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

• A look at PCI Pharma ahead of a planned Kohlberg-led recapitalization

• Plus, Medline eyes a 2025 IPO

PCI Pharma’s next iteration:

PE Hub reports that Kohlberg & Co. is preparing an equity recapitalization of contract development and manufacturing organization PCI Pharma Services and has hired Jefferies to advise on an early 2025 process.

Kohlberg is hoping to bring on another investor to help finance PCI's recently announced $365 million infrastructure expansion program, which includes a 545,000 sq. ft. injectables build-out at its Rockford, Illinois campus and new production facilities in Ireland.

Partners Group and Mubadala Investment Company also plan to hold their their minority positions through the recapitalization.

Since acquiring the business in late 2020 for more than $3 billion, Kohlberg has grown the Philadelphia-headquartered CDMO from around $170 million in EBITDA to nearly $500 million.

It’s been a story of continued momentum in the core high-potency manufacturing and packaging businesses, plus capabilities-focused inorganic growth, including the 2021 acquisition of Permira-owned LSNE for $1.5 billion — strengthening sterile fill-finish and lyophilization offerings.

For investors, PCI has been the gift that keeps on giving: it's now delivered enviable performance for half a dozen sponsors over more than a decade.

Before selling to Kohlberg, Partners Group purchased the business in 2016 for around $1.1 billion from previous owner Frazier Healthcare Partners. Both Partners Group and Frazier rolled meaningful stakes in their respective sales.

Thomas H. Lee Partners also took a minority stake in 2016 alongside Partners Group. The firm opted to fully exit in the sale to Kohlberg, returning a reported 4.2 times its money and an IRR of around 50 percent.

Frazier's second bite at the apple would have roughly matched THL, but its first exit might have been better.

Speaking to Fierce Healthcare in 2018, managing partner Nader Naini said that PCI "had less than $10 million of earnings when we acquired them in partnership with a Frazier operating partner," and added that the business had since grown to "well north of $100 million."

Bill Mitchell, the operating partner in question, had been the former president of Catalent Pharma Solutions’ US commercial packaging business, which Frazier acquired in 2012.

Within a year, the firm tacked on both AndersonBrecon, AmerisourceBergen’s consumer packaging arm, and high potency specialist Penn Pharmaceutical Services to form the core of PCI.

• Medline Industries, a medical supplies distributor owned by Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman, is preparing for a 2025 IPO that could value the company at around $50 billion, per Reuters.

• Cinven agreed to acquire Grant Thornton UK for around £1.3 billion, beating out competing interest from a range of sponsors and New Mountain Capital-owned Grant Thornton US.

• Egon Durban and Michael Meldman each acquired 7.5 percent stakes in the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders franchise from controlling owner Mark Davis.

• Värde Partners acquired Unity Investment Management, a manager of 74 medical outpatient buildings, for around $800 million from Unity Medical Properties.

• APi Group Corporation (NYSE: APG) acquired Endeavor Fire Protection from Building Industry Partners.

• Ersel Asset Management agreed to acquire Deenova, a provider of drug and medical device traceability services for hospitals, from H.I.G. Capital.

• Wiz agreed to acquire automated security vulnerability remediation platform Dazz, whose backers include Greylock Partners, Insight Partners, and Index Ventures, for around $450 million in cash and stock.

• Affinity Equity Partners is in talks to acquire Golden Fresh, a Malaysian seafood supplier, at a valuation of around $290 million, per Bloomberg.

• General Atlantic invested in Technosylva, a provider of catastrophic event simulation modeling software, joining existing investor TA Associates.

• Sunstone Partners invested in KMS Technology, a software development services provider.

• Protective Industrial Products, an Odyssey Investment Partners portfolio company, agreed to acquire Honeywell Personal Protective Equipment, including brands Fendall, North, and UVEX, from Honeywell (NYSE: HON) for $1.325 billion.

• Verisma, backed by NewSpring Capital, acquired Olah Healthcare Technology, a provider of enterprise healthcare archiving solutions.

• FloWorks, a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital, acquired Applied Controls, a Tulsa-based provider of industrial process controls.

• Littlejohn & Co. acquired Sunbelt Modular, a modular buildings wholesaler.

• Fortress Investment Group acquired TH Holdings, a manufacturer of hydraulic components for energy and industrial equipment.

• Novartis agreed to acquire Westlake Village BioPartners and Versant Ventures-backed Kate Therapeutics, a developer of gene therapies for neuromuscular diseases, for up to $1.1 billion, including potential milestone payments.

• Kobalt, a portfolio company of Francisco Partners, invested in Slipstream, a provider of royalty-free music for creators.

• EQT, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Auba Investment sold a 6.7 percent stake in Galderma Group through an accelerated bookbuild for around $1.45 billion.

• PAG agreed to sell a 75 percent stake in AirPower Technologies' industrial gases business to a Chinese consortium for $6.8 billion, retaining a 25 percent stake.

• Hearthside Food Solutions, a Charlesbank and Partners Group-backed contract manufacturer of snacks and frozen foods, is preparing to file for bankruptcy this week.

• Kinematics, a portfolio company of Angeleno Group, agreed to acquire P4Q, a Spanish manufacturer of solar tracker controllers, from Talde Private Equity.

