Market wrap up: A sterling week for fund-raising

Buyout and mezzanine shops took steps to raise the level of commitments during the past week, led by the Sterling Group, which closed its third fund at the $800 million cap. Sterling Group Partners III had a $600 million target.

The year-to-date tally is at $3.7 billion.

Lovell Minnick Partners held the final close of its latest investment vehicle. Lovell Minnick Equity Partners III easily beat its $350 million target, with pledges totaling $455 million from institutional and private investors.

Prophet Equity also completed the fund-raising of its debut fund. Prophet Equity I secured $250 million, which was the target when the vehicle was launched 17 months earlier.

Deal activity

USA!! On the deals front, Thomson Reuters (publisher of PE Week) tracked 12 LBO transactions from Jan. 27 through Feb. 2, including three with disclosed financial terms.

Warburg Pincus’s acquisition of Survitec Group Ltd. for $442 million ranked as the top deal. Warburg Pincus picked up the maker of survival equipment from Montagu Private Equity, which bought the Belfast, Ireland-based company in 2004.

Another of the period’s deals involves HM Capital Partners’s UniTek USA LLC portfolio company. UniTek merged with Berliner Communications Inc. in a transaction valued at $31.6 million. HM Capital and its affiliates will own about 80% of the merged entity, which will operate as UniTek Global Services Inc.

Year-to-date deal flow climbed to $2.6 billion, reflecting the $504.8 million contributed by the deals of the past week. —Eamon Beltran