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MidOcean, Kroger team up; plus a Deep Dive into a clean energy deal from Ara Partners

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with the Wire.

A powerful investment partnership in the consumer sector was announced earlier this morning.

And we’ve got a Deep Dive into a renewable energy logistics deal.

Plus, there are a couple of opportunities to submit nominations for awards!

Let’s get right to the news.

Strategic pairing

Earlier this morning, MidOcean Partners announced it is teaming up with The Kroger Co. and its consumer product investment platform PearlRock Partners to form MPearlRock, which will invest in emerging consumer packaged goods brands.

Upgrade to the premium version of the Wire to learn all about the partnership.

And for more of today’s PE deals, see the News in brief section of PE Hub.

First mover

Ara Partners expects to benefit from “first mover advantage” with its recent control equity position in USD Clean Fuels.

PE Hub's Michael Schoeck spoke with Churchill George Yong, a partner in Ara’s infrastructure group about the deal.

Upgrade to the premium version to read more.

Awards: It’s that time again!

This week, Buyouts and PE Hub opened up our annual Deal of the Year Awards nominations for the best exits of 2023.

Winners are chosen in seven categories: Deal of the Year, Large-Market Deal of the Year, Middle Market Deal of the Year, Small Market Deal of the Year, Turnaround of the Year, International Deal of the Year and Secondaries Deal of the Year.

Visit here for contest rules and other information, including lists of past winners.

The deadline is February 16.

And it’s not too late to submit a nomination for annual Women in PE feature.

We're looking for recommendations from you, Dear Reader, on rock star women in the industry. We're mostly interested in women working on the deal side of the business, since that is the area that has traditionally been dominated by men, but we will include women who work in IR and on the LP side as well.

Send your recs to Chris Witkowsky at [email protected] by Jan. 19.

And check out our past Women in PE coverage here.

On that note, I’ll sign off. Obey Martin Manayiti will be with you tomorrow, and then we’ll take a break on Monday to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Craig McGlashan will be with you on Tuesday.

Happy dealmaking,

MK

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Private equity firms lean on strategic exits with M&A still tough. Bluegem’s sale of Dr Vranjes Firenze relied on ‘a process tailored to trade buyers who are less affected by the expensive financing’, says founding partner Emilio Di Spiezio Sardo. (PE Hub Europe)

Japanese FoF GREE is opening domestic VC to international LPs: The VC unit will consider re-opening JP Fund I to test international appetites before launching its second Japanese fund of funds later this year, Private Equity International understands.

As watchdogs bite back, the US utility play enters a new era: State regulators have been knocking back utilities’ request for higher rates of return in a move that could change the investment case in this sector. (Infrastructure Investor)

Menlo Ventures is raising $500m for Anthropic deal: The move comes just two months after Menlo announced that it had raised $1.35bn to invest in tech companies 'leading the AI transformation.”' (Venture Capital Journal)

Majority of LPs require further education on NAV financing: GPs are finding more varied ways to provide liquidity to their LPs, according to Capstone’s latest Liquidity Solutions Survey. (Private Funds CFO)