Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. The lower mid-market is throwing up plenty of opportunities for investors – that’s according to the Riverside Company’s Jeremy Holland and Ali Al Alaf, whom PE Hub hosted in our London office yesterday. Next we have a fresh deal that’s perfect for the morning. Verdane is taking a majority stake in a software provider for the coffee industry. Finally we look at education, where Providence Equity Partners has completed the sale of a roughly 50 percent stake in Globeducate, an international K-12 education group, to French investment firm Wendel. Primary pickings While dealmaking at the upper end of the size scale might still have some way to go to return to the heights of 2021 and 2022, the lower mid-market has been in rude health – and will likely remain so into 2025. That was the takeaway from the Riverside Company’s Jeremy Holland and Ali Al Alaf, who visited our London newsroom yesterday. Find out why, as well as Riverside's approach to internationalizing businesses and its views on generative AI, in the premium version of the Wire. Pick-me-up Now here’s the perfect deal for people reading the Wire over their breakfast – and with an AI element. European growth investor Verdane has just announced that it’s taking a majority stake in Cropster, a software provider for the coffee industry. More details in the premium version of the Wire. Class over Private equity has been big on education lately (check out Iris Dorbian’s deep dive into the sector for more) and one of the bigger deals of the year has just crossed the line. Providence Equity Partners has completed the sale of a roughly 50 percent stake in Globeducate, an international K-12 education group, to French investment firm Wendel. Right, that’s all from me today. Michael Schoeck will bring you the US Wire later today and Irien Joseph will be in the Europe chair tomorrow. Cheers, Craig Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ... |