milestone Environmental Services, which provides environmental services and carbon management. It bought the company from Amberjack Capital Partners.

Two assets
Excellere Partners is running a two-asset continuation fund process that would move AIS Healthcare and LucidHealth out of an older fund or funds and into a special purpose vehicle for more time to grow the businesses. Read more on Buyouts about the deal.

Negotiations
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of work around co-investments and how they interact with continuation funds. It’s a dynamic that is fairly new and is leading to tougher negotiations by LPs who seek to preserve their rights in situations where GPs are attempting to move an asset into a continuation fund that may charge new fees and carried interest potential.

If you have thoughts on this, hit me up!

That’s it for me! Reach me with tips n’ gossip, feedback or book recommendations at christopher.w@pei.group or find me on LinkedIn.

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

University of California Board of Regents, which managed about $164 billion as of March 31, is running a sales process of around $1.2 billion of stakes in private infrastructure funds, sources told Buyouts.
ICG’s Strategic Equity unit has emerged as the buyer of New Mountain Capital’s continuation fund for a medical data-focused asset, Secondaries Investor has learned.
New York City Police Pension Fund is considering increasing its private equity allocation target from 8 percent to 10 percent, but its consultant and investment staff believe fixed income to be a better bet. (Buyouts)
Paris-based Ardian seeks €500m for new nature-based fund: The Article 9 fund will invest in projects to restore forests, wetlands and mangroves in developing countries. (Infrastructure Investor)
A research note from Moody’s Investor Service predicts a deepening intensity of competition between broadly syndicated leveraged loans on the one hand and private credit lenders on the other, through 2024. (Priavte Debt Investor)