Private Equity deals handpicked by our team to have longevity, strong fundamentals, an intelligent executive team, and growth-oriented investors. Text is aggregated from various press release news sources, released by the acquiring firms.
If you're looking at the future of each respective industry, these are the companies to pay attention to. If you're a functional expert looking to get involved with mature startups like the ones listed below, get in touch to see if you're a fit to join our Flywheel.
MSP Sports Capital today announced it acquired a majority interest from ESPN Productions, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN, Inc., in X Games, an iconic sports and entertainment property providing a global stage for elite action sports athletes to compete at the highest level. The acquisition is MSP Sports Capital's sixth investment, as the investment firm continues to build a best-in-class sports portfolio, which includes investments in McLaren Racing Limited and a global soccer consortium. ESPN Productions, Inc. will retain a minority, non-controlling position in X Games, and ESPN, Inc. will serve as the domestic linear broadcast partner as part of a multi-year agreement finalized in conjunction with the transaction. MSP will assume day-to-day operational control of the X Games business.
"MSP Sports Capital is excited about the future of X Games," said Jeff Moorad, Founder and CEO, MSP Sports Capital.
X Games, founded by ESPN, Inc. in 1995, pioneered action sports entertainment by introducing the world audience to televised high stakes competition. This globally recognized brand has long provided premier athletes a platform to showcase their record-breaking talents across disciplines such as skiing, snowboarding, Moto X, BMX freestyle, and skateboarding. MSP Sports Capital's investment will continue to invigorate X Games events and increase appeal to a digitally native audience seeking expanded access to athletes and community-driven content.
CenterOak Partners LLC (“CenterOak”), a Dallas-based private equity firm, today announced its portfolio company Wetzel’s Pretzels (“Wetzel’s” or the “Company”), has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by MTY Franchising USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MTY Food Group Inc. (TSX:MTY) for a cash purchase price of $207 million. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, Wetzel’s is the second largest franchisor and owner of quick service restaurants operating in the snack category. The Company has a network of over 350 locations, 90% of which are franchised, across 25 states in the U.S. as well as Canada and Panama. The Company’s menu includes a variety of fresh baked soft pretzels, Wetzel Dogs, Wetzel Bitz and beverages. During the last twelve months, total network sales have reached approximately $245 million, serving nearly 21 million customers. CenterOak acquired Wetzel’s in 2016.
Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, today announced the completion of its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, in partnership with institutional co-investors, for $93.50 per share in cash.
"Today marks an exciting new chapter for Avalara. We thank our employees, customers, partners, and shareholders for their trust during this process, and we are excited to begin our work alongside Vista,” said Scott McFarlane, co-founder and CEO of Avalara. “As the leading enterprise software investor, Vista knows what it takes to pursue and achieve excellence. We look forward to partnering with their experienced team to advance our mission to become the global cloud compliance platform and provide even greater value to our customers and partners.”
With the completion of the transaction, Avalara shares have ceased trading and are no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
GTCR, a leading private equity firm, announced today that it has made a strategic, majority investment in Biocoat Holdings, LLC ("Biocoat" or the "Company"). As part of The Leaders Strategy™, GTCR will again partner with industry veteran Chip Hance, the current Chairman of GTCR portfolio company Regatta Medical Holdings, LLC (d/b/a "Resonetics"), who will join Biocoat as Executive Chairman. Going forward, the existing Biocoat management team, led by CEO Jim Moran, will continue in their existing roles executing on Biocoat's growth initiatives in partnership with GTCR.
Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, Biocoat is a leading medical device contract manufacturing organization ("CMO"), specializing in custom, biocompatible hydrophilic coatings for interventional medical devices. The Company's capabilities include developing and supplying customized coatings formulations, performing coatings application services, and offering coatings equipment solutions. Over the past 31 years, Biocoat has developed a diverse base of both blue-chip and emerging medical device customers, a highly experienced team of engineers and scientists, and state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facilities. This platform enables the Company to work with its customers across a wide range of interventional products and medical device segments, including neurovascular, ophthalmology, cardiovascular and other interventional specialties.
International private equity firm, Cinven, today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire TaxAct for approximately $720 million. Following closing of the transaction, Cinven will bring the business together with existing portfolio company Drake Software ("Drake" or the "Company") under a single holding company. This will create a full-service tax ecosystem provider with the scope to use the resources and shared principles of the combined businesses to innovate and support their complementary professional tax preparer and individual tax filer customer bases.
TaxAct is one of the leading providers of digital, do-it-yourself ("DIY") tax filing assistance software and services, operating in a fast growing subset of the U.S. tax preparation services market. Since it was founded in 1998, TaxAct has grown rapidly, providing DIY tax filing services to more than 85 million individual filers to date, and was the first online software provider to offer free tax filing services.
Text is aggregated from various press release news sources, released by the acquiring firms.
If you're looking at the future of each respective industry, these are the companies to pay attention to. If you're a functional expert looking to get involved with mature startups like the ones listed below, get in touch to see if you're a fit to join our Flywheel.
.png)
.png)