Linden closes fifth fund on $3bn; Vista invests in Salesloft

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The Wire

Dec. 24, 2021

Linden closes fifth fund on $3bn; Vista invests in Salesloft

Happy Holidays!

Just a note to wish you a safe and healthy break, Dear Reader. We’ll be off until Jan. 4, when you’ll have a new voice leading you through the foggy private equity mornings. Mary Kathleen Flynn, who joined us recently, will be taking the reins on the Hub and the Wire. She can be reached at [email protected].

You can of course reach me any time at [email protected] with your tips on LPs, fundraising, Drama, governance or just plain scoopage.

Meanwhile, we do have some news! Chicago-based Linden Capital Partners, a healthcare-focused shop, closed its fifth fund on $3 billion, it’s largest pool yet. The firm closed Fund V on its hard cap. Read more here on PE Hub.

Healthcare private equity fundraising has been strong this year. Over three quarters, 177 funds globally have raised about $165.7 billion, the second-highest tally since 2008. For North America, 105 funds secured about $100.7 billion, also the second-highest amount since 2008, according to data from affiliate title PEI.

Park Hill Group worked as placement agent on the fundraising. The firm has started deploying Fund V, having made three platform investments out of the pool so far.

It was preparing to sell Evolution Research Group, a network of independent clinical research sites, PE Hub reported in October. Harris Williams was advising on the process, which was expected to launch in early 2022, PE Hub wrote. Linden backed ERG in 2018.

The firm also publicly listed HydraFacial, an aesthetic skin health specialist, earlier this year through its $1.1 billion merger with Vesper Healthcare Acquisition Corp. The combined entity, The Beauty Health Co., began trading on Nasdaq in May.

That’s it for me. Have a great holiday break! We’ll be off next week, but of course, you can hit me up with tips n’ juicy stories any time. Don’t forget to use our anonymous tip boxes on PE Hub and Buyouts.

HOUSEKEEPING: A reminder: we’re looking for your recommendations for rock star women in private equity, mostly on the deal side (which has been historically male-dominated). Deadline to get in your recs is January 17, for publication in March. Our annual Women in Private Equity project comprises 10 mini-profiles of highly regarded women in the industry and a feature story about some burning topic around the status of women in the industry. Check out our past coverage of Women in PE here. Reach me with questions and recs here at [email protected].

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

If the massive rise of GP-led deals wasn't enough to declare 2021 the year of secondaries, then the M&A activity that ran rampant through it should erase any remaining doubt. If you owned an independent secondaries firm this year, odds are you sold it. (Secondaries Investor)

"Private equity groups this year struck $42bn worth of deals in which they sold portfolio companies to their own funds, a sharp increase over 2020 in a once-niche type of transaction that can generate handsome payouts to executives." (Financial Times)