Bernhard Capital spots bolt-ons for Optimum Energy; BW Forsyth buys into retail brokerage

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Bernhard Capital spots bolt-ons for Optimum Energy; BW Forsyth buys into retail brokerage

Good morning Hubsters, Craig McGlashan here with the Tuesday Wire.

Tech is the opening theme of the day, as PE Hub’s Michael Schoeck learns about the bolt-on opportunities that Jonathan de Lauréal of Bernhard Capital Partners sees for portfolio company Optimum Energy.

We then switch to insurance, where BW Forsyth Partners has invested in a retail brokerage, before we feature investment advisory as Carlye joins GTCR as a minority investor in Captrust Financial Advisors.

Energy efficiency

First up today is a deep dive into Bernhard Capital Partners’ acquisition of Optimum Energy, a software-enabled energy efficiency and engineering services business.

Bernhard managing director Jonathan de Lauréal told PE Hub’s Michael Schoeckthat the company’s software is paired with a digital twin technology of artificial intelligence partner Tignis, a Seattle-based technology start-up formed in 2017 to support industrial data processes with AI analytics.

Read more about how that will affect bolt-on opportunities in the premium version of the Wire.

Insurance

A deal that caught my eye this morning was BW Forsyth Partners investing in WalkerHughes Group, a retail insurance brokerage.

We’ve also seen an uptick in insurance deals over on PE Hub Europe ­– CVC taking a majority stake in Dale Underwriting Partners and Pollen Street and Bain Capital backing a merger between two insurers, for instance.

I’d love to get readers’ thoughts on whether there are any underlying forces driving these deals. Pop them over to me at craig.m@pei.group.

Investment advice

Carlyle has made a minority investment in Captrust Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor (RIA) that is already backed by GTCR.

Read more in the full version of the Wire.

OK that’s all from me today. Chris Witkowsky will be at the helm tomorrow.

Cheers,

Craig

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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