Private Equity 3 Days

Last updated: August 7, 2026, 8:43 PM ET

Mega Deals & Take-Private

Apollo secured a recommended cash offer for easyJet valuing the FTSE 100 airline at approximately £5.7bn, ending a four-week bidding contest in one of Europe's landmark take-privates. Meanwhile, Clearlake co-founder Feliciano nears a record $3.9bn MLB deal for the San Diego Padres, which would be the most expensive franchise sale in baseball history. In the industrial sector, Bodycote plc confirmed competing cash proposals from CVC and Veritas Capital, each valuing the heat-treatment provider at £1.56bn. Partners Group is in talks to acquire beauty brand Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo, while CVC and Veritas also vie for Bodycote. The broader take-private market is seeing a rise in "bear hugs" in the UK; Partners Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in AVK Power Solutions, a provider of power systems for data centers. KKR has agreed to take control of the 24-hospital Medicover India network, adding a scaled multi-specialty network to its healthcare portfolio. The EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund made its first investment, co-leading a €450m round into satellite imaging firm ICEYE, valuing it at €10bn.

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Wise Equity inked an agreement to acquire E-Pharma Trento, with plans to explore bolt-on acquisitions for new technologies. Eir Partners invested in ClaimsBridge and supported the add-on of Dialysis PPO, aiming to scale the platform organically and through M&A. Ares Management is leading a $2.2bn private credit package to finance Med Impact Healthcare's acquisition of Medical Card System. Nordic Capital's deal to acquire BWXT's nuclear med business for $800m highlights growing PE interest in radiopharmaceuticals. Tortuga Growth Partners invested in Advanced eClinical Training out of its Fund I. PE firms are targeting tech-driven healthcare workforce services, with Accel-KKR, Bain, Knox Lane and LLR Partners among the active buyers.

Energy, Infrastructure & Industrials

Sunoco has agreed to acquire Court Square-backed Offen Petroleum for $600m, a fuel distributor delivering 2.5bn gallons annually to 7,000 customers. LS Power will acquire the Brazos Valley gas-fired plant from Constellation in a deal tied to regulatory divestiture commitments. Veritas Capital is set to acquire Saber Power Services from Greenbelt, a vertically integrated power infrastructure platform. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is teeing up Divcon Controls for sale, a provider of building management systems for data centers. Arlington-backed TRP Infrastructure closed five add-on deals to form a new highway plastics division called Gulf Highway Materials. Nexa Equity-backed Facility Grid acquired autonomous commissioning company PingCx, introducing a new product strategy centered on integrated offerings.

Technology & AI

Verdane has made a majority investment in Factbird, a Danish IoT and manufacturing intelligence software company. Legaltech Wordsmith raised a $14m Series B extension from Index Ventures and FT Ventures. Moove secured $250m to scale robotaxi fleet management and plans to someday own Waymo robotaxis. Yann LeCun joined a new VC firm, Ventures, which counts 244 LPs. AI weather startup Wind Borne Systems raised a $37m Series B to scale its weather balloons. Robinhood will list a fund that lets retail investors back Y Combinator startups. A16z has expanded its scout network across Europe with over 30 scouts hunting for deals. The top junior VCs to watch in Europe have been identified by partners at leading firms. Europe's 50 most active equity investors in H1 2026 have been ranked. There are 7 spots to meet founders and VCs in Paris. The repeat founder trend at Y Combinator is growing, with 454 repeat founders analyzed. AI strategy may be destroying startup exit value, argues a tech strategist. Magic School AI, founded by an educator, has raised $63m from VCs. Fintech Moss became Europe's newest unicorn with a €30m Series C. Oxylabs hit a $3.6bn valuation after a decade of turning down VCs. AI is impacting physical environments and science sectors. Pleo is facing a culture crisis with executive exodus and sale speculation. QMUL spinouts are looking to raise. Lendable is chasing the superapp dream despite capacity constraints. The 144 new funds in Europe reveal the region's investment market dynamics. The UK expanded its talent visa to over 100 companies.

