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Madison Dearborn, TA, Bernhard tap growing demand for govtech; Aleph and Crestview scoop up game developer

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday.

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom. We are opening this morning with a look at the upsurge of PE’s investment in govtech. We’ve rounded up seven deals that touch on key themes drawing dealmakers into the sector.   

Next, we have a deal-packed morning.

First, Aleph Capital Partners and Crestview Partners, based in London and New York respectively, are investing in a video games developer.

Secondly, New York-based PE firms New Mountain Capital and Endicott Capital are investing in a global food and beverage intelligence platform.

Finally, insurance complexities are growing, and so are opportunities for PE firms. We are closing with a look at Harris Williams’ recent report detailing trends and growth drivers for the sector.

Thoroughly modern government

PE Hub has noticed an upsurge of private equity activity in the govtech sector, writes Iris Dorbian. The market’s recession resistance, coupled with its avid embrace of state-of-the-art software, are likely enticements for dealmakers.

Iris rounded up seven PE-backed deals, and if you upgrade to the premium version of the Wire you can read all about them.

Full potential

Aleph Capital Partners and Crestview Partners have made a significant equity investment in Saber Interactive, a Fort Lauderdale-based interactive entertainment and video game developer.

Saber Interactive has game titles such as Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, World War Z, SnowRunner, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, Insurgency: Sandstorm, among others.

Premium subscribers to the Wire have access to more on this deal.

Deep expertise

New Mountain Capital and Endicott Capital have made an investment in Dataessential, a Chicago-based market research for the food and beverage sector.Dataessential was backed by Spectrum Equity.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more on this deal.

Severity and complexity

Several trends are driving greater PE investment in insurance claims management and expert services, according to Harris Williams’ recent report.

Premium subscribers have access to all the nuggets discussed in the report.

That’s it for today. You can always reach me at obey.m@pei.group for news tips.

On Monday Craig McGlashan will bring you the Europe edition of the Wire, and MK Flynn will bring you the US edition.

Have a nice weekend,

Obey

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

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PE Hub takes a look at six recent deals that caught their eye in the sport, health and wellness sector in Europe and the US from the last three months. 

LGT Capital Partners – the seventh-largest secondaries firm globally according to the SI 50 – has raised $7 billion for its latest secondaries flagship, Secondaries Investor has learned.

The scale of the climate crisis – and the climate investment opportunity – requires systemic change. What can an asset allocator do? New Private Markets reports on some advice given to allocators from climate investing GPs given from a panel at IPEM, a private equity conference in Paris.

Do NAV loans really destroy the raison d’être of limited partnerships? Private Equity International is also reporting from the Paris conference, where NAV loans for LP distributions were a hot topic – some might say even a spicy one. 

'Private IPOs' – one step behind continuation funds with a similar trajectory: While market participants disagree with its branding, exercises to rejig the underlying shareholder base of companies to provide liquidity are underway. (Secondaries Investor)

Lone Star’s senior managing director Jerome Foulon told PERE the Dallas-based private equity real estate firm was “very happy” with the amount of equity raised for its latest real estate opportunity fund, Lone Real Estate Fund VII. But at $2.7 billion, less than half the $6 billion of equity initially targeted for the fund, such a remark requires contextualizing.

European asset-backed lending specialist RoundShield has held a final close for its fifth fund with more than $1 billion of commitments. (Private Debt Investor)

They said it

“Our portfolio covers the whole gamut from national security to federal civilian agency customers and technology products and systems to software and services, providing ample opportunities for growth and innovation.”

— Matthew Norton, partner, Madison Dearborn Partners, regarding the firm’s investments in govtech deals