Bryan Matthews

Compass buys Marucci.     Compass Diversified Holdings buys Marucci Sports for $200 million.     Marucci Sports was founded in 2009 by Kurt Ainsworth, a retired pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles, Joe Lawrence, a former second baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Reed Dickens, a former White House Assistant Press Secretary under George W. Bush.     Marucci ’s first buy was Marucci Bat Company, launched out of a backyard shed in 2004. Ainsworth then led the buyout of an Amish-run Pennsylvania wood mill in 2008. This solidified Marucci's superior wood supply, and it still supplies all Marucci's wood today. In 2017 Marucci bought Victus , a baseball equipment maker known for its edgy designs and big attitude.     With vertically cohesive wood bat production, a global supplier group, and a client base of MVPs and World Series winners, Marucci and Victus are the top two bats among Big League players. Their product range now includes wood

Covea buys PartnerRe.     Covea buys PartnerRe from Exor for $9 billion.     Exor is the Agnelli family holding company which also controls Fiat Chrysler, CNH Industrial, and Ferrari.     PartnerRe is a pure-play reinsurer offering risk solutions for agriculture, aviation & space, cyber risk, directors & officers, downstream energy, engineering & construction, financial risks, financial institutions, health, life, marine & upstream energy, nuclear, property & casualty, property catastrophe, specialty property, sports, leisure & entertainment, structured & customized solutions, and terrorism. Scale is ever more important for reinsurers as their clients merge and then seek counterparties with greater capital strength when reinsuring their risks. Following this deal with Covéa, PartnerRe enters the top tier of reinsurers worldwide.     For Covéa, owned by its customers and operating in France, this diversifies its business beyond home, auto, life, and h

Gilead buys Forty Seven.     Gilead Sciences buys Forty Seven for $4.9 billion.     Forty Seven is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology firm developing therapies targeting cancer immune evasion pathways and specific cell targeting approaches based on tech licensed from Stanford. Forty Seven’s lead program, magrolimab , is a monoclonal antibody against the CD47 receptor, a ‘don’t eat me’ signal that cancer cells commandeer to avoid being ingested by macrophages. Evaluated ant ibodies are in many clinical studies of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and solid tumors. These assets complement the cell therapy franchise Gilead added with its 2017 buy of Kite Pharma .     Beyond magrolimab , Forty Seven is fixing to advance two more compounds into clinical testing. Developing FSI-174, an anti-cKIT antibody, in combination with magrolimab creates a novel, all-antibody conditioning regimen to address the limitations of current st

Platinum buys Biscuit.     Platinum Equity buys Biscuit International from Qualium Investissement.     Biscuit makes a range of products with European or local presence, including traditional biscuits and a growing mix for people with specific dietary needs (organic, low-calorie, sugar-free, gluten-free, milk-free, no palm oil). Created in 2016 by the merger of Poult (the French leader) and Banketgroep (Netherlands), it grew to include A&W (Germany), Stroopwafel (Netherlands), NFF (United Kingdom), and Army (Spain). The group now produces 130,000 tons of biscuits and waffles in 14 European factories, with 1,900 people, and €500m in annual sales.     Louis Samson of Platinum Equity said: ‘Biscuit International has an exceptional portfolio and a well-deserved reputation for high-quality products. We support the company's plan to continue expanding its offering and its international reach, both organically and through more add-on investments. We look forward to work

Intuit buys Credit Karma.     Intuit buys Credit Karma for $7.1 billion.     Founded in 2007, Credit Karma has 100 million members in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. B est known for helping people track and control their credit, members use the firm for everything finance. This includes identity monitoring, applying for credit cards, shopping for a car, home, or personal loan, filing taxes, and high-yield savings accounts. It’s a personal financial assistant providing insights into your money and helping you find the right products.     The deal unites two fintech leaders with a shared goal to help you manage debt, maximize savings, access better credit cards and loans, and put more money in your pocket. The background scenery is a United States household debt of $14.1 trillion. This includes $9.6 trillion mortgage debt, $1 trillion in credit cards, and $1.5 trillion in student loans.     Sasan Goodarzi of Intuit said: ‘Our mission is to power prosperity ar

Franklin buys Legg .     Franklin Templeton buys Legg Mason for $4.5 billion.     The deal is to bring in new investors, expressly in foreign markets, gain scale for technology investments, and find new ways to market and sell each other’s fund lines. Legg Mason and its affiliates manage $806 billion in assets. This will make Franklin Templeton the sixth-largest independent fund firm with $1.5 trillion in assets. It deepens key geographies balanced between institutional and retail client AUM and creates a separately managed account business. Franklin will keep the autonomy of Legg Mason’s affiliates, making sure their investment philosophies, processes, and brands stay unchanged.     G reg Johnson of Franklin said: ‘This is a landmark acquisition for our organization that unlocks value and growth opportunities driven by greater scale, diversity, and balance across investment strategies, distribution channels, and geographies. Our complementary strengths will enhance our str