Archives

FalconPoint Partners: Over $250 Million Invested In JENNMAR

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

FalconPoint Partners, a PE firm focused on investing in North American middle market companies in the business services and industrials sectors, announced its inaugural investment in JENNMAR, a leading global provider of infrastructure products and specialized services to the civil infrastructure, solar, mining, and construction industries. JENNMAR will continue to be led by CEO Tony Calandra and the rest of its management team. FalconPoint has invested and committed in excess of $250 million of equity to support the JENNMAR’s expansion and global growth.

Garnett Station Partners Names Jordan Garay As Partner

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Garnett Station Partners, a NY-based principal investment firm managing over $2.3 billion in assets, announced the promotion of Jordan Garay to Partner. Since joining Garnett Station in 2016 as an Associate, Garay has been integral to the firm’s growth and value creation.

Principal Buying ESOP Business From Ascensus

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Principal Financial Group announced a definitive agreement with Ascensus to acquire its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) business. At the deal's closing, Principal will add about 800 plans and over 165,000 participants to its workplace savings and retirement solutions business, which ranks as the number one ESOP service provider in the U.S.

Battery Ventures: C$150 Million Acquisition Of TrueContext Completed

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Battery Ventures announced it has closed its take-private acquisition of field-service workflow company TrueContext (formerly known as ProntoForms). The Canadian software company was delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange yesterday after Battery acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares for C$1.07 per share, valuing TrueContext at approximately C$150 million.

Iberdrola Buying The Rest Of Avangrid For $2.6 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Avangrid, a leading sustainable energy company and member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A., announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which Iberdrola will acquire the remaining 18.4% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Avangrid that it does not currently own for $35.75 per share in an all-cash transaction.

White & Case: Emmanuel Gutton Named As Partner In Luxembourg

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Global law firm White & Case LLP has added funds partner Emmanuel Gutton in Luxembourg. Gutton advises on the creation, structuring, and conversion of funds across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity and real estate. He also assists in setting up and advising investment fund managers.

Jolt Capital: Meriem Smida Named As Managing Director UK

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Jolt Capital, a leading private equity firm specializing in European growth deep technology, announced the appointment of Meriem Smida as Managing Director UK.

Avantax Acquiring $400 Million Wealth Management Firm GA Investment Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Avantax, a tax-focused financial planning and wealth management leader, announced it has acquired GA Investment Management (GA). This Pennsylvania-based wealth management firm was not previously affiliated with Avantax. Since closing the acquisition, $400 million in GA client assets have been onboarded to the Avantax platform, and 10 GA employees are now W-2 employees of Avantax.

Cleary Gottlieb: Alexander Van Der Gaag And Joanna Roberts Join London Office

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Cleary Gottlieb announced the arrival of Alexander van der Gaag and Joanna Roberts, who are joining the firm’s London office.

Cetera Reveals Multiple Key Hires In Advisory Business

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Cetera Financial Group, a premier financial advisor Wealth Hub, announced that it has expanded its investment in advisory solutions with several key hires.

Paul, Weiss: M&A Partner Chelsea Darnell Joins Firm In New York

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced that Chelsea N. Darnell has joined the firm as a partner in the Mergers & Acquisitions practice in the Corporate Department, resident in New York. Darnell advises public and private companies and private equity firms on M&A, corporate governance matters, and activism defense issues.

Concurrent Brings In $500 Million Advisory Team

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Multi-custodial hybrid RIA Concurrent Investment Advisors announced it welcomed The Wealth Stewards to its growing network of aligned independent financial advisory firms. Jeff Breese and Brent Mekosh, managing partners of The Wealth Stewards, have merged their two Arizona-based practices to move to the Concurrent platform. And they chose Concurrent to provide operational support and growth capital as their team of nine professionals enters the RIA space.

Cheetah Technologies: Restaurant Supply Tech Company Raises $14 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Cheetah Technologies, a restaurant supply technology and food distribution innovator, announced the appointment of their new CEO Kim Spalding. In the last few months, Spalding and the Cheetah board collaborated on an additional $14 million funding round, focused on the continued development and scaling of the company's technology platform.

Fairgen: $8 Million Secured To Generate Accurate AI Responses To Surveys

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Fairgen, a company generating accurate AI responses to surveys, announced it had raised $8 million to date in Seed funding, led by Maverick Ventures Israel, with participation from Tal Ventures, IGNIA, and Creator Fund to move consumer insights into the AI era. And the company is launching FairBoost, its flagship solution that doubles the size of under-sampled segments using predictive synthetic responses.

Attovia Therapeutics: $105 Million Raised To Create A Pipeline Of Biotherapeutics With A Focus On Immune-Mediated Diseases

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Attovia Therapeutics announced the closing of a $105 million oversubscribed Series B financing, bringing the total funding raised by the company since its launch in June 2023 to $165 million. The proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the Company’s lead programs ATTO-1310 and ATTO-002 through initial clinical data readouts, expand the company’s immunology and inflammation pipeline, and further develop the Attobody platform.

