Tom Ellis

Waypoint Private Capital - Sale of Kiwi II Construction to Janus Waypoint Private Capital is pleased to announce the successful sale of Kiwi II Construction (“Kiwi”) to Janus International Group (“Janus”) for a cash purchase price of $97.2 million plus the grant of restricted stock units. Headquartered in Temecula, California, and founded in 1982, Kiwi II designs, engineers, bids, supplies, and installs steel buildings for the self-storage industry, including single-story, multi-story, boat/RV storage, climate-controlled, and custom buildings. Janus International Group, Inc. is a publicly traded (NYSE: JBI) leading global manufacturer and supplier of turn-key self-storage, commercial and industrial building solutions, including: self-storage buildings, roll-up and swing doors, commercial and rolling steel doors, hallway systems, relocatable storage units and smart security and locking technologies. This acquisition will allow Janus to expand their offering in the self-storage industry and provide clients with an even more comprehensive suite of services. “As we sought a transition for our company that would support our continued growth, we knew we needed the right investment banking partner. We were introduced to Waypoint Private Capital by another company in our industry, and after our first meeting, it was clear they were the right fit. The Waypoint team guided us through every step of the process, from preparing the company for sale to evaluating both private equity and strategic buyers, and ultimately negotiated an excellent outcome for our owners. This was our first transaction of this kind, and we relied heavily on Waypoint’s expertise and steady guidance from start to finish,” said Wayne Woolsey, Chief Executive Officer of Kiwi II. “We were glad we could help the team at Kiwi achieve such a great outcome,” said Steve Sprindis, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Waypoint Private Capital. “Kiwi II Construction is a fantastic company that continued their profitable growth throughout the duration of the sale. We really enjoyed working with their team and are thrilled that we could help them partner with Janus International Group, the premier company in the self-storage industry.” Michael Best served as legal advisor to Kiwi II Construction. Wegner CPAs provided tax advisory services to Kiwi II Construction. #SellingYourBusiness #MergersandAcquisitions #SellMyCompany #SellMyBusiness #WaypointPrivateCapital #KiwiIIConstruction #JanusInternationalGroup

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Manufacturing is foundational to the economy, yet most operators still run on fragmented tools and manual workflows... a solution has arrived! Proud to see Factory close its $4.7m Series A, led by our friends at Shearwater Capital, with follow on participation from Investible. From our initial pre-seed investment, what has stood out is not just the ambition of the mission, but the discipline in execution. Paul and Michael have focused on solving real operational problems for SME manufacturers which has translated that into genuine customer adoption. Factory’s progress shows there are large, underserved markets for practical, purpose-built SaaS. This round is an important step toward scaling that impact in Australia and beyond. https://lnkd.in/gafB3b6r #VC #earlystage #manuacturing

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🧊 “A snowball rolling downhill” — the AFR’s take on Australia’s VC market feels accurate. Capital is flowing faster, syndicates are forming quicker, and founder liquidity is improving. But with momentum comes risk: valuations are rising, competition is heating up, and discipline matters more than ever. Even the big end of town is leaning in — AustralianSuper plans to lift its exposure to early stage investment signalling growing super-fund interest in early-stage ventures. The snowball’s getting bigger. This is a good thing for Australia, the economy and has the prospect of creating high value jobs for younger people. #venturecapital #startups #australianventure #superfunds #innovation https://lnkd.in/grsjvMQ4

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A big acquisition in asset management land occurred this week that provides a window into a number of overlapping and interconnected trends at the intersection of private markets and private wealth. Goldman Sachs acquired $7B AUS Industry Ventures for up to $965M. Industry Ventures, founded in 2000, has long been a leader in the venture capital ecosystem as a partner to VC and growth funds via its fund-of-funds program, co-investments, and secondaries / structured liquidity solutions for both GPs and LPs. Goldman's acquisition of Industry Ventures comes at a time when private equity - and venture capital in particular - are seeing structural trends envelop the asset class. So, who better positioned to capitalize on the trends of private companies staying private longer and bringing more private company access to the wealth channel than a large platform like Goldman Sachs? Read on for more about the acquisition and what it means for the industry at large👇 This week's Alt Goes Mainstream's AGM Alts Weekly, brought to you by DealsPlus, covers: 🗂️ AGM Index, an index that tracks the leading publicly traded alternative asset managers. 🗞️ AGM News of the Week, this week covering: 📌 Bloomberg's Dinesh Nair and Charlie Wells on Brookfield's acquisition of its remaining stake in Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. 💻 Who is hiring: Senior-level positions from companies Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Inc., Blue Owl Capital, Franklin Templeton, iCapital, Goldman Sachs, Partners Group, Ultimus Fund Solutions, Allocate, SageSpring Wealth Partners, MSCI Inc. Subscribe👇 to see the latest trends & navigate this rapidly changing landscape as alts go mainstream. https://lnkd.in/ehbx6uhb

