Private Equity 8 Hours

Last updated: March 23, 2026, 2:30 PM ET

Private Equity Deal Flow & Exits

Activity across major private equity exits saw Advent & Cinven exploring a potential €25 billion divestiture of TK Elevator, with Kone entering advanced discussions to acquire the portfolio company. Separately, Francisco Partners agreed to sell music publisher Kobalt to Brookfield-backed Primary Wave, though the management team, led by Laurent Hubert, is slated to remain in place post-acquisition. In healthcare services, Olympus Partners plans to divest the retina business of EyeSouth for an expected $1.1 billion, while Sovereign concluded the sale of Knovia to Eureka Education after having quadrupled the revenue under its ownership.

Fundraising & Mandates

Growth equity firm Lead Edge successfully secured $3.5 billion for its seventh fund, signaling continued appetite for software investments despite broader market volatility. In the institutional space, Australian pension fund Aware Super appointed Alex Satchcroft as Head of Private Equity to oversee its $11 billion portfolio, a move occurring as other large LPs navigate liquidity concerns, exemplified by Mercer prioritizing investor access to secondary markets through its recent acquisition of Altamar CAM's capabilities. Meanwhile, a Japan secondaries shop is closing its debut fund near the hard-cap, providing flexibility to engage in both direct secondaries and primary funding rounds.

Sector Investments & Strategic Acquisitions

Private equity interest remains strong in energy infrastructure, with funds targeting a $7 billion Kuwait pipeline deal as Gulf energy transactions advance. In Southeast Asia, Actis finalized its purchase of a 90% stake in Singapore environmental manager 800 Super, pushing the firm's regional deployment past $1.7 billion. Software consolidation continued as Gryphon-backed Rootstock acquired ERP provider Ascent Solutions, and Diversis scooped up fintech firm LTi, allowing LTi's co-founders to retain minority stakes. Furthermore, Apollo and CVC jointly acquired a 37% minority stake in Syntegon for an enterprise value of €1.75 billion to support its next growth phase, and AEA Elevate invested in enterprise tech company Trinamix.

Venture Capital & AI Financing

The broader venture funding environment slowed sharply in March, primarily due to fewer massive AI megarounds closing during the month. In a bid to attract capital despite this slowdown, OpenAI is offering private equity firms a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% to secure investment into its joint venture pushes. Startups aiming to solve bottlenecks in AI infrastructure are successfully pulling in capital; for instance, Gimlet Labs raised an $80 million Series A for technology enabling simultaneous AI inference across NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel chips. Separately, the complexities of startup financing are highlighted by the fact that many miss out on valuable tax credits due to inadequate internal processes for claiming them.

Personnel & Emerging Figures

GTCR appointed Donnie Phillips as Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer in its Chicago headquarters. The industry is also profiling emerging dealmakers, including Terrence Murphy, a former NFL wide receiver who launched Synergy Sports Capital this month, announcing the firm’s debut transaction shortly after its unveiling. In other deal-making strategies, research indicates that independent sponsors, by favoring greater deal selectivity and lower valuation multiples, typically seek returns exceeding 3x, positioning them in a specialized echelon of PE returns.