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

• A look at American Securities’ rightsizing

• Plus, Blackstone and Vista near deal for Smartsheet

American Securities retrenches:

American Securities, whose earliest roots can be traced back to the late 1940s, has made the decision to narrow its investment strategy and reduce headcount in response to recent fundraising challenges.

Per Buyouts, the firm is in the process of laying off staff as it manages a slower-than-expected fundraising process for its ninth flagship fund. Among those departing are managing directors Helen Chiang and Loren Easton, who have transitioned to senior adviser roles. The firm has also cut positions across its Resources Group, which provides operational support to portfolio companies, as well as a number of mid-level investment professionals.

The firm had initially targeted $7 billion for American Securities Partners IX when it launched in late 2022, the same size as its 2019 vintage predecessor. Current expectations are now substantially lower, with internal guidance said to be circling around a final number of $3 billion.

Fundraising efforts may have faced headwinds beyond just general market conditions — most notably, two complete write-offs for investments made out of the firm’s seventh fund (MCS and Air Methods).

The raise also coincided with a bitter and well-publicized divorce for founder Michael Fisch, which included several unfavorable tabloid features published throughout 2023. The unwanted publicity and general succession planning concerns are thought to have further cooled interest from potential limited partners.

American Securities is now planning to refocus its strategy on core sectors where it has historically seen the best performance: industrials, B2B services, and essential services. Non-core areas like consumer and certain healthcare sectors will be de-emphasized.

The 2016 vintage American Securities Partners VII was marked at 13.5 percent net IRR (1.85x TVPI) as of March 31st, and the 2019 vintage fund VIII was held at 18.8 percent net IRR (1.49x TVPI) as of December 2023.

• Verizon (NYSE: VZ) agreed to acquire Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FYBR), the U.S.’ largest pure-play fiber internet provider, for $20 billion in cash.

• Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners are in joint talks with Smartsheet (NYSE: SMAR) over a possible takeover of the work management platform, now trading at a market value above $7 billion.

• SCF Partners acquired DeltaValve and TapcoEnpro, manufacturers of severe-service industrial valves for energy infrastructure, from KKR-owned CIRCOR International.

• Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is considering options for its 88 percent stake in Mobileye Global (Nasdaq: MBLY), an Israeli autonomous driving company, per Bloomberg.

• GTCR and Golden Gate Capital are exploring the sale of Antylia Scientific, a lab equipment supplier, which could be worth around $2 billion, per the FT.

• Topgolf Callaway Brands (NYSE: MODG) announced plans to spin off its Topgolf entertainment business into a separate public company by the second half of 2025.

• Amulet Capital Partners acquired Genetics & IVF Institute, a provider of reproductive tissue banking services.

• Hg bought Gryphon Investors’ stake in Ncontracts, a provider of compliance and vendor management solutions for financial services, alongside Ncontracts’ concurrent acquisition of Venminder, a third-party risk management platform.

• Birch Hill Equity Partners agreed to acquire McKesson’s Canada-based pharmacy businesses Rexall and Well.ca.

• EQT is in late-stage negotiations to acquire GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, a healthcare revenue cycle management provider.

• AXA IM Alts acquired a majority stake in CAPZA, a European private debt and private equity firm with €9 billion in AUM, and will take full ownership by 2026.

• Rotunda Capital Partners acquired Lehman Pipe and Supply, a distributor of industrial pipe, valves, and fittings to commercial HVAC contractors.

• Tower Arch Capital recapitalized ACS Manufacturing, a manufacturer of structural enclosures for backup power systems used in datacenters.

• Bansk Group acquired Foundation Wellness, a Wadsworth, Ohio-based parent company of various footcare and orthopedic brands, from Gridiron Capital.

• Muck Rack acquired Keyhole, a social listening and analytics platform.

• IHH Healthcare agreed to acquire Island Hospital, a 600-bed private hospital in Penang, Malaysia, for $896 million from Affinity Equity Partners.

• Paylocity (Nasdaq: PCTY) agreed to acquire Airbase, a spend management platform for mid-market companies, for $325 million.

• RF Investment Partners invested in Covr, a workforce management software provider for post-acute care facilities.

• WindRose Health Investors invested in MyndYou, a New York-based provider of conversational AI solutions for healthcare.

• Blue Delta Capital Partners invested in ITC Federal, a provider of IT solutions for U.S. federal agencies.

• Mainsail Partners invested in MirrorWeb, a provider of compliance and digital preservation software for financial institutions, for $63 million from Maven Capital Partners.

• Targa Resources (NYSE: TRGP) rejected a takeover offer from Williams Cos (NYSE: WMB).

• Astrion, a portfolio company of Brightstar Capital Partners, acquired Axient, a provider of specialized engineering solutions for the U.S. government.

• Informa acquired the creator conference VidCon from Paramount Global (Nasdaq: PARA).

• Bishop Street Underwriters, backed by RedBird Capital Partners, acquired Conifer Insurance Services, a specialty commercial MGA, from Conifer Holdings (Nasdaq: CNFR).

• Schneider Geospatial, an Align Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Systems Development Group, a provider of geo-centric property record and analysis solutions for local governments.