Secondaries & Private Credit

Pantheon has bought a $523m slab of BlackRock TCP Capital's private credit portfolio in a landmark BDC continuation vehicle. The vehicle will house over $500m of debt positions at 95% of gross fair value. Singapore's GIC is preparing to offload $1bn of PE fund stakes on the secondary market. G Squared closed a $2.3bn seventh flagship fund in record time, roughly double the size of its previous vehicle. Carlyle's Harvey Schwartz said cyclical tailwinds buoying secondaries will persist for years. Carlyle realisations drove a strong earnings quarter. GP-leds dominated the secondaries market in H1, driven by fundraising and new asset classes. The shorter the hold period, the higher the burden in continuation vehicles. Infra single-asset secondaries are blooming as a strategy, but discipline on entry valuations is critical. Industriens Pension is mulling more infra secondaries exposure and has committed to all five Pantheon-managed infra secondaries vehicles. Draft Kings seed investor raised $78.5m for a VC secondaries debut fund via Revenant Ventures. Hamilton Lane says evergreen hesitancy is only temporary, as some investors use evergreens to fund managed accounts.

Fundraising & LP Activity

Nextalia raised €1.1bn for its second flagship fund in just five months, pulling commitments from over 200 investors. TPG nears a $17bn target for its healthcare funds, part of the $94bn Capital platform. The Italian pension fund ENPAV released an RFP for private equity co-investment. MMAA seeks domestic blind-pool PE/VC funds for 2026, targeting 300bn Korean won. Korea Post Insurance aims to commit 60bn Korean won to domestic blind-pool VC funds. Boston Retirement Systems issued an RFP for up to $85m private equity mandate. New Jersey sees opportunity in a slow exit market, with CIO Shoaib Khan evaluating re-ups and new opportunities equally. Allianz posted record Q2 operating profit driven by €39bn of net asset management inflows, pushing third-party AuM to a record €2.16tn. Mega-firms are largely defying fundraising headwinds in the latest earnings season.

Consumer & Business Services

Bain Capital will acquire Gong cha from TA Associates, the tea beverage chain. Copley Equity-backed FMG Leading snapped up Broadbranch Advisors at the end of July. RedBird's Affinia added Wilson Partners in a UK accounting tie-up, with Wilson Partners advising SMEs and private equity investors. Broad Sky grew Smith + Howard 4x before exiting to TPG, having built a durable tax and audit advisory business. KKR-backed FGS scooped up government affairs firm Rich Feuer Anderson, its second such acquisition. MPK Equity-backed Gorgeous Collective acquired Clean Your Dirty Face, its first deal since launch. PE-backed Context Logic will acquire chemicals manufacturer gChem from EagleTree for $850m, adding a second operating business. The music industry is an "exceptionally active" market for PE, with Blackstone, TPG and EQT partnering with AI businesses. Reed Smith's Josh Love says AI has enormous potential to improve royalty processing and licensing efficiency. Advent has agreed to acquire FNZ Bank, an independent wealth management banking and infrastructure provider in Germany. Veritas to acquire environmental consultant Trinity Consultants from Oak Hill.

PE Firm & People Moves

Bernard Arnault installed Aymeric Le Clere as CEO of Financière Agache, the €3.1bn holding vehicle that anchors control of LVMH. Carlyle picked up a minority stake in Prime Capital Financial as Abry Partners exited the $50bn AUM wealth platform. Njord Partners co-founder Arvid Trolle says AI is now a "natural part" of how the firm operates and sees resilience in the value segment. Lightspeed found their newest hire via Instagram DM, as part of their growing social media strategy. Apollo downplays manager consolidation a year after acquiring a GP and backs a novel first-time fund. The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker shows over 127,000 tech workers laid off in 2025, with layoffs continuing into 2026. Active startup investors kept up the pace in July, with Khosla and YC leading dealmaking. This week's 10 biggest funding rounds included three companies securing $1bn or more. The language of founder praise is decoded in a look at startup slang.