M&A Deal Summary

Bain Capital Private Equity and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Acquire Blue Nile

On November 7, 2016, private equity firms Bain Capital Private Equity and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking acquired e-commerce company Blue Nile for 500M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Bain Capital Private Equity’s 1st and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 1st transaction in the E-Commerce sector.
  • This is Bain Capital Private Equity’s 63rd and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 40th largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Bain Capital Private Equity’s 79th and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 92nd transaction in the United States.
  • This is Bain Capital Private Equity’s 5th and Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 2nd transaction in Washington.
Investment Fate
  • Blue Nile was sold to a strategic buyer in 2022 for 360M USD.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2016-11-07
Target Blue Nile
Sector E-Commerce
Buyer(s) Bain Capital Private Equity
Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking
Deal Type Going Private
Deal Value 500M USD
Advisor(s) BofA Securities (Financial)
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (Legal)

Target

Blue Nile

Seattle, Washington, United States
Blue Nile is an online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry. Blue Nile offers a customer experience that includes education, guidance, selection, customization capability, convenience and value. Blue Nile, Inc. was formed in 1999 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

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Buyer(S) 2

Buyer

Bain Capital Private Equity

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1984
PE ASSETS 44.2B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Bain Capital Private Equity (BCPE), is the private equity investment arm of alternative asset management firm, Bain Capital. BCPE targets leveraged buyout and growth capital transactions in a wide variety of industries including information technology, communications, media, healthcare, industrial/manufacturing, retail/consumer, and financial services. Bain Capital is based in Boston with additional offices in New York, London, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Munich.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 143 of 236
Sector (E-Commerce) 1 of 2
Type (Going Private) 14 of 24
State (Washington) 5 of 6
Country (United States) 79 of 124
Year (2016) 8 of 13
Size (of disclosed) 63 of 72
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2016-10-07 Blackhawk Specialty Tools

Houma, Louisiana, United States

Blackhawk Specialty Tools LLC is a provider of premium automated top drive cement heads and related equipment and services to both deepwater oil and gas drilling applications in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and land based drilling. Blackhawk designs, manufactures and rents highly-engineered cement heads in various sizes and pressure ratings.

Sell $321M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2016-11-28 SquareTrade

San Francisco, California, United States

SquareTrade, Inc. is a developer of software products to protects mobile devices, laptops and tablets, and other consumer electronics and appliances from malfunctions, accidental damage and life’s frequent mishaps.

Sell $1.4B
Buyer

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking

New York, New York, United States
Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1986
PE ASSETS 155.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division is the investment arm of Goldman Sachs. The primary corporate investment group within the Merchant Banking Division is Goldman Sachs' direct investment arm. GS's direct investment arm consists of GS Capital Partners, GS Mezzanine Partners, and GS Growth Partners. GS Capital Partners is the direct corporate equity investment group which seeks LBO, recapitalization, and growth investments to help fund acquisitions, expansions, recapitalizations, restructurings, buyouts, and take privates. GS Capital Partners looks to invest between $50 and $800 million in opportunities in North/South America, Europe, Asia. GS Mezzanine Partners is the junior capital arm of Goldman Sachs. GS Mezzanine looks to invest between $200 million and and $800 million in transactions valued up to $10 billion. Investment proceeds are used to fund leveraged buyouts, expansion financings, recapitalizations, acquisitions, and restructurings. GS Growth looks to invest in growth equity transactions. The unit seeks to commit $20 to $200 million per investment. Other units within GS's merchant banking division include Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Urban Investments. Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division is based in New York City.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 131 of 182
Sector (E-Commerce) 1 of 2
Type (Going Private) 12 of 15
State (Washington) 2 of 3
Country (United States) 92 of 126
Year (2016) 11 of 13
Size (of disclosed) 40 of 52
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2016-10-19 TVS SCS

Chennai, India

TVS SCS is a 3rd party logistics provider across multiple verticals including automotive, distribution, electronics, and discrete component manufacturing. TVS SCS was established in 2004 and is based in Chennai, India.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2016-11-28 Worldstores

Twickenham, United Kingdom

Worldstores Ltd. is one of the UK's largest online retailers of products for the home and garden. There are over 500,000 products on the site. Worldstores has built a proprietary technology platform that manages suppliers and enables rapid cross-docking of stock directly from suppliers to customers so that customers can have next day, or day of choice, delivery. Much of the product requires 2-man delivery.

Sell £9M
Mergr

Product

Company

Legal