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Thursday brought capital to work.
H.I.G. closed an oversubscribed €1.6 billion European fund in six months flat—strong LP demand for lower middle market exposure. Carlyle's reportedly circling an equity stake in Ben Dell's Commonwealth LNG project. Deal flow stayed consistent: Platte River bought into 50-year-old electrical testing specialist Team UIS, Wind Point signed to acquire century-old fire safety provider Hiller, and Lone Star offloaded Japanese building products business SENQCIA for $519 million. Accel-KKR backed digital dining software Nutrislice, and the Playlist-EGYM merger closed with $785 million in new equity led by Affinity Partners.
Let's break down all of these and more.
Today's Report
Major Investments & Infrastructure Deals
Accel-KKR
Nutrislice Investment
Accel-KKR made a majority investment in Nutrislice, a digital dining solutions provider serving non-commercial foodservice. The platform helps foodservice teams modernize guest experiences through online menus, mobile ordering, digital signage, e-ink food labels and premium dining websites. Nutrislice powers dining operations at more than 30,000 locations worldwide across K-12, higher ed, healthcare and other non-commercial verticals. With Accel-KKR's backing, the company plans to accelerate product innovation and scaled go-to-market execution.
Carlyle Group
Commonwealth LNG Consideration
Carlyle Group is considering an equity investment in Commonwealth LNG, the Louisiana export project owned by Ben Dell's Kimmeridge Energy Management, according to people familiar with the matter. The potential backing would come as an equity stake and provide a shot in the arm for the proposed LNG facility. If finalized, it marks Carlyle's continued push into energy infrastructure as global demand for U.S. natural gas exports accelerates.
Platte River Equity
Team UIS Acquisition
Platte River Equity acquired Team UIS in partnership with existing owners. Founded in 1976, UIS is a mission-critical provider of electrical testing, maintenance, SCADA and related field services serving utility, industrial, data center and infrastructure customers. The company's positioned at the intersection of grid reliability, electrification and digital infrastructure investment—exactly where demand's accelerating. Platte River's been building a thesis across the broader electrical services ecosystem, and UIS stood out for technical excellence and the critical nature of its work.
Turn/River Capital
StarLIMS Investment
Turn/River Capital announced a strategic investment in StarLIMS, a global enterprise informatics platform for laboratories. StarLIMS powers manufacturing and research lab operations worldwide with LIMS, ELN, LES and SDMS solutions serving over 1,100 customers across life sciences, CDMOs, food & beverage and other sectors. Francisco Partners exited its investment as part of the transaction. Turn/River sees significant opportunity to embed AI across the platform to accelerate insight generation and extend automation at scale.
Fundraising Announcements
Chicago Atlantic
Ocular Science Financing
Chicago Atlantic provided a $16.5 million senior secured term loan to Ocular Science, an affiliate of OSRX, a leading provider of compounded ophthalmic medications. Founded in 2015 and guided by a medical advisory board of 31 world leaders in ophthalmology, Ocular Science focuses on pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative care for surgical vision correction patients, plus myopia and glaucoma management.
H.I.G. Capital
€1.6B Europe Capital Partners IV
H.I.G. Capital closed H.I.G. Europe Capital Partners IV at €1.6 billion in aggregate capital commitments. The fund completed an oversubscribed first and final close within six months of launch—strong signal of LP confidence in the strategy. Fund IV will continue targeting investments in undermanaged European lower middle market companies where H.I.G. can apply its operational value-creation playbook, with a focus on complex situations and difficult transaction dynamics. The firm has a 19-year track record in the region and a team of more than 150 investment professionals across five core European offices.
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M&A Transactions & Deals
Wind Point Partners to acquire The Hiller Companies – Wind Point signed a definitive agreement to acquire The Hiller Companies, a fire and life safety services provider founded in 1919. Hiller's team of over 1,900 employees operating across more than 45 branch locations provide full-service fire and life safety capabilities. Under CEO Santiago Perez's leadership, Hiller has acquired more than 20 companies over the last three years. Wind Point evaluated the deal in partnership with Bob Chauvin, who will continue as Board Chair.
Lone Star sells SENQCIA to Noritsu Koki for $519M – Lone Star Funds entered a definitive agreement to sell SENQCIA Corporation, a leading provider of mission-critical building products and solutions in Japan, to Noritsu Koki in a transaction representing approximately $519 million in total enterprise value. During Lone Star's ownership, SENQCIA enhanced its go-to-market strategy and positioned toward higher growth, value-add end markets including data infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing.
Affinity Partners leads $785M investment in Playlist-EGYM merger – Affinity Partners led a $785 million equity investment in the merger of Playlist (owner of ClassPass and Mindbody) and EGYM, creating a $7.5 billion global fitness and wellness technology platform. The combined entity will serve over 100,000 fitness and wellness facilities worldwide. The deal represents one of the largest fitness technology combinations in recent years.
GTCR closes C$3.3B Dentalcorp take-private – GTCR closed its take-private acquisition of Dentalcorp, Canada's largest network of dental practices, in a transaction valued at approximately C$3.3 billion including assumed debt. The deal, which closed January 14th, takes the Toronto-based company private after trading on the TSX. Dentalcorp operates over 500 dental practices across Canada.
Butterfly Equity acquires ePac Holdings – Butterfly Equity acquired ePac Holdings, the leader in digitally-printed flexible packaging. Founded in 2016, ePac pioneered a disruptive business model using HP Indigo digital printing technology to serve small and mid-sized CPG brands with short-run, high-quality flexible packaging. The company operates 32 facilities across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Arlington's TRP Infrastructure adds Striping Technology – TRP Infrastructure Services, an Arlington Capital portfolio company, acquired Striping Technology, a provider of pavement marking services headquartered in Tyler, Texas. The business will operate as TRP's East Texas division, enabling TRP to expand operations and better serve customers across Texas and the Southeast.
Regulatory & Industry Developments
No major regulatory or industry developments tracked today.
People Moves
Renovus Capital Partners – Renovus announced promotions across its team: Pat Heath to Principal from Vice President; John Matthews to Vice President from Senior Associate; Adam Swack to Vice President from Senior Associate; Ried Niermann to Senior Associate from Associate; Ahan Patel to Senior Associate from Associate; and Fernando Cordova, Luca Di Leonardo, Jackson Kelly and Kevin Spear to Associate from Analyst.
Grain Management – Grain promoted Susannah Kennedy to Managing Director. Kennedy is a key leader within Grain's Operations and Administration organization and a member of Grain's Management Committee. The firm also promoted Will Foster to Vice President; Grant Andreas, Alex Lee and Alessandro Sicilia to Senior Associate; Erin Furey to Vice President; and Chris Guido to Senior Accountant.
FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund – Ben Mellman was named Co-Portfolio Manager of the FPA Queens Road Small Cap Value Fund alongside founding Portfolio Manager Steve Scruggs. Mellman has served as Senior Analyst on the Fund since 2022. Prior to joining the Fund's sub-adviser, Mellman spent 10 years at International Value Advisers as Senior Analyst covering industrials and aerospace and defense.
Upcoming Events
That's the wrap. More deals coming your way tomorrow.
- Private Markets Minute Team