Private equity fire, safety and security investment roundup; plus food deals from Subway and AVC

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Private equity fire, safety and security investment roundup; plus food deals from Subway and AVC

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday!

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the Wire.

We will cap off the week today with a look at six private equity firms that are investing in the fire, safety and security sector, banking on some attractive characteristics in the industry.

We will also revisit yesterday’s news that Atlanta-based Roark Capital agreed to acquire Subway, and take a look at a PAG deal to acquire AVC from KKR.

We'll close out with a Sole Source-backed Peak Technologies deal to acquire software company North Coast Technical.

Safety and security

The fire, safety and security sector has undergone strong consolidation recently via private equity-backed companies or as platform investments. Officials at PE firms and their portfolio companies say that the sector has attractive characteristics such as repeatable business models, high customer retention rates and nice growth prospects.

I detailed some of the PE firms involved, starting with the Chicago-based Wind Point Partners, which has completed 19 acquisitions since 2020 through its portfolio company Pavion.

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

Let’s get a Subway

Roark Capital on Thursday agreed to acquire the fast-food restaurant chain Subway for an undisclosed amount. (The Financial Times, citing two people with knowledge of the terms, puts the number at more than $9 billion.)

Founded in 1965, Subway is headquartered in Milford, Connecticut. The franchise has thousands of restaurants in more than 100 countries. It is mainly known for its sandwiches, wraps, salads and bowls.

And more food

Staying with the food theme, Hong Kong-headquartered PAG agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Australian Venue Co, a food and beverage hospitality business, from KKR.

AVC owns and operates a portfolio of more than 210 pubs, bars and restaurants across Australia and New Zealand. KKR invested in AVC in 2017.

Image processing

Peak Technologies, which is backed by Sole Source Capital, has acquired Chesterland, Ohio-based North Coast Technical, a provider of machine vision hardware and image processing software for Fortune 500 companies along with small and medium-sized businesses.

Headquartered in Littleton, Massachusetts, Peak Technologies is a system integrator of digital supply chain, retail and mobile workforce solutions.

That’s it for me today.

MK Flynn will be back with the newsletter on Monday.

Have a nice weekend.

Cheers,

Obey

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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