For our first installment of our Best of the Middle Market series, we take a took at the nominees for our Financial Services deals of the year.

Looking at late 2018 to 2019, the judging window for our 2020 Middle Market awards, financial services was one of the most active areas for middle market deals. Community and regional bank consolidation ramped up while financial technology continued to garner attention from established industry players, private equity and venture capital, alike. Real estate services and asset management also witnessed brisk dealmaking with healthy valuations through the end of 2019.

Exemplary deals in financial services, showed an ability to gain scale and expertise while also diversifying into new verticals, while advisers showed an ability to navigate complex, accretive transactions that either set the bar for excellence in their respective industries or helped companies navigate out of difficult situations in a graceful way.

Much like every industry amid the recent coronavirus pandemic, financial services has been strained, but we take this unique lull to celebrate the dealmakers behind some of the most influential and exemplary deals of 2019.

For more on the awards, or to have your firm profiled as part of the series, please contact Jenney.Smith@thedeal.com or check out the shortlist for more information.

Featured Firm(s) in Financial Services:

More info

Featured Deals in the Middle Market 

*Financial Services Finalists*

Crescent Capital BDC acquires Alcentra
Target: Alcentra Capital Corp.
Investment Adviser:
Houlihan Lokey Inc.
Counsel to I-bank:
Alston & Bird LLP
Outside Counsel:
Dechert LLP
Sullivan & Worcester LLP
Proxy Solicitor:
D.F. King & Co.
PR Firm:
Brunswick Group LLP
Acquirers: Crescent Capital BDC Inc./Crescent Capital Group LP
Investment Adviser:
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Counsel to I-bank:
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Outside Counsel:
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Proskauer Rose LLP
Description: Middle market business development companies Crescent Capital BDC Inc. and Alcentra Capital Corp. agreed to merge on Aug. 13. The deal, the result of a strategic review by Alcentra, created a Top-15, externally managed, publicly traded BDC with $500 million of net assets and a portfolio in excess of $900 million. The cash and stock transaction was valued at $142 million at the time of the announcement, including certain post-closing adjustments. The deal closed Jan. 30.
Deal Memo
Awards Information

—

CoreVest Management, Fortress sell CoreVest American Finance to Redwood
Target/Sellers: CoreVest American Finance Lender LLC/
CoreVest Management Partners LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC
Investment Adviser:
Piper Jaffray & Co.
Outside Counsel:
Dechert LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Acquirer: Redwood Trust Inc.
Investment Adviser:
JMP Securities LLC
Counsel to I-bank:
McGuireWoods LLP
Outside Counsel:
Mayer Brown LLP
Description: On Oct. 14, Redwood Trust Inc. agreed to acquire CoreVest American Finance Lender LLC from CoreVest Management Partners LLC and Fortress Investment Group LLC for $490 million. The acquisition of CorVest America significantly expanded Mill Valley, Calif.-based Redwood’s presence in the business-purpose residential loans market and furthers “its position as a leading private-sector source of housing-market liquidity,” the companies said in a release announcing the complex deal. Redwood closed the acquisition of the New York firm on Oct. 15.
Deal Memo
Awards Information

—

Piper Jaffray acquire Sandler O’Neill from Kelso and Carlyle
Target/Sellers: Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP/Kelso & Co. and Carlyle Group Inc.
Outside Counsel:
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
PR Firm:
Sard Verbinnen & Co. LLC
Acquirer: Piper Jaffray Cos.
Investment Adviser:
JMP Securities LLC
Piper Jaffray & Co.
Counsel to I-bank:
Latham & Watkins LLP
Outside Counsel:
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Description: Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray Cos. announced July 9, that it would acquire financial institutions-focused investment bank Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP for about $485 million in cash and stock. The deal represents Piper’s biggest expansion of its M&A practice since 2015 and ended a nine-plus year hold for Kelso & Co. and Carlyle Group, which acquired a majority stake in Sandler O’Neill in November 2010. Piper closed the acquisition on Jan. 6 and renamed itself Piper Sandler Cos.
Deal Memo
Awards Information

—

Syncora Guarantee acquired by GoldenTree’s Star Insurance
Target/Seller: Syncora Guarantee Inc./Syncora Holdings Ltd.
Investment Adviser:
Moelis & Co. LLC
Outside Counsel:
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Acquirers: Star Insurance Holdings LLC/GoldenTree Asset Management LP
Investment Adviser:
Goldin Associates LLC
Outside Counsel:
Sidley Austin LLP
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Description: Middle market business development companies Crescent Capital BDC Inc. and Alcentra Capital Corp. agreed to merge on Aug. 13. The deal, the result of a strategic review by Alcentra, created a Top-15, externally managed, publicly traded BDC with $500 million of net assets and a portfolio in excess of $900 million. The cash and stock transaction was valued at $142 million at the time of the announcement, including certain post-closing adjustments. The deal closed Jan. 30.
Deal Memo
Awards Information

—

MasterCard acquires Trans-Fast Remittance from GCP Capital and Apis
Target/Sellers: Trans-Fast Remittance LLC/Apis Partners LLP and GCP Capital Partners LLC
Outside Counsel:
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
Acquirer: MasterCard Inc.
Outside Counsel:
Sidley Austin LLP
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
PR Firm:
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Description: On March 8, 2019, MasterCard Inc. announced it would acquire Trans-Fast Remittance LLC, a cross-border payment network provider with a presence in more than 125 countries. Founded in 1988, sellers GCP Capital Partners LLC and Apis Partners LLP invested in Trans-Fast in 2007 and 2017, respectively. Terms of the deal, which closed in July, weren’t disclosed.
Deal Memo
Awards Information

—

Nominees for other Financial Services categories including investment bank, law firm and dealmaker can be found here.

To have your firm profiled as part of the series, please contact Jenney.Smith@thedeal.com or check out the shortlist for more information.