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Elliott, Patient Square, Veritas agree to Syneos take-private; LightBay hits hard cap on Fund II

Morning Hubs!

This is Chris, on for Wire Wednesday.

A quick reminder that we are putting together our annual emerging manager project, mostly focusing on first-timers, but also funds II and III. The package explores challenges faced by emerging managers in today’s market, and as always, includes our home-grown database of mostly first-time funds in the market.

If you have thoughts on interesting new PE names we should include, hit me up at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com.

Speaking of, below you’ll find some news about one of the newer names in the industry that has reached final close on their sophomore pool.

But first …

Big one: This just crossed the wire this morning – Syneos Health, a contract research organization, agreed to be acquired by an investor consortium in an all-cash deal for about $7.1 billion, including outstanding debt. The consortium, comprising Elliott Investment Management, Patient Square Capital and Veritas Capital, is offering $43 per share, a 24 percent premium over the closing share price on Feb. 13, 2023.

Some numbers: DC Advisory sees improvements in the deal environment, with continued strength in the second quarter around infrastructure, defense, education, healthcare, tech and ESG-related sectors. Transactions in other sectors could potentially increase over the summer, the advisor said.

“2023 deal activity is likely to increase sequentially as fierce competition returns to the mid-market, especially for exceptional assets and the now attractive smaller ‘bite size’ yet high quality situations, leading the way back,” according to DC Advisory’s US PE Mid-Market Monitor report.

Final: As mentioned above, one of the newer managers we’ve been tracking has closed its second fund. LightBay Capital, led by former Ares executives, closed Fund II on just over $1 billion, beating its $800 million target. Read more here on Buyouts.

That’s it for me! Have a great rest of your Wednesday. Reach me at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com or LinkedIn with tips n’ gossip, feedback or Drama situations. Or of course book recommendations! I’m just finishing up a re-reading of Bleak House.

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

HarbourVest Partners is offering a sweetener for limited partners who kick in $100 million or more to its flagship secondaries pool, which is targeting $12 billion. (Buyouts)

Apollo Global Management aims to launch a clean transition private equity strategy, as the flow of climate-related opportunities continues to build. (Buyouts)

Led by the US and the UAE, the Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate summit in Washington DC this week will try to promote agtech investment and public-private collaboration, but fitting the ‘puzzle pieces’ together is a work in progress. (Agri Investor)

Europe’s biogas bonanza: As a replacement for natural gas, home-grown biomethane is close to perfect – and this is only the beginning of the biogas revolution. (Infrastructure Investor)

If one was to ask a real estate investor where to put their last dollar in the current market environment, the chances are the answer would be in credit. (Private Equity Real Estate)

Apollo Global Management expects to wrap up fundraising for its 10th flagship vehicle over the summer, the firm revealed on its first-quarter 2023 results on Tuesday. It expects to raise less than the $25 billion it set out to gather initially. (Private Equity International)

17Capital announced that it has hired Alejandro Hernandez as its first-ever head of investor relations for Canada and Latin America. Hernandez’s background includes more than 20 years working for two prominent Canadian pension systems. (Private Funds CFO)

Switzerland-headquartered secondaries firm Montana Capital Partners is set to open a New York office, and has hired former Newbury Partners director and investment committee member David Overton to lead it. (Secondaries Investor)