Happy Friday. Here’s what we’ve got today…

• A look at Clearlake’s renewed interest in Blackbaud

• The deal sheet, plus Adam Neumann’s latest WeWork efforts

Clearlake Capital ups its bid to buy Blackbaud by $500 million

By Bob Clair

Clearlake Capital increased its offer to acquire cloud computing company Blackbaud by almost $500 million, bringing its offer to $4.3 billion, according to an April 14th filing by Blackbaud with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

After its previous offer was rejected, the Santa Monica-based firm has bumped its all-cash proposal from $71 to $80 per share in cash.

In a letter that was attached to the filing, Clearlake indicated that South Carolina-based Blackbaud requires substantial investment, and its challenges can only be overcome by taking the company private.

"We continue to believe in the company's potential since our initial investment in March 2020, over four years ago now. However, despite the management team's determined best efforts, we must acknowledge that the company continues to face substantial operational challenges that require transformational change and investment over many years," Clearlake wrote. "We believe these challenges can practically only be addressed as a private company with the support of a strategic party or sponsor, such as Clearlake, that can provide the necessary financial and institutional support.”

Blackbaud’s competitors include Macquarie-backed Plutora, Vista-backed ACTIVE Network, and Apax-backed Bonterra.

Clearlake’s first offer, a $3.78 billion bid in March 2023, was called "highly opportunistic" by Blackbaud, with management saying it significantly undervalued the company.

This time, however, Blackbaud has characterized the current offer as representing "a fair value" for its shares.

The deal would be among the largest recent transactions in the cloud space—a meaningful jump from IBM’s purchase last year of StreamSets and webMethods for $2.3 billion, the industry’s largest in 2023.

• Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), the department store retailer, is in talks over a potential take-private deal led by the founding Nordstrom family.

• Apollo Global Management and Sony are evaluating a joint bid for Paramount Global, per Bloomberg.

• Schneider Electric is in talks to acquire Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY), an infrastructure engineering software provider trading at market value above $15 billion.

• Concord, a portfolio company of Apollo, has agreed to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a UK-based music rights investment firm, at a valuation of $1.4 billion.

• Wiz is in talks to acquire Lacework, a cloud security platform, for up to $200 million—down from its 2021 valuation of $8.3 billion.

• Sundial Media Group has agreed to acquire Refinery29, a digital media company targeting millennial women, from Vice Media.

• Stonepeak acquired a 1.7 million square foot rail-served logistics portfolio in Chicago from CenterPoint Properties for $125 million.

• Agba, a Hong Kong "financial supermarket" platform, and Triller, a short-video app, announced plans to merge at a combined enterprise value of around $4 billion.

• Getir, a Turkish on-demand delivery service company, is considering asset sales and exits from non-core geographies, per Bloomberg.

• Forward Consumer Partners acquired a majority stake in Firehook Bakery, a Virginia-based artisanal bakery.

• General Atlantic's BeyondNetZero climate fund has acquired a majority stake in GRESB, a real estate and infrastructure-focused ESG data provider backed by Summit Partners.

• Godspeed Capital Management acquired Special Aerospace Services, a provider of engineering and logistics services for the aerospace and defense sectors.

• Titian Software, a life sciences sample management provider backed by Battery Ventures, acquired Labguru, a clinical research software platform.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Anvilogic, a developer of a multi-data platform SIEM, raised $45 million in Series C funding from Evolution Equity Partners, with participation from existing investors Foundation Capital, Cervin Ventures, Myriad Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Outpost Ventures, Stepstone Group, and G Squared.

• Aiperia, a fresh food supply chain management platform, raised €7.5 million in Series A funding. ETF Partners and LBBW Venture Capital co-led, with participation from existing investor Earlybird Venture Capital.

• Clazar, a provider of cloud GTM software, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Ridge Ventures and Ensemble VC led, with participation from Saurabh Gupta and existing investors The General Partnership and Twin Ventures.

• Miggo, an enterprise security monitoring and response platform, raised $7.5 million in seed funding led by YL Ventures and CCL.

• AI Squared, an AI/ML data analysis startup, raised $13.8 million in Series A funding. Ansa Capital led, with participation from returning investors New Enterprise Associates and Ridgeline.

• Halcyon, developer of an AI-powered specialty search engine for regulatory and energy documents, raised $10.8 million in seed funding from Obvious Ventures, Congruent Ventures, and Overture Climate VC.

• dataplor, a geospatial data company, raised $10.6 million in Series A funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Quest Venture Partners, Acronym Venture Capital, Circadian Ventures, Two Lanterns Venture Partners, and APA Venture Partners.

Fintech

• Ramp, a provider of SMB fintech solutions, raised $150 million in Series D-2 funding at a $7.65 billion valuation. Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund co-led, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Greylock, and 8VC and existing backers Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Sands Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Lux Capital, Iconiq Capital, and Definition Capital.

• Pliant, a B2B credit card platform, raised €18 million in new funding from PayPal Ventures, SBI Investment, Motive Ventures, and Alstin Capital.

• Centrifuge, a decentralized finance platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding. ParaFi Capital and Greenfield co-led, with participation from Circle Ventures, IOSG, Arrington Capital, and The Spartan Group.

Media & Consumer

• Flink, a Berlin-based rapid grocery delivery startup, raised $106 million in new funding from Rewe Group, Bond, Northzone, and Cherry Ventures.

• Red Rover Interactive, a multiplayer game studio, raised €14 million in Series A funding led by Krafton, with participation from Tirta Ventures, Overwolf, The Games Fund, Behold Ventures, GEM Capital, Lifelike Capital, and Acequia Capital.

Healthcare

• Avive, a San Francisco-based developer of cardiac arrest response technology, raised $56.5 million in growth equity funding. Questa Capital, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, and Catalyst Health Ventures led, with participation from RC Capital and Eckuity Capital.

• Breaking, a biotech company focused on developing plastic-degrading enzymes, raised $10.5 million in seed funding.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Magnus Metal, a metal casting startup, raised $74 million in Series B funding. Entrée Capital and Target Global co-led, with participation from Caterpillar Ventures, Tal Ventures, Deep Insight Ventures, Awz Ventures, Lumir Ventures, Discount Capital, Lip Ventures, Cresson Management, Next Gear Fund, and Essentia Venture Capital.

• SWTCH, a provider of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for multi-tenanted buildings, raised $27.2 million in Series B funding led by Blue Earth Capital, with participation from Alantra’s Energy Transition, Klima, GIGA Investments, and Active Impact Investments.

• Allen Control Systems, a developer of counter-drone robotic gun systems, raised $12 million in seed funding led by Craft Ventures, with participation from Forum Ventures and Rally Ventures.

• Found Energy, a developer of new aluminum-based clean energy technology, raised $12 million in seed funding from Munich Re Ventures, Autodesk, Good Growth Capital, and MassCEC.

• Momentick, an emissions intelligence startup, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. co-led by Chartered Group Japan and Tau Ventures.

• Vista Equity Partners is close to a more than $20 billion raise for its eighth flagship fund, per Axios.

• 20VC, podcaster Harry Stebbings’ venture fund, is raising $400 million across a pair of new funds.

• SpringTide Ventures raised $65 million for its latest early-stage healthcare fund.

1. WeWork races to raise cash as Adam Neumann offers to outbid rivals.

• Co-working group is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to exit bankruptcy without a sale — Financial Times

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