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VC secondaries specialist SecondQuarter Ventures raising third fund. The vehicle will focus on the Australian and New Zealand venture ecosystem, where SecondQuarter estimates roughly $2.7 billion in liquidity demand could emerge over the next few years. Ian Beatty #Secondaries #SecondaryMarket #AlternativeInvestments #PrivateMarkets #Venture #VentureCapital #VC #Fundraising https://lnkd.in/eGtZTquX

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Some crosses are wonderful to bear: "In that mix, it is hard to find a business further removed from traditional Greens party policy than Beaten Zone Venture Partners — a new VC firm hoping to drive investment in defence technology startups." https://lnkd.in/g9Kmuiak

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ASX small caps are on fire 🔥 – ytd returns are twice the overall market so far, liquidity is high, and it’s feeding into appetite for the IPO market which has a busy (and growing) pipeline. Consensus around future rate cuts is helping smaller companies, but we are also seeing dispersions in returns which favours active management in a world that has been dominated by passive investment.   This sector rotation is taking place on other exchanges, but just to recap why the ASX is arguably the best market for small cap companies:          - Australia has the 5th largest pool of pension fund assets globally, with a focus on equity investment         - This results in one of the highest average P/E ratios globally          - The ASX was the 4th most active exchange last year for new listings          - Lower size thresholds for index inclusion which drives follow on investment          - Listing fees that are much lower than in the US   We’re definitely seeing interest in the small cap resources sector - obviously gold names have been strong for a while but there is broadening strength into a range of commodities key for critical mineral supply chains in the western world – particularly those in the US. ASX-listed junior resource companies hold assets all over the world and right now this is the best exchange for financing those (sorry Toronto and London..). https://lnkd.in/gpAM9Sic

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No Profits, No Cushion: Ariston’s $17K Cash Balance Raises Alarms Ariston Holdings Limited continues to operate at a loss, with cost of sales for FY2024 reported at $8 million—ironically exceeding total revenue of $7 million. Notably, gross profit has been negative for 3 consecutive years. The company's financial position remains highly strained, with current liabilities of $10 million significantly outweighing current assets of $6 million. Its cash balance stood at just $17,000, for the period ended 30 September 2024, reflecting minimal liquidity. This position stems from persistent operating losses and negligible cash generation. Net Operating cash flow for FY2024 was a mere $72,000—an alarmingly low figure relative to $7 million in top-line revenue. Such weak cash flow raises serious concerns about Ariston’s ability to meet near-term obligations, which include $4 million in short-term debt and $6 million in trade payables. To remain in business, Ariston appears increasingly reliant on external financing (debt). The company is likely to seek additional borrowings despite already holding $10 million in debt, carrying an interest rate of 13% per annum. In its current state, Ariston is heavily debt-dependent, financially distressed and technically insolvent.

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While most VC firms are chasing deals in Sydney and Melbourne, Eastend Ventures is launching in Adelaide. Eastend Ventures has become South Australia’s first Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership fund, raising $13 million. It aims to raise $50 million to invest in startups in “underserved” regions. The fund is headed up by Josh Garratt and JD Sheard who have put over $2 million of their own money into the fund. Read the full story by Bronwen Clune 👉 https://lnkd.in/gY8D3bPb

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Singapore and APAC funds are waking up to something we've known for years: Australia is an absolute goldmine. Sachin Bhanot from Prosus Ventures joined us on First Cheque with Cheryl Mack & Maxine Minter to share why his team made an aggressive push into the Australian market in 2022, and why their portfolio is now 40%+ ANZ. His "holy smokes" moment came when he looked under the hood: "This is a market that significantly punches above its weight. You've had Canva, Atlassian, it's a highly efficient market. You've got incredibly deep talent pools and founders who think for themselves and are not afraid of solving large hairy audacious problems." What really caught his attention? Australian founders don't just build horizontal solutions to win on distribution. They tackle tough, underserved segments—electric utilities, financial services, critical infrastructure, commercial real estate. "These are segments that make up something like 50% of global GDP. They are highly underserved today. But these are segments that are hard to build, hard to sell, but once you do, the path to market leadership and global domination becomes very exciting." The competitive advantage is brutal efficiency: "If you are a half decent AI founder in the US today, you're going to raise a ton of capital and focus on the US market. If you are that founder in Australia, you're going to raise significantly lower capital, do much more with that capital, and be global first from day one." There's something powerful about having to do more with less, and benchmarking yourself against global competitors from day one. Listen to the full episode via the comments. 〰️〰️〰️ First Cheque is dedicated to open-sourcing conversations with experienced investors globally. Our aim? To enhance the craft of early-stage investors, from those writing their first cheques to the veterans in the game. DayOne.fm - We’re for founders and startup operators Co Ventures Aussie Angels Cheryl Mack #FirstChequePodcast #VentureCapital #Singapore

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