The biggest tech deals in H1, plus Novacap banks on shifting ad trends

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The biggest tech deals in H1, plus Novacap banks on shifting ad trends

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday!

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the Wire.

We are capping off the week with a highlight of a couple of the biggest private equity tech deals so far this year.

I also have a story about Novacap capitalizing on shifting ad trends with its recent Cadent acquisition.

But let’s start with this morning’s deal news.

More connection

EarthLink, a portfolio company of Trive Capital, has acquired One Ring Networks, an Athens, Texas-based fixed wireless provider of voice and data services.

EarthLink, which is headquartered in Atlanta, is an internet provider to homes and small businesses.

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Shifting ad trends

The move from advertising on traditional linear TV to more digital methods attracted Novacap to acquire Cadent, a provider of converged TV advertising, in a deal announced earlier in August. I interviewed Samuel Nasso, a principal at Novacap, to discuss the deal and the opportunities the Montreal-based PE firm has identified in the advertising space.

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Big tech deals

As people reflect on H1 and try to forecast what could be in store for private equity during the second half, I decided to highlight some of the biggest tech deals of the year so far.

Back in April, I covered some of the deals in this story about Why private equity firms still love enterprise software but since then, more tech deals have come to the market.

I have highlights of some of the biggest deals, in dollar value, below:

Silver Lake, in partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, bought Qualtrics for $12.5 billion in an all-cash transaction. The deal closed in June. Co-headquartered in Provo, Utah, and Seattle, Qualtrics is a cloud-native software provider that aims to help organizations identify and resolve points of friction across digital and human touch points.

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On that note, that’s it for me today.

I will be back with the newsletter on Monday.

Have a nice weekend.

Cheers,

Obey

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Private fund advisers before the fall: With the private funds compliance rule expected to land next week, the SEC could be about to reshape the industry. (Private Equity International)

OGCI-founded Climate Investment launches growth equity strategy: Climate Investment – the firm founded by 12 energy majors in the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative – is targeting $750m for the Decarbonisation Acceleration Fund. (New Private Markets)

Apollo terminates Dylan Foo as head of infra – exclusive: The termination comes after Foo’s former co-head of infra, long-time staffer Geoff Strong, left the firm late last year. (Infrastructure Investor)

Why aiming small has its advantages: Could lower-market strategies offer a more fertile hunting ground for credit managers in an increasingly competitive market? Prime Lead Partners' Viral Patel considers the evidence. (Private Debt Investor)