Raymond James: $900 Million Advisor Team Brought Into Florida

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

Raymond James’ Florida regional director for the firm's employee advisor channel Raymond James & Associates (RJA), Tim Killgoar, announced that they have welcomed the team of four financial advisors and three branch professionals at Lelekis, Ellis, Kilczewski Private Wealth Management Group of Raymond James to RJA in St. Petersburg, Florida.

FV Bank: An Interview With Co-Founder And CEO Miles Paschini

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 20, 2024

FV Bank is a Puerto Rico-based global digital bank that provides business and individual accounts globally. FV Bank supports multiple currencies, international payments, and investment accounts along with debit and prepaid cards. Pulse 2.0 interviewed FV Bank co-founder and CEO Miles Paschini to learn more about the company.

LPL Financial Brings In $215 Million Financial Advisor Team

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

LPL Financial announced that financial advisor Tara Blair, CFP, CPA, has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, RIA and custodial platforms. And she reported serving approximately $215 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets and joins LPL from Lincoln Financial.

C3 Rentals: Trailer Rental And Ownership Solutions Company Secures $100 Million Debt Facility

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

C3 Rentals, a leader in trailer rental and ownership solutions, announced it secured a $100 million debt facility funded by WhiteHawk Capital Partners and arranged by Ankura Capital Advisors. This strategic funding will increase liquidity and support the company's future working capital needs, enabling further expansion across the US.

Canopy: $35 Million Secured To Help Accountants Build Sophisticated Firms

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Canopy - a firm-wide operating system helping accountants build the firms they always wanted - announced it raised $35 million in an oversubscribed funding round. This funding round was led by Ten Coves Capital and Ankona Capital, with participation from Pelion Venture Partners, Tenaya Capital, and NewView Capital. The $35 million funding round will be channeled towards doubling down on Canopy’s vision for leveraging AI to make firms exponentially more efficient.

Vanguard Names Salim Ramji As New CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Vanguard announced that its Board of Directors has named Salim Ramji, a longtime financial services executive, as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board, effective July 8, 2024. Ramji succeeds Tim Buckley, who will retire and step down as Chairman and CEO.

Fortress Management And Mubadala Complete Fortress Investment Acquisition

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Fortress Investment Group and Mubadala Investment Company—through its wholly-owned asset management subsidiary Mubadala Capital—announced that they had completed the previously announced acquisition of SoftBank Group's 90.01% equity in Fortress. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mercer Advisors: Martine Lellis Transitions To M&A Partner Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Mercer Global Advisors, a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) firm, announced the move of Martine Lellis, Chief Talent Officer since 2020, to a newly created Principal, M&A Partner Development role.

LPL Financial: $280 Million Noble Traditions Wealth Team Joins

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

LPL Financial announced that financial advisor Garrett Oczachowski has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, RIA and custodial platforms. And he reported serving approximately $280 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets and joins LPL from JPMorgan Chase.

May Health: $25 Million Secured To Help Those Living With PCOS

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

May Health, a clinical-stage medical device company dedicated to helping those living with the endocrine disorder polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), announced it has closed a $25 million Series B financing round, co-led by Bpifrance and Trill Impact with participation from founding investor Sofinnova Partners, and Avestria Ventures and Kidron Capital Assets LP.

Mercurius Media Capital Launches New $50M+ Fund For Investing In High-Growth US Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Mercurius Media Capital (MMC) has launched a new $50+ million independent media fund in the US. And this fund strategically deploys the inventory of its media partners into brands with a robust presence in the US, aimed at expediting startup growth.

Bluejay Therapeutics Secures $182 Million in Series C Financing to Propel Clinical Pipeline

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Bluejay Therapeutics, a leader in developing novel therapeutics, today announced the successful closure of a $182 million Series C financing round. This capital infusion will accelerate the clinical development of BJT-778, as the treatment for chronic hepatitis D (HDV). The funds will also support the progression of additional promising candidates in Bluejay’s robust pipeline for the treatment for chronic hepatitis B. As previously announced, BJT-778 has received PRIME designation from EMA based on early results from the Phase 1/2 study in HDV.

Pepper: Food Distribution Sector Company Raises $30 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Pepper, a trusted technology partner for the food distribution sector, announced the successful closing of a $30 million Series B funding round. This significant funding round was led by ICONIQ Growth, with continued participation from existing partners at Index Ventures, Greylock, Imaginary, and Harmony Partners.

Raymond James Launches New Private Credit Business

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Raymond James announced it is expanding the capabilities of its Investment Banking division by partnering with Eldridge Industries and Raymond James Bank to provide private credit solutions to sponsor-backed portfolio companies in four primary sectors: Consumer, Diversified Industrials, Healthcare and Technology & Services. Raymond James has also hired credit industry veteran Omer Masud as head of sponsor finance origination to launch the firm’s Private Credit effort.

Wiz: Cloud Security Company Raises $1 Billion At $12 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 19, 2024

Cloud security company Wiz recently raised $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation, bringing the company's total funding to $1.9 billion. The current round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital, with participation from Greylock, Wellington Management, and existing investors Cyberstarts, Greenoaks, Howard Schultz, Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Sequoia Capital.