Business Blog: Sixth Street scores

Sixth Street invested $125 million with an all-star roster to launch Bay FC women's soccer team—and the team just sold out its first home game

April 4, 2024

Good morning! Fortune reporter Luisa Beltran here filling in for Allie.

Sixth Street is well-known on Wall Street for its growth and sports investments. But one way the firm is setting itself apart from the rest of Wall Street? Sixth Street is one of the first investment firms to launch a sports team from scratch. In fact, we're pretty certain Sixth Street is the first (get in touch if you think we missed someone).

Last year, Sixth Street led an investor group that won the bid to launch the 14th team in the national women's soccer league. The Sixth Street led consortium includes ex-Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg; Rick Welts, former Golden State Warriors president; Andre Iguodala, a four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors; as well as former USWNT players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner. The group invested $125 million, including a $53 million expansion fee, which was considered a league record at the time. Sixth Street is the majority investor in Bay FC.

The investment seems to be working out. Last week, on March 30, Bay FC sold out its first home game in the Bay area, selling 18,000 tickets.

One reason Sixth Street can do such a deal is TAO, its massive, multi-strategy $27 billion evergreen pool of private capital. As I wrote for Fortune: "TAO is open-ended, which means it's perpetual and flexible—it can do short-term or long-term investments—allowing Sixth Street to invest in basically anything. TAO has played a role in one of the biggest areas of investment on Wall Street: sports franchises. Alternative asset investors, including those in private equity, have emerged as one of the most active buyers of sports teams, mainly due to their skyrocketing valuations."

In addition to Bay FC, Sixth Street owns a stake in the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. (The firm also owns a piece of FC Barcelona's TV rights and the stadium of Real Madrid in Spain's top soccer league.) Expect Sixth Street to do more sports deals.

Sixth Street is also known for its growth unit, which has raised two funds. In 2019, the firm's debut growth pool, which takes minority stakes in companies, collected $2.2 billion. That doubled to $4.4 billion with the second growth fund in 2022. The growth unit is run by coheads Mike McGinn and Robert "Bo" Stanley, both Sixth Street partners. Investments include Airbnb, Keyfactor, MasterControl, and MDLIVE.

The firm has also emerged as a haven for former Goldman Sachs executives who worked with Alan Waxman, Sixth Street's CEO, co-CIO, and cofounder. Waxman spent a decade at Goldman, where he ran and became CIO of the Americas special situations group, or AmSSG. He helped launch Sixth Street in 2009. You can read my full story and interview with Waxman about the firm's future here.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Luisa Beltran
Twitter: @LuisaRBeltran
Email: luisa.beltran@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today's newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Obsidian Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of engineered cell and gene therapies, raised $160.5 million in Series C funding. Wellington Management led the round and was joined by Foresite Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Novo Holdings A/S, Paradigm BioCapital, RTW Investments, and others.

- Brim Financial, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of a credit-card-as-a-service platform to banks and large enterprises, raised $85 million in Series C funding. EDC Investments led the round and were joined by Vistara Growth and existing investors White Owl Group, Epic Ventures, and Zions Bank.

- Alsym Energy, a Woburn, Mass.-based developer of rechargeable batteries for stationary storage, marine, and electric vehicles, raised $78 million in funding. Tata Limited and General Catalyst led the round and were joined by Thrive Capital, Thomvest, and Drads Capital.

- Homebase, a San Francisco-based HR and team management app designed for hourly teams at small businesses, raised $60 million in Series D funding. L Catterton Growth led the round and was joined by Emerson Collective and existing investors Notable Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and others.

- Biolinq Incorporated, a San Diego, Calif.-based developer of a wearable glucose sensor for diabetes, raised $58 million in funding. Alpha Wave Ventures led the round and was joined by others.

- Luminance, a London, U.K.-based large language model designed to generate, negotiate, and analyze legal documents, raised $40 million in Series B funding. March Capital led the round and was joined by National Grid Partners and others.

