Blackstone’s Jonathan Gr ay on not-for-profits, p lus PE firms bet you buy pharmacy products online

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Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray on not-for-profits, plus PE firms bet you buy pharmacy products online

Good morning dealmakers, thank goodness it’s Friday.

It’s Obey Martin Manayiti here with the newsletter.

This week, my colleague Rafael Canton took advantage of a rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Blackstone Gives Back Challenge, a contest in which hundreds of the PE firm’s employees pitch not-for-profit organizations to win a total of $1 million in grants from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation.

Rafael watched some of the pitches and spoke with Blackstone president Jonathan Gray moments after he announced the winners. Details below.

And for the trend of the week, we have a listicle featuring five deals focusing on the growing appeal of online pharma.

And finally, we’ve got an update on the NFL’s considering changing its rules to allow private equity ownership.

Blackstone Gives Back Challenge

“If you step back, one of the great things about private equity and alternatives is you have interests and investments in a very large number of companies that touch a lot of people,” Jonathan Gray, president and COO of Blackstone, told my colleague Rafael Canton, moments after announcing the winners of the sixth annual Blackstone Gives Back Challenge.

For more of Gray's thoughts on how for-profit and not-for-profit organizations are similar and for more about the winners, upgrade to the premium version of the Wire.

Online pharma

Several PE-backed deals in H1 focused on online sellers of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmacy items, and such investments are only expected to grow in H2, Grant Patrick, partner at Chicago-based PE firm BPOC, told my colleague John R Fischer.

John rounded up five deals involving these types of online sellers and premium subscribers have access to all the deals mentioned in the story.

Nearing the end zone

More details about the NFL’s expected ownership rule change emerged in an interview Commissioner Roger Goodell gave CNBC yesterday.

Rafaelhas been covering the story for months and outlines why private equity is so keen to get in the game here.

That’s it for today. You can always reach me at [email protected] for news tips.

MK Flynn will be back with the newsletter on Monday.

Have a nice weekend,

Obey

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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They said it

“Whether they’re for profit or not-for-profit, organizations have to have great cultures, they have to have good process, they have to have committed people. These things are very similar, and when you see a great philanthropic organization in many ways, it mirrors a great for-profit institution. Now, the motivations are different, but the drive for excellence is very similar.”

— Jonathan Gray, president and COO of Blackstone, about the Blackstone Gives Back Challenge