• SolomonEdwards, a portfolio company of Renovus Capital partners, acquired Dominion Advisory Group, a provider of AML/KYC consulting services.

• Mediaocean, backed by CVC Capital Partners and TA Associates, agreed to acquire Innovid (NYSE: CTV), a connected TV advertising and measurement platform, for $500 million.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Lighthouse, a commercial intelligence platform for hospitality, raised $370 million in Series C funding led by KKR, with participation from Spectrum Equity, F-Prime Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, and Highgate Technology Ventures.

• Nivoda, a B2B diamond marketplace, raised $51 million in new funding led by Northzone, with participation from Avenir, Headline, Abstract Ventures, and Canaan Partners.

• Lightning AI, a developer of AI development and orchestration tools, raised $50 million in new funding from Cisco Investments, J.P. Morgan, NVIDIA, and K5 Global.

• OneRail, a last-mile fulfillment platform, raised $42 million in Series C funding led by Aliment Capital, with participation from eGateway Capital, Florida Opportunity Fund, Arsenal Growth Equity, Piva Capital, Bullpen Capital, Las Olas Venture Capital, Chicago Ventures, Gaingels, and Mana Ventures.

• Wordware, an English-based operating system for AI development, raised $30 million in seed funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Felicis, Y Combinator, and Day One Ventures.

• Prompt Security, a generative AI security platform, raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Jump Capital, with participation from Hetz Ventures, Ridge Ventures, Okta, and F5.

• Aviz Networks, an AI-driven networking provider, raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Alter Venture Partners, with participation from Cisco Investments, Moment Ventures, Wistron, Accton, Celestica, and Qualcomm Ventures.

• Aira Technologies, an AI-powered cellular network infrastructure company, raised $14.5 million in Series B funding from AT&T Ventures, Intel Capital, IQT, Juniper, JTM, NeoTribe and Acrew.

• Arcade, a platform for interactive product demos, raised $14 million in Series A funding led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Upfront Ventures and Foundation Capital.

Fintech

• Federato, an AI-powered insurance underwriting platform, raised $40 million in Series C funding led by StepStone Group, with participation from Emergence Capital, Caffeinated Capital and Pear VC.

• Wyden, a digital asset infrastructure provider, raised $16.9 million in Series B funding led by Truffle Capital, with participation from PostFinance, SBI-Sygnum-Azimut Digital Asset Opportunity Fund, FiveT Fintech, and C3 Venture Capital.

• Cardo AI, an asset-based finance and private credit technology platform, raised $15 million in Series A funding co-led by Blackstone Innovations Investments, FINTOP Capital, and JAM FINTOP, with participation from Fasanara Capital.

Consumer & Media

• Zepto, an Indian quick-commerce startup, raised $350 million in new funding led by Motilal Oswal Private Wealth.

• League One Volleyball, a women's professional volleyball league and youth development organization, raised $100 million in new funding led by Atwater Capital, with participation from Ares Management and Left Lane Capital.

Healthcare

• Enveda, a biotech developing medicines from natural compounds, raised $130 million in Series C funding co-led by Kinnevik and FPV, with participation from Baillie Gifford, Premji Invest, Lingotto Innovation, Lux Capital, Dimension Capital, True Ventures, Cresset Partners, and The Nature Conservancy.

• New Lantern, a radiology automation platform, raised $19 million in Series A funding led by Benchmark, with participation from Afore Capital, Anthology Fund, Neo, and SV Angel.

• OneCell Diagnostics, a genomics-based precision oncology startup, raised $16 million in Series A funding led by Celesta Capital, with participation from Tenacity Ventures, Cedars Sinai, Eragon, and Singularity Ventures.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Pickle Robot, a developer of autonomous truck unloading robots, raised $50 million in Series B funding from Teradyne Robotics Ventures, Toyota Ventures, Ranpak, Third Kind Venture Capital, One Madison Group, Hyperplane, and Catapult Ventures.

• Iontra, a battery charging startup, raised $45 million in Series C funding led by Volta Energy Technologies.

• Ample, an EV battery swapping startup, raised $25 million in new funding from Mitsubishi Corporation.

• Faircraft, a Paris-based developer of lab-grown leather, raised $15.8 million in funding from Kindred Ventures, Cap Horn, BPI, Alliance for Impact, and Heirloom.

• Accel-KKR raised $2.2 billion for its first dedicated secondary fund, AKKR Strategic Capital, which will focus on software industry investments and continuation vehicles.

• Neos Partners raised $1.37 billion for its second energy transition infrastructure fund alongside a $350 million co-investment vehicle.

• Blackstone's BCRED private credit fund raised $1.5 billion through a combined offering of $1 billion in senior unsecured bonds and a $500.5 million CLO.

• Trustar Capital raised $1 billion for a continuation fund backed by Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corporation to maintain its 52 percent stake in McDonald's China operations.

• Theory Ventures, founded by former Redpoint managing director Tomasz Tunguz, raised $450 million for its second fund focused on enterprise software, AI, crypto, and data tools.

• NaviMed Capital raised $450 million for its third healthcare-focused fund.

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