Fund-raising cools in summer heat wave

Fund-raising activities cooled off as the first heat wave of the summer hit the Northeast. It seemed as though buyout firms decided to stay indoors this past week to avoid getting scorched by rising temperatures.

The lack of recent activity on the fund-raising front means the capital commitments raised so far this year by buyout and mezzanine firms remained unchanged from the $133.6 billion reported a week earlier.

Deal activity robust, though size is modest

There was more activity on the deals side, but no blockbuster transactions. Ten control-stake transactions closed in the past week, according to Thomson Reuters (PE Week’s publisher.) Only four had disclosed prices that totaled just under $300 million.

Year-to-date deal volume inched higher to $55.9 billion reported a week earlier.

The largest LBO-backed transaction of the latest period was the acquisition of i2 Inc. by Silver Lake Partners’ Silver Lake Sumeru unit. The purchase had a value of $185 million. I2 develops visual investigative analysis software for law enforcement, government, military and other organizations.

HIG Capital was involved in two deals. The firm bought Croda International PLC’s Oleo chemicals business, which is based in the United State, for more than $91 million. The acquired business supplies specialty chemicals like fatty acids and glycerin that are used in personal care, household and industrial-formulated products. HIG Capital’s Bayside Capital Inc. unit also agreed to acquire air transportation services provider AirNet Systems Inc. for $18.2 million.

In addition, Warburg Pincus’s Wright Medical Group Inc. unit acquired certain assets of AM Surgical Inc. for $2.8 million. The transaction included AM Surgical’s endoscopic soft tissue release products for the foot and ankle markets.