Middle Market Weekly Outlook

Good morning, all. Harvard Business Review weighs in on the debate about private equity and innovation. Citing recent surveys, reports and interviews, they highlight the positive impacts private equity has on company innovation during an LBO.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports on a new phenomenon–that of the tech startup remaining private for longer. Rather than working towards the initial public offering, tech entrepreneurs opt for the “private IPO,” to avoid requirements of Wall Street and take advantage of higher valuations.

Transactions

• Spring Mountain Capital invests in Activate Healthcare
• Militello Capital and QR Capital buy Quarry Trail
• KSL Capital acquires WellBiz
• Pamplona to acquire Precyse
• Arsenal Capital buys Peach State Labs
• Bunker Hill buys ASPEQ Heating Group
• Watermill buys Quality Metalcraft
• General Atlantic buys majority stake in EN Engineering
• TSG acquires outdoor gear and apparel retailer Backcountry
• Permira closes Medora, Ideal Snacks buy
• North Castle buys Sprout Organic Foods
• KPS-backed Anchor Glass completes recap

Opinions

• Talent management at portfolio companies can be critical
• Alternative investment growth to boom in next five years
• Key to stock market growth in 2015 is lots of M&A
• Fear of losing out drives deal boom
• Private equity to grow to $7 trillion by 2020
• Supreme court to health insurers: deal on
• Strategic planning at portfolio companies
• Impact investing returns at a glance
• Why this tech bubble is less scary
• Private equity can make firms more innovative
• Private equity see shades of 2007 and sells
• US M&A hits record $1 trillion in first half of year
• Could Grexit and US rates derail deals?
• Second quarter M&A close to record amid mega deals
• Record valuations drive 2015 M&A boom
• KKR fine signals heightened SEC focus on private equity
• On Wall Street, cautious optimism as merger deals near peak level
• Four Do’s and Don’ts to Avoid ConAgra’s Merger Mistake
• A venture capital giant says: bubble? What bubble?
• Europe largely absent from M&A boom
• Insurers are catching ‘M&A fever’ after ACE nabs Chubb
• As more tech start-ups stay private, so does the money
• Valuations rebound to near pre-crisis levels, putting pressure on sponsors
• New data could affect health-insurer deals
• Boom times for healthcare mergers bring bankers 59 percent raise in fees

This week in history…Dupont Company officials announce merger with Houston-based oil and energy titan, Conoco Inc. Valued at between $6.5 and $7 billion, the deal was then the single biggest merger in U.S. corporate history (1981).