Audax recently announced that it had completed the sale of Franklin, MA-based Dynisco, which designs and manufactures sensors and software used in testing, measurement and control applications. Audax had previously integrated two other entities to expand Dynisco’s reach and broaden the product line.
The acquirer, Roper Industries, had this to say in a press release:
"We are [...]

The Watermill Group, based in Lexington, MA, completed a joint acquisition (pdf) with a Dallas-based private equity firm to create Latrobe Specialty Steel Company, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of The Timken Company. Watermill cites three reasons behind the investment thesis: the company’s strong position in a growing market, an outstanding management team and up-to-date, well-maintained manufacturing and distribution facilities.
Recent data [...]

The latest Summit Partners Update newsletter (pdf) points out that 11 portfolio companies have made the Software 500 list, an annual ranking of leading performers in the software space.  These include household names such as Hyperion Software Corporation, McAfee, Inc. and WebEx. It seems that the market for software is only gaining momentum as the Internet (social networks leading the way) and [...]

Readers of Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat should be familiar with the idea that ubiquitous technology standards, the open source movement, rapidly lowering cost of software development and the flow of information power away from centralized hands of the media (newspapers, analysts, etc.)  towards individuals (blogs, MySpace etc.) is making it harder than ever for companies [...]

BusinessWeek’s Steven Rosenbush comments here on the upper limits of private equity, which he calculates are right around the neighborhood of the recent $37.5 billion Blackstone purchase of Equity Office Properties.  
He poses an interesting question:
Could a group of private equity firms assemble $9 billion or $10 billion in equity and enough debt to fund the takeover [...]

European private equity firm Permira Advisers is in talks with content owner EMI, comprised of EMI Music Publishing, Capitol Records and Virgin Records, the WSJ reports here (subscription required).
At the same time, EMI took the significant step yesterday of releasing a new Norah Jones single as an "open mp3 format," available via Yahoo! Music (a signficant [...]

This announcement (pdf) details how Audax Private Equity has completed the acquisition of TriMark USA, headquartered in South Attleboro, MA.  TriMark is one of the country’s largest providers of design services, equipment and supplies to the foodservice industry. Audax’s thesis behind the purchase? To "acquire a leading distributor with a strong market."
This is a busy time for Audax, [...]

Dealmaker, a NYC-based publication dealing in the M&A and private equity marketplace, launched with a bang reminiscent of the heady days of ‘99, according to the NY Times’ DealBook.  The Times’ take on this new publication makes it seem like a banker’s Vogue:
Dealmaker has articles that celebrate the major players in the industry and the sybaritic lifestyle to [...]

Dan Primack at PE Week Wire notes that one of the reasons private equity will continue to thrive is that "private equity is the economic equivalent of that popular kid who everyone wanted to befriend." It’s not only that private equity delivers returns, it’s that the market has tremendous confidence in the ability of firms to deliver [...]