• Kiteworks, backed by Insight Partners, acquired 123FormBuilder, a Romania-based provider of web forms and data collection solutions.

• 7NXT, a portfolio company of Oakley Capital, agreed to acquire Buddyfit, an Italian online fitness platform.

• Heartland agreed to acquire a 75 percent stake in the Topshop and Topman brands from Asos (LON: ASC) for £135 million.

• MyCarrier acquired Curant, a digital payments platform for 3PLs and freight forwarders.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Cortex, an engineering productivity platform, raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Scale Venture Partners, with participation from World Innovation Labs, Cross Creek, Alpha Square Group, IVP, Sequoia, and Y Combinator.

• Oyster, a remote employee management platform, raised $59 million in Series D funding led by Silver Lake Waterman, with participation from Emergence Capital, Stripes, Georgian, G2 Venture Partners, and Endeavor Catalyst.

• Mintlify, a developer documentation platform, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures and Y Combinator.

• Reonic, a German SaaS platform for renewable energy installers, raised €13 million in Series A funding led by Northzone, with participation from Point Nine and Puzzle Ventures.

• Zamp, a sales tax compliance platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Day One Ventures.

• Acuvity, an AI security and governance provider, raised $9 million in seed funding led by Foundation Capital.

Fintech

• Cobre, a Colombia-based corporate treasury platform, raised $35 million in Series B funding led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from Kaszek, QED, and Canary.

• Unlock Technologies, a home equity provider, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by D2 Asset Management, with participation from Saluda Grade, Second Century Ventures, and REACH.

• Sedric AI, an AI compliance platform for financial institutions, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Amex Ventures, StageOne Ventures, and The Garage.

• Malaa, a Saudi wealth management platform, raised $17.3 million in Series A funding led by SNB Capital, with participation from Derayah Financial, Khwarizmi Ventures, Impact46, and WKN.

• Ume, a Brazilian payment network and merchant services platform for SMBs on Pix, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by PayPal Ventures, with participation from NFX, Globo Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, Big Bets, FJ Labs, Endeavor, and Norte Ventures.

• Cognitive Credit, a provider of data and analytics for corporate credit markets, raised $10 million in Series B funding led by ETFS Capital, with participation from XTX Ventures.

• AltScore, a B2B credit infrastructure provider for Latin American lenders, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding led by Haymaker Ventures, with participation from Kamay Ventures, BuenTrip Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, FarOut Ventures, and TechStars.

Consumer & Media

• Dongchedi, ByteDance's car information and trading platform, raised $600 million in new funding at a $3 billion valuation from General Atlantic, HongShan, KKR & Co., and Gaorong Ventures.

Healthcare

• OrsoBio, a clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for obesity-related disorders, raised $67 million in Series B funding co-led by Ascenta Capital and Woodline Partners LP, with participation from Samsara Biocapital, Longitude Capital, Enavate Sciences, NuevaBio, and Eli Lilly and Company.

• Thatch, a personalized health benefits platform, raised $38 million in Series A funding co-led by Index Ventures and General Catalyst, with participation from SemperVirens, The General Partnership, Andreessen Horowitz, and Avid Ventures.

• ZipBio, a startup using generative AI to compress large proteins for gene therapies and drug delivery, raised $4 million in seed funding.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Mantel, a carbon capture startup developing molten borate-based technology, raised $30 million in Series A funding co-led by Shell Ventures and Eni Next, with participation from Engine Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Hartree, bp Ventures, Arosa Ventures, Vale Ventures, Newlab, and MCJ Collective.

• Switch Bioworks, a developer of nitrogen-fixing microbes for fertilizers, raised $17 million in Series Seed funding led by Change Forces Capital, with participation from Grantham Foundation, Astanor Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, Anthos Capital, Thia Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Ag Ventures Alliance.

• Carbyon, a Dutch direct air capture startup, raised €15.3 million in Series A funding from Siemens Financial Services, Omnes Capital, Global Cleantech Capital, Invest-NL, Innovation Industries, and Lowercarbon Capital.

• ATLAS Space Operations, a provider of ground station services for satellite communications, raised $15 million in new funding led by NewSpace Capital, with participation from Michigan Capital Network, Beringea, Wakestream Ventures, Boomerang Catapult, Michigan Rise, and Red Cedar Ventures.

• Citroniq, a producer of carbon-negative materials, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by a large multi-national energy technology company, with participation from Lummus Technology Ventures.

• Entalpic, a Paris-based AI-enabled materials discovery startup, raised €8.5 million in Seed funding led by Breega, Cathay Innovation, and Felicis.

• Warburg Pincus raised over $4 billion for its Capital Solutions Founders Fund.

• Park Square Capital raised €3.4 billion for its latest European direct lending fund.

• Goldman Sachs' Petershill is targeting $1 billion for a new fund focused on seeding emerging private equity managers in 2024.

• Ardabelle Capital, a new European private equity firm founded by former Eurazeo CEO Virginie Morgon, is launching a €500 million climate-focused fund.

• Aiga Capital Partners raised $240 million for its debut climate infrastructure fund.

Interested in partnering with Transacted? If you’re a financial services firm looking to connect with an engaged audience, please reach out.

Got a tip or an idea for a story? Email [email protected], or Tweet/DM @transactedInc