Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: September 16, 2026, 10:01 PM ET

Brookfield's Reliance Take-Private

Brookfield has secured its $2.9bn take-private of Reliance Worldwide after a fourth bid, ending a protracted negotiation for the plumbing products maker. The agreed deal values the company at $2.8bn, with Reliance manufacturing plumbing and heating products across multiple geographies. The transaction ranks among the largest industrial take-privates of the year and underscores Brookfield's appetite for cash-generative building-products assets.

Energy Midstream Exit

Tailwater Capital and EMG have sold Powder River midstream assets to Plains for $585m. The package includes roughly 600 miles of crude oil gathering and transmission pipelines, a substantial infrastructure footprint in the Powder River Basin. The sale marks a clean exit for the joint venture and hands Plains additional crude logistics capacity in a region where gathering economics have tightened.

EQT's Dual Moves

EQT has agreed to sell cybersecurity firm Ontinue to Quorum Cyber, offloading a managed extended detection and response provider that serves enterprise clients with AI-powered security operations. Separately, EQT and Norway's sovereign wealth fund have teamed up to bid for Spain's Acciona Energía, with Norges Bank Investment Management managing the Norwegian state's stake in the consortium. The pairing signals continued sovereign co-investment alongside established European sponsors in renewable infrastructure.

MLB Investment Momentum

Major League Baseball is drawing significant investor interest despite a potential lockout, welcoming new backers including Apollo, Harbinger and an ownership group. The bullish sentiment persists even as labor uncertainty looms, with the report also noting HR software deals from Thoma Bravo and other private equity firms. Sports franchise stakes continue to command premium valuations as institutional capital seeks scarce, inflation-resilient assets.

Software and IT Services Deals

Main Capital Partners has agreed to acquire higher education software firm Watermark, an Austin-based company serving approximately 1,500 public and private higher education institutions. Main also took a majority stake in Boxwise, a Dutch warehouse management software provider serving around 240 customers. Niobrara Capital acquired Canadian managed IT services platform MSP Corp, a founder-led provider established in 1993, in a deal that also featured in broader coverage of HR software transactions.

Smartling Stake Sale

Vitruvian Partners has acquired a majority stake in Smartling from Battery Ventures. Smartling's AI-powered Language AI platform serves more than 1,000 global brands, positioning the company at the intersection of localization services and enterprise AI adoption. The deal hands Vitruvian a scaled platform in a fragmented translation technology market.

People Moves

Partners Capital has named Jennifer Fox Bensimon head of co-investments; she joined the firm's Co-Investment team in September 2024. Strategic Value Partners has appointed Goldman Sachs veteran Matt Gibson as president, joining the $22bn alternative investment firm after more than 25 years at the bank. EIV Capital has added energy investor Kristin Kelly as partner, bringing her to the firm's upstream strategy after she served as head of traditional energy investments.

Insurance and Fintech Bolt-Ons

Growth Catalyst Partners has invested in Honey Quote, an AI-enabled insurance brokerage that powers quoting and binding for coastal property risks. Pollen Street-backed Order YOYO has completed its bolt-on acquisition of Dutch payments firm Cashdesk, which provides white label software and payments technology including point-of-sale systems. The deals reflect continued sponsor appetite for embedded fintech and insurance distribution platforms.

Legal and Consultancy Platforms

QPE-backed Canford Group has completed its bolt-on acquisition of PDC Group, which specializes in debt recovery and legal services for landlords and residential clients, forming a legal services platform. Adelis Equity Partners has agreed a majority stake in consultancy alliance Newground, which brings together 15 specialist consultancies with more than 300 consultants. Platform-building in fragmented professional services remains a core sponsor thesis.

Cybersecurity and Consumer Add-Ons

Gallant-backed Fime has added French cybersecurity firm Red Alert Labs, which specializes in cybersecurity evaluation and compliance automation. Brightstar-backed Bendon has acquired Hinkler's North American business in an add-on deal; Hinkler's North American unit designs and distributes children's coloring and activity products. Both transactions illustrate sponsor-backed consolidators pursuing tuck-in targets to broaden product reach.

Providence's Events Playbook

Providence Equity's Andrew Tisdale and Robert Sudo have shared their ATG, Hyve and Closer Still playbooks, emphasizing category leaders, resilience through disruption and technology investment in entertainment and B2B events. A separate report outlined the shared strategies in entertainment and B2B events investing, while noting Eurazeo's completed majority investment in Netco Group, a European provider. The commentary offers a rare window into how large sponsors underwrite live-events platforms.

Venture and Software IPO Climate

U.S. venture-backed technology companies have secured around $90bn in domestic listings, yet software IPOs remain conspicuously absent as SpaceX and Cerebras dominate the 2026 tech market narrative. A separate dispatch argues that bears on venture capital may be missing the payoff, with Goldman Sachs questioning assumptions and secondary fund managers building relationships. The window for software exits remains narrow, pressuring late-stage valuations.

Disrupt 2026 Programming

Tech Crunch has revealed the next wave of VCs judging Startup Battlefield 200 contenders at Disrupt 2026, naming five top-tier investors to the panel. Organizers also warned that only three days remain to book an exhibit table, with the last day to secure space set for September 18. The event remains a key venue for early-stage fundraising and sponsor scouting.

Evergreen Fund Lessons

Senior wealth and asset management executives have spelled out what they have learned about evergreen fund structures and how they will judge success, weighing in on the importance of liquidity management at a Paris conference. The discussion reflects growing scrutiny of perpetual-capital vehicles as retail and wealth channels expand their private markets allocations.

Climate and Fintech Perspectives

Climate investors are moving beyond carbon accounting, adopting a new impact investing playbook that emphasizes measurable outcomes over emissions bookkeeping alone. Flowpay CEO William Jalloul has argued that if you don't have defaults, you're not taking enough risks, defending a higher-risk lending posture. Sifted also examined the essential dos and don'ts of tech interview dress codes, a lighter counterpoint to the sector's deal-making.