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Blackstone’s Gray says it’s time to make a move; AUA’s Unanue grows family businesses like Goya and Weaver

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with today’s Wire.

Delaying deals much longer may cost you.

That’s one of the insights Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray shared with us at PEI Group’s recent NEXUS 2024 summit. I’ve got excerpts from a video conversation with Gray, below.

Today, we’re also featuring my interview with Andy Unanue, co-founder and managing partner of AUA Private Equity Partners, who knows first-hand how to grow a family business.

But first, let’s take a look at a significant deal in the financial services industry.

Deal of the day

One recent deal announced catching my attention is New Mountain Capital’s investment in Grant Thornton, an accounting and advisory services firm that counts many private equity firms among its clients and is well known to PE Hub’s readers.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire for more details on the deal.

As always, PE Hub’s Iris Dorbian and PE Hub Europe’s Irien Joseph share a steady stream of private equity deal news. Click here for today’s North American deals and here for European deals.

“Move before that all-clear sign comes out”

Private equity firms should look to deploy capital before interest rate cuts drive asset prices higher, advises Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer at Blackstone, as reported by Private Equity International’s Hannah Zhang.

Upgrade to the premium version to read the story and view the video conversation with Richard Melville, PEI Group’s editorial director, US.

All in the family             

Andy Unanue, co-founder and managing partner of AUA Private Equity Partners, shares his experience growing a family business with the companies in which his firm invests.

PE Hub subscribers can hear about his experience at Goya Foods by watching the conversation here.

For more coverage of private equity dealmaking at NEXUS, see these stories on PE Hub:

• Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray: ‘M&A will come back’

• KKR’s Nuttall: Big returns to be had after cycle bottom

• Carlyle’s David Rubenstein sets sights on individual investors

• Thoma Bravo’s Orlando Bravo: Strategic buyers are ‘incredibly active’

And we’ll have more from NEXUS coming up later in the week, including my video conversation with Suzanne Yoon, founder of Kinzie Capital, about the opportunities and challenges of investing in the lower middle market.

As always, you can reach out to me at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.

PE Hub Europe editor Craig McGlashan will bring you tomorrow’s Wire.

Happy dealmaking,

MK

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

The Los Angeles City Council would like the city’s public employee and police and fire pensions to address their concerns with a private equity manager the systems back – Advent International. (Buyouts)

Daina Spedding, an investor at BGF, told PE Hub Europe how she took an indirect route to the industry in the latest installment in our series of interviews with women in private equity. BGF is a London-based growth capital investor in the UK and Ireland. (PE Hub Europe)

Lead buyers have emerged for Cinven’s single-asset continuation fund process, which will extend the London-headquartered buyout firm’s hold of global life science ingredients distributor Barentz. (Buyouts)

Why Fiera Comox waited six years for Innoliva to present itself: The firm had wanted an olive oil business in its portfolio since 2017 but could never find an asset with the right combination of attributes until last year’s acquisition. (Agri Investor)

Arcus Infrastructure Partners has closed its third fund, Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 3, on €1.61 billion, surpassing its target of €1.5 billion. (Infrastructure Investor)

They said it

“We think you want to move before that all-clear sign comes out. So, once rates start getting cut, once the asset prices move further up, it’ll be tougher to invest.”

— Jonathan Gray, Blackstone, in a video conversation at NEXUS 2024