Graham Winfrey

Spectrum and Great Hill Partners will sell healthcare payments company Passport Health Communications for $850m after investing in the company in 2008.

The Toronto-based firm exceeded its $200m target and expects to close its debut secondaries fund in December.

The firm will acquire high-end shoemaker Allen Edmonds from Minnesota-based private equity firm Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison, which has owned the company since 2006.

Alex Macdonald, a former executive vice president at Canadian insurance company Manulife, will replace OPTrust’s retiring chief investor Morgan Eastman.

The healthcare-focused firm has hired Tom Brodmerkel, former COO of United Healthcare’s Medicare Programs division, as its first operating partner.

Mark Gillett will return to Silver Lake four years after leaving the firm to join Skype, where he was chief transformation officer and later chief development and chief operating officer.

The mid-market firm is seeking $3bn for its Resolute Fund III, which came to market in early 2013.

The firm has hired a four-person team led by veteran energy investor Todd Dittmann to focus on energy-related credit investments.

The firm has made its third investment this year by buying the landscaping division of John Deere.

Sovereign wealth funds and large public pensions are shaking up the industry by increasingly seeking direct investments, says Antoine Dréan, founder of placement agent Triago and online platform Palico.