Photo Credit: Caiaimage/Martin Barraud, Getty Images
As Q3 wraps up, we bid farewell to the last three months of Cincy innovation with our Queen City Quarterly Report, a roundup of the fundings, deals, mergers and acquisitions to go down in the region in the quarter. (Catch up on other Quarterly Reports you may have missed here.)
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July
- E.W. Scripps Co. sold two of its radio stations to Wisconsin-based Good Karma Brands for $16 million, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The deal is expected to wrap up in Q4.
- Cincinnati private equity firm Brixey & Meyer Capital has raised $36M in BMC Growth Fund II, its second fund, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The firm has plans to conclude its work on this fund “in the next couple of weeks,” eventually using funds to purchase companies with $100M in enterprise value. The move comes nearly two years after closing its first round of funding, which raised $18M.
- MVDconnect, a local communications company, acquired Pittsburgh-based National Telecom Services, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Cincinnati Federal and Kentucky Federal Savings and Loan Association will merge thanks to a deal that’s expected to close in Q4, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The move will create an entity boasting $200 million in assets and seven locations.
- Ohio Federal Research Network granted the University of Cincinnati’s Regional Unmanned Traffic Management System around $1 million, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences is developing a system called “RouteMaster,” which looks to manage the air traffic of drones and other similar devices in-air. Sinclair College, Demeter, Inc. and Simlat are also partnering with UC on the project.
- Cincinnati’s own Procter & Gamble will acquire Newton, Mass.-based First Aid Beauty, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The sale will reportedly cost $250 million, and FAB “would operate as a wholly owned subsidiary.”
- New York-based Radius Global Market Research and Illumination Research, one of Greater Cincinnati’s largest market research firms, has merged, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center awarded Evandale-based GE Aviation a $437 million contract to develop adaptive cycle engines at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Dayton Business Journal reports. The program will “enable revolutionary combat capability of future platforms,” said general manager of GE’s Advanced Combat Engine Program Dan McCormick in the report.
- Procter & Gamble acquired Chicago-based on-demand dry cleaning service Pressbox. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. A press release from Tide Spin described the move as bringing Pressbox into P&G’s “family of laundry services which includes Tide Spin, Tide Dry Cleaners, and Tide University Laundry.” This marks the third acquisition of 2018 for consumer goods giant P&G, which bought New Zealand-based skincare line Snowberry in February and Germany-based Merck KGaA — Consumer Health for $4.2 billion in April. Read more on Cincy Inno.
- According to an SEC filing, Cincinnati’s SaaS Capital began the process of raising its third flagship fund of $75 million, Cruchbase News reports. Should the investment firm reach its goal, this will be its largest fund to date, having raised $22.5 million in 2012 and $58 million in 2015. Dubbed “SaaS Capital Fund III, LP,” the fund’s minimum subscription is $350K from prospective limited partners, although it hasn’t received any such commitments yet.
- Area startups now have a new way to access funding thanks to a new announced partnership between Covington-based tech accelerator UpTech and Cincinnati-based investment crowdfunding platform Wunderfund. Those accepted into UpTech will receive an investment of up to $50K from UpTech. Upon meeting the accelerator’s milestones, they have the opportunity to launch an equity crowdfunding campaign via Wunderfund, using UpTech’s final milestone investment of $10,000 as a seed kickstarter. Read the full story on Cincy Inno.
- Lexington-based Consolo Services Group, a Lexington, Ky.-based company, acquired adult day care SaaS provider ADS Data Systems of Stevenson, Md., Axios’ Pro Rata newsletter reports. Term of the deal were not disclosed.
- It’s official: After weeks of speculation, Cincinnati-based call center company Convergys has announced it will be acquired by Synnex Corp., a business process services company out of California, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The deal, which involved cash and stock, came in at $2.8 billion.
August
- Immedion LLC, a South Carolina-based provider of data center, cloud and managed services, announced today that it has acquired Integral Solutions Group, a full-service IT company and data center operator based in Spartanburg, S.C. Why are we hitting this news in the Cincy Beat? Well, Immedion has recently expanded its operations to meet the needs of its growing customer base with data center facilities in several new cities, including Cincinnati. [More Here]
- Mason-based ConnXus, a supplier management solution that helps underserved suppliers connect with larger enterprises, announced an exclusive Diversity and Inclusion partnership with London-based Procurement Leaders over the next three years. Through said partnership, ConnXus will help “drive meaningful change” for Procurement Leaders in three key ways. The first is a ConnXus-made webinar series with a focus on diversity within the supplier space, which the more than 700 Procurement Leaders membership organizations will have access to.
- Local accelerator The Brandery announced the relaunch of Main Street Ventures. The Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The entity will focus on connecting startups and other relevant groups to grants.
- Kenwood-based tech company Cardinal Solutions was acquired by Tempe, Ariz.-based Insight Enterprises for $79 million, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Cardinal Solutions is one of the area’s largest tech companies, with 480 employees spread over eight U.S. offices. Enterprises’ leadership said the acquisition will bring “scale and reach” to its digital innovation arm.
- Blue Ash-based Belcan, the area’s largest engineering firm, acquired the U.K.-based control equipment testing company Omega Engineering Services Ltd., the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
September
- Springdale-based Automation Plus, a system integration solutions provider, has acquired Atlanta-based automation solutions provider Complete Systems Automation, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Over-the-Rhine cheese shop The Rhined acquired Oakley Wines, which recently expanded, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Impact 100, a philanthropic organization for women, had a glitch after its Sept. pitch competition — four winners were awarded prizes instead of just a planned singular grand prize winner and two runners up. While the first solution was to divide the whole $416,000 pot amongst the four selected startups, Impact 100 decided to up the total prize pot to $608,000 in an effort to fairly reward all participants. The issue? The group didn’t have the money. Enter a local foundation (which chose to keep its name under wraps) that supplied the dough, meaning everyone left with a big check. Happy endings all around! Participating startups included Le Soupe Cincinnati, Wave Pool, Welcome House and more.
- Cincinnati insurer Western & Southern Financial Group announced that it will purchase Gerber Life Insurance Co. from Nestle S.A. for $1.55 billion, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The deal also stipulates that Western & Southern will have a long-term license for the use of Gerber Life intellectual property “in connection with financial services.”
- Cincinnati-based Paycor, a human capital management software company, will receive an undisclosed investment from British private equity firm Apax Partners, Axios’ Pro Rata newsletter reports. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Blue Ash’s Clubessential, a firm that’s platform helps private clubs digitize, acquired two new firms: Montgomery, Ala.-based Black Diamond IT Services and Chicago-based Performance IQ, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Cladwell, a Cincinnati-based app that allows users to make the most of their current wardrobe, joined Science Inc. as one of its newest portfolio startups. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based incubator and early stage investment entity boasts $1.3 billion worth of exits and $400 million of follow-on investments since its 2011 inception, according to a Los Angeles Business Journal report. Thanks to backing from entities like Hearst Ventures, Science has worked with headlining startups such as Dollar Shave Club and MeUndies, developing a current portfolio of more than 40 startups across a host of industries.
- Brad Zapp and Kyle Schlotman, founders of Covington-based venture capital firm Connetic Ventures, have debuted a new program: Connetic Initiatives, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports [subscriber content]. The nonprofit will serve those companies in the ecosystem who, while they don’t have the big growth potential that typically woos venture funding, still have an interesting and healthy business model. The duo said there a lot of these types of enterprises in the Greater Cincy area, and their work is necessary to help those startups find success. As such, Connetic Initiatives will provide grants, donate real estate or sponsor events for these organizations.
