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

• A look at Platinum’s possible liability management prep

• Plus, State Street considers private credit purchase

Platinum’s LME positioning:

Cision Ltd., the PR software provider acquired by Platinum Equity through a $2.74 billion take-private, has formed a new holding company, which could signal a near-term asset sale or collateral transfer.

Purchased in 2020, the business has total leverage of around $2.5 billion, including a $1.2 billion first-lien term loan that’s been trading at distressed levels through the second half of the year, most recently quoted at 66 cents on the dollar.

Moody's downgraded Cision to Caa1 earlier this year and warned against flat-to-down revenue growth as its PR Newswire business deals with a fall-off in capital markets and M&A-related demand.

Cision's structural change was selectively disclosed to certain lenders without a detailed explanation of the decision, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg—mirroring tactics used in other distressed situations to create optionality for liability management transactions.

According to the same sources, Chief Executive Cali Tran departed Cision shortly after the communication. Neither Platinum nor Cision acknowledged the departure, which comes less than two years into Tran's tenure.

• NielsenIQ, backed by Advent International and KKR, has begun discussions with advisers around a potential 2025 public listing, which could value the consumer intelligence firm at around $10 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Brookfield has hired Morgan Stanley and Barrenjoey to launch a Q4 sale process for Aveo, an Australian retirement home operator that could be worth more than $3.5 billion.

• Sagewind Capital acquired a majority stake in Sabel Systems, a provider of digital transformation services to federal agencies.

• Ryan Specialty Holdings (NYSE: RYAN) acquired Innovisk, a London-based specialty underwriter, from Abry Partners and BHMS Investments.

• Hidden Harbor Capital Partners acquired Norplex Micarta, a manufacturer of thermoset composite materials.

• FIS acquired Dragonfly Financial Technologies, a digital business banking provider, from One Equity Partners, which had carved out the business from ACI Worldwide (Nasdaq: ACIW) in 2022.

• J.C. Flowers & Co. agreed to acquire Pepper Advantage, a credit management firm, from Pepper Global.

• Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is considering the sale of its Hong Kong Caltex gas stations business, which could fetch around $400 million, per Bloomberg.

• State Street (NYSE: STT) is exploring a potential acquisition of a private credit firm as part of its infrastructure investment expansion strategy, per the FT.

• The Access Group, owned by TA Associates, agreed to acquire Paytronix, a restaurant loyalty and ordering platform, from Great Hill Partners.

• FutureLife, backed by CVC Capital Partners and Hartenberg Holding, acquired Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine, a UK-based fertility and IVF services provider.

• Elevate Patient Financial Solutions, a portfolio company of Frazier Healthcare Partners and Edgewater Funds, acquired NYX Health, a healthcare eligibility and enrollment services provider.

• Minds + Assembly, backed by Amulet Capital Partners, acquired medical communications agency Boldscience.

• EQT offered to acquire OEM International, a Swedish component business, after securing 72.5 percent of voting rights through a 26 percent holding and the support of other shareholders.

• Apollo, Bain Capital, and Brookfield are considering separate bids for Avery Lodge, a Singapore worker housing portfolio owned by Blackstone, which could be worth around S$750 million ($568 million).

• Comvest Private Equity acquired a majority stake in Riccobene Associates Family Dentistry, a North Carolina-based dental services organization.

• Long Ridge Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Ripjar, a risk and threat intelligence platform.

• Miura Partners acquired HealthTech BioActives, a Spain-based manufacturer of flavonoids and vitamin B12 derivatives for pharmaceuticals, from The Riverside Company.

• AMETEK (NYSE: AME) acquired Virtek Vision International, a provider of laser-based projection systems for aerospace and defense, from American Industrial Partners.

• Fosun Sports Group acquired a minority stake in Wolverhampton Wanderers, an English Premier League football club, from Peak6 Investments for around £39m.

• FineToday, a CVC-owned Japanese personal-care business, has selected Daiwa Securities, Mizuho Financial, SMBC Nikko Securities, and UBS as lead underwriters for an IPO that could happen before the end of the year at a valuation of up to $3 billion.

• Coker, a Trinity Hunt Partners portfolio company, acquired TTG Healthcare Advisors, an Arizona-based healthcare consulting firm.

• SingleOps, backed by FTV Capital and Five Elms Capital, merged with Landscape Management Network, a Serent Capital-owned software provider for landscaping and snow management businesses.

• 1440 Foods, owned by Bain Capital and 4x4 Capital, acquired FitCrunch, a protein bar manufacturer co-founded by celebrity chef Robert Irvine, from Union Capital Associates.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Dash0, an OpenTelemetry-native observability platform, raised $9.5 million in seed funding led by Accel, with participation from Dig Ventures.

• Kanpla, a Danish cafeteria management platform, raised €8 million in Series A funding led by HenQ.

• Endeavor, an AI manufacturing operations platform, raised $7 million in seed funding led by Craft Ventures, with participation from Heartland Ventures, Contrary Capital, and BoxGroup.

• Miros, an AI-powered visual search platform for e-commerce, raised €6 million in pre-Series A funding led by EBRD Venture Capital and Tera Ventures.

Fintech

• Melio, a B2B payments platform for SMEs, raised $150 million in Series E funding led by Fiserv, with participation from Shopify Ventures, Capital One Ventures, Accel, Bessemer, Coatue, Frontline Ventures, General Catalyst, Latitude, and Thrive Capital.

• Zodia Custody, a digital asset custody provider, raised $50 million in new funding to expand into new markets and enhance its product offerings.

• Ellipsis Labs, a developer of decentralized finance infrastructure, raised $21 million in new funding led by Haun Ventures, with participation from Electric Capital and Paradigm.

• Vlayer, a verifiable data infrastructure startup, raised $10 million in pre-seed funding from a16z crypto CSX, Credo Ventures, and BlockTower Capital.

• JustFund, an Australian provider of flexible credit for divorce legal expenses, raised A$5.7 million in seed funding led by Xilium Capital, with participation from Startmate, The Legal Tech Fund, and Tripple.

• MoradaUno, a Mexican proptech for tenant risk evaluations, raised $5.6 million in Series A funding co-led by Flourish Ventures and Cometa, with participation from Clocktower Ventures, Picus Capital, and Y Combinator.

Healthcare

• Research Grid, a London-based clinical trial workflow automation startup, raised $6.5 million in seed funding led by Fuel Ventures, with participation from Arve Capital, Ada Ventures, Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, Arāya Ventures, Ascension Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, and Atomico Angels.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Tebrio, a Spanish producer of mealworms, raised €30 million in new funding from Banco de Santander, Sodical Instituto Financiero de Castilla y León, GCP, and CDTI Innvierte Economía Sostenible.

• Xavveo, a Berlin-based photonic radar startup, raised $8.6 million in seed funding co-led by Vsquared Ventures and imec.xpand.

• BlueFive Capital is raising a $1 billion permanent fund focused on financial services investments in emerging markets.

• Shamrock Capital raised $1.25 billion for its Growth Fund VI and $320 million for Clover Fund I, targeting middle market media and entertainment opportunities.

• Capital Dynamics raised $1.1 billion for its latest secondaries fund.

• Pelican Energy Partners raised $450 million for its first nuclear energy-focused buyout fund.

• Saw Mill Capital raised $435 million for its third lower middle market private equity fund.

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