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

• A look at the latest numbers on private equity compensation

• Plus, Apax and GTCR’s $13 billion exit of AssuredPartners

Compensation:

Private equity compensation packages held steady in 2024 across all fund sizes and seniority levels, according to the latest industry survey released by Odyssey Search Partners.

For each cohort of associates, vice presidents, principals, and partners, this year’s median cash compensation is almost entirely unchanged from 2023 levels.

Also unchanged is the delta between the smallest funds and the largest. Associates at firms with current fund sizes of sub-$500 million earned a median of $230,000 — a 37 percent discount to the $365,000 take-home for the median associate at a fund larger than $10 billion (itself a good way off the top quartile package of $405,000).

The difference only grows with seniority. Vice presidents ($325k) and principals ($480k) in the same lower middle market grouping saw 47 and 44 percent discounts, respectively, to cash compensation of peers at funds greater than $10 billion—$610k for VPs and $865k for principals.

Reported current fund carried interest allocations fell into relatively tight bands at the vice president level. Of the 83 percent of VPs who received an allocation, 77 percent reported a dollar equivalent of between $1.5 to $5 million.

Dispersion grew for principals, nearly all of whom received carry. 59 percent reported allocations between $3.5 to $10 million, while the top 7 percent fell between $10 to $15 million.

At the partner level, most allocations reach into the upper seven-figure and low eight-figure range: 83 percent of respondents reported current fund carry dollars of greater than $3.5 million, and 41 percent reported greater than $10 million.

Data also show compensation variance by location. Roles in San Francisco’s Bay Area and New York City command a 6 percent and 5 percent premium, respectively, over the national median.

On the low end, remote positions are hit with an 11 percent discount to the national median, while Florida and Chicago round out the bottom three geographies with 8 percent discounts.

• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) agreed to acquire AssuredPartners, an insurance broker with operations across the U.S., U.K., and Ireland, for $13.45 billion from GTCR and Apax Partners.

• Novolex, backed by Apollo Global Management, agreed to acquire Pactiv Evergreen (Nasdaq: PTVE), a manufacturer of food packaging and beverage cartons, for $6.7 billion.

• Blackstone and EQT are among those interested in waste management provider Urbaser, which Platinum Equity is exiting in a potential €5 billion process, with final bids expected by late February.

• Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Nature Infrastructure Capital acquired Greencells' Netherlands-based solar development platform from Zahid Group.

• Macquarie Asset Management agreed to acquire a 40 percent stake in Diamond Infrastructure Solutions, a Gulf Coast infrastructure assets portfolio including power, steam, and pipeline operations from Dow (NYSE: DOW) for $2.4 billion.

• Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) agreed to acquire Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), an advertising and marketing services firm, for $13.25 billion.

• Independent Bank Corp. (Nasdaq: INDB) agreed to acquire Enterprise Bancorp (Nasdaq: EBTC), a Massachusetts and New Hampshire-based bank with 27 branches and $4.7 billion in assets, for $562 million.

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is exploring options, including a potential sale, for its ETF Accelerator platform, which helps institutional clients launch and manage their own exchange-traded funds, per Bloomberg.

• Trive Capital is exploring options, including a sale or IPO, of Karman Space & Defense, an aerospace and defense systems manufacturer that could be worth around $3 billion, per Bloomberg.

• CVC Capital Partners has offered to take CompuGroup Medical (ETR: COP) private through a €1.18 billion tender offer at €22 per share, while the founding Gotthardt family will retain its 50.1 percent stake in the German healthcare software provider, per Bloomberg.

• GIC has hired JPMorgan to evaluate options for its 50 percent stake in Greenko Energy Holdings, an Indian renewable energy firm, which could be valued at around $10 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Kioxia Holdings, a Bain Capital-backed memory chip manufacturer, priced its Tokyo Stock Exchange IPO at ¥1,455 per share, valuing the company at $5.2 billion ahead of its December 18 listing.

• Recognize invested in SDG Corp., a digital transformation and IT services provider.

• Argosy Healthcare Partners recapitalized Nicklas Medical Staffing, a Jacksonville-based provider of staffing solutions for pathology and histology labs.

• Platinum Equity acquired Global, the Source, a Texas-based HVAC/R components distributor, and will merge it with existing portfolio company Motors & Armatures.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Nscale, a UK-based AI hyperscaler, raised $155 million in Series A funding led by Sandton Capital Partners, with participation from Kestrel, Bluesky Asset Management, and Florence Capital.

• WaveForms AI, a startup developing audio-based AI interactions led by former OpenAI researcher Alexis Conneau, raised $40 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Healthcare

• Cala Health, a developer of wearable neuromodulation therapies, raised $50 million in growth funding co-led by Vertex Growth Fund and Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, with participation from Action Potential, Johnson & Johnson, Lightstone, Lux Capital, GV, OSF Ventures, Ascension Ventures, TriVentures, Reimagined Ventures, Peak6, and Fiscus.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Pixxel, a hyperspectral satellite imaging company, raised $24 million in Series B extension funding from M&G Catalyst and Glade Brook Capital Partners, with participation from Google, Radical Ventures, and Lightspeed.

• Centana Growth Partners raised $600 million for its third fund focused on growth-stage fintech, per Axios.

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