Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: March 26, 2026, 11:30 PM ET

Private Equity Dealmaking & Exits

Deal activity saw several strategic exits and acquisitions across sectors, with Advent exiting OLAPLEX for a total valuation of $1.4 billion as premium beauty mergers and acquisitions accelerate globally. In infrastructure, Clearlake Capital purchased Qualus from New Mountain Capital amid surging power demand, a transaction that simultaneously provided employees of the exited portfolio company Cool IT Technologies with a substantial payout from KKR's stake. Elsewhere in logistics, Audax and Greenbriar divested airport services firm AGI to Lone Star, concluding their co-investment period that began in June 2021, while Sun European also recently closed two deals in the aerospace logistics space, including the purchase of B&H Worldwide and a Heathrow-based logistics business mentioned in reports.

Sector-Specific Transactions: Healthcare & Tech

Buyout firms continued to target specialized healthcare services, exemplified by the Olympus Partners-backed EyeSouth acquiring the Aslett-Kurica Eye Center to expand its Atlanta-based management services organization footprint. The broader appeal of healthcare was underscored by Kearney noting that the women’s health sector is ripe for private equity interest, pointing to the pending $18.3 billion take-private of Hologic by Blackstone and TPG as a market indicator. Meanwhile, defense technology saw Advent committing capital to Shield AI, with a portion earmarked to fund Shield AI's planned acquisition of Sagewind Capital portfolio company Aechelon Technology Inc.

Platform Building and Software Consolidation

Platform building remains a key strategy, demonstrated by FPE-backed Point74 acquiring Quor to establish the UK’s first unified food software platform incorporating compliance technology. In workforce management, Trinity Hunt-backed Allvia snapped up HR Pals, adding to its US-based workforce services offering, and Sovereign-backed Affinia made a further add-on acquisition following its initial investment in LB Group in May 2023 as reported. In the insurtech space, Terminus Capital took a majority stake in Andesa, intending to fuel further investment in application development and administrative tool scalability.

Geographic Focus & Fundraising Trends

Middle Eastern capital sources are increasingly active, with Alterra backing General Atlantic's investment in Wireless Logic, signaling continued Middle East involvement in European tech assets. This regional interest is a bright spot as managers who double down on Middle East investors stand a better chance of success, even as broader dealmaking in sectors like beauty reportedly faces pressure from regional conflict. In parallel, Blackstone committed $250 million to a UAE payments platform as part of a larger $1 billion regional bet, even amid geopolitical tensions. Separately, Bain Capital secured a A$430 million loan, equivalent to about $300 million, to finance its acquisition of an Australian wealth management firm.

Market Structure & Emerging Trends

Market infrastructure is evolving, with Bank of America launching a dedicated Private Capital M&A Unit specifically designed to facilitate private equity exits. Concurrently, established buyout firms are increasingly looking toward secondary markets, with healthcare-focused Linden considering a dedicated secondaries strategy to join the growing cohort of specialists entering this space. The role of technology in firm operations is also shifting, as evidenced by anecdotes suggesting AI is already playing a greater role in investor relations processes, even as embattled software portfolios confront a looming debt maturity wall. On the venture side, although seed funding overall is more competitive, the upper bands of seed rounds—those at $10 million and above—were the only segments showing growth in the U.S. market last year. The broader innovation pipeline remains active, with 16 interesting startups emerging from the recent YC W26 Demo Day cohort, covering areas from humanoid robots to tools for redirecting doomscrolling.