Private Equity Alive and Well in New England

Higher One Holdings has set the terms for its IPO on the NYSE under the symbol ONE. The provider of technology and payment services to the higher education industry intends to sell 14.25 million shares at a price range of between $15 and $17 per share with Goldman Sachs serving as the lead underwriter. Proceeds will be partly used to pay outstanding debt and post-closing costs from a recent acquisition. Current stockholders will be offering about 11.15 million of the shares. Lightyear Capital alone plans to sell 3.48 million shares, which will reduce its 31.7% stake to 23.3%.

Private equity has long found New England an attractive region, and the past couple of years have been no different. 192 investors have invested in 242 companies headquartered in the region since the beginning of 2008, according to the PitchBook Platform. The large bulk of those companies are located in Maine (123 companies) and Connecticut (71). PE investors appear to be most interested in the commercial industries in the region, investing in 31 Commercial Products companies and 29 Commercial Services companies. The next most popular industry is Software with 21 companies receiving PE investments. The most active investors in the region include Warburg Pincus (7 deals), General Atlantic (5), Lindsay Goldberg (5), Bain Capital (4) and Hart Capital (4).