- Constantinople, a Sydney, Australia-based tech and operations platform for banks, raised $33m in Series A funding. Prosus Ventures led the round and was joined by Square Peg Capital and AirTree Ventures.

- BurnBot, a San Francisco-based developer of mechanized vegetation management, fuel treatment solutions, and other technology designed to prevent wildfires, raised $20 million in funding. ReGen Ventures led the round and was joined by Toyota Ventures, AmFam Ventures, Convective Capital, Blue Forest Asset Management, and others.

- Aligned Marketplace, a Park City, Utah-based membership platform that gives employees of self-insured employers access to a network of primary care providers, raised $8 million in seed funding. A* Capital and Maverick Ventures led the round and was joined by Box Group, EPIC Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, SV Angel, and others.

- Higgsfield AI, a San Francisco-based AI-powered video generation app, raised $8 million in seed funding. Menlo Ventures led the round and was joined by Charge Ventures, Bitkraft Ventures, K5 Tokyo Black, and others.

- Ivo, a San Francisco-based developer of AI-powered legal contract review technology, raised $4.8 million in funding. Uncork Capital and Fika Ventures led the round and were joined by existing investors Daniel Gross, GD1, and Phase One Ventures.

- Alrik, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of logistics software for distributors in construction, raised €1 million ($1.1 million) in seed funding from Pi Labs.

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PRIVATE EQUITY

- Blue Owl Capital agreed to acquire Kuvare Asset Management, a Rosemont, Ill.-based provider of asset management services to the insurance industry, for $750 million.

- Sumeru Equity Partners invested $109 million in Aerospike, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI database platform.

- Summit Partners acquired a minority stake in Netgain, an Englewood, Colo.-based developer of technical accounting software designed to automate accounting processes, for $35 million.

- Accel-KKR acquired a majority stake in Aico Group, an Espoo, Finland-based financial close software platform for large enterprises. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Fortis Solutions Group, backed by Harvest Partners, acquired the Print Division of MASA Corporation, a Norfolk, Va.-based provider of custom labels, packaging, and supplies for manufacturers and distributors in food, beverage, wine, spirits, and other markets. Financial terms were not disclosed

- Godspeed Capital Management acquired Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering, a Columbia, S.C.-based transportation consulting and engineering firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- OPSWAT, backed by Brighton Park Capital, acquired CIP Cyber, a Portland, Ore.-based online learning community designed to connect, train, and certify cybersecurity professionals to protect critical infrastructure. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- TPG (NASDAQ: TPG) agreed to acquire Classic Collision, an Atlanta, Ga.-based provider of auto body repair services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

- Mitsubishi Corporation acquired a minority stake in MidOcean Energy, a Washington, D.C.-based liquefied natural gas company managed by EIG. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IPOS

- Loar Holdings, a White Plain, N.Y.-based manufacturer of niche components for aircraft and aerospace and defense systems, filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. The company posted $317 million in revenue for the year ending December 31, 2023. Abrams Capital Management, GPV Loar, Blackstone Alternative Credit Advisors, Dirkson Charles, and Brett Milgrim back the company.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

- Adenia Partners, a Saint Pierre, Mauritius-based private equity firm, raised $470 million for its fifth fund focused on African companies in sectors including financial services, agribusiness, and renewable energy.

- Maniv, a New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel-based venture capital firm, raised $140 million for their third fund focused on companies leading the decarbonization and digitization of global transportation.

PEOPLE

- G2 Venture Partners, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, hired Ellie McDonald as an investor and Jeannine Sargent as an operating partner. Formerly, McDonald was with Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Sargent served as president at Flex.

- The JDRF T1D Fund, a Boston, Mass.-based venture philanthropy investment fund, hired Sylvia Tobé, PhD as a managing director. Formerly, Dr. Tobé was with Omega Funds.

- Windancer Holdings, a Dayton, Ohio-based investment firm, promoted David Shepley to partner.