Private Equity 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: May 4, 2026, 11:30 AM ET
Private Equity: Home Services & Exits Dominate Deal Flow
The essential home services sector remains a focal point for private equity activity, with dealmakers advancing bidders pehub.com into the second round for Audax's commercial HVAC provider, Nextech. Interest levels are high, with sources indicating that potential acquirers are valuing the company at approximately 15 times EBITDA, suggesting a potential transaction size near $1.5bn pehub.com. This potential sale follows a flurry of recent transactions in related sectors; SE Capital recently divested pehub.com its HVAC and plumbing firm, Sierra Platform, to Redwood Services, a platform focused squarely on home services pehub.com. Furthermore, Bain Capital, Sixth Street, and existing backer Harvest Partners have committed fresh capital pehub.com to home remodeling company Power Home Remodeling, though Harvest Partners will retain the largest stake pehub.com. The activity in HVAC, roofing, landscaping, and remodeling suggests continued appetite for fragmented, recurring-revenue service businesses pehub.com.
Sector-Specific Acquisitions & Platform Builds
Platform activity extended across specialized industrial and technology verticals. Riata Capital-backed COEO Solutions expanded its footprint pehub.com by acquiring managed technology provider S-NET Communications, targeting multi-location mid-market enterprises needing managed network and cloud services pehub.com. In infrastructure, IFM Investors-backed Mobius Renewables completed a strategic purchase pehub.com of Air Liquide's biogas production assets across the US, France, Norway, and Sweden, a deal that notably includes six operating landfill gas-to-RNG sites in the US pehub.com. Meanwhile, Avista launched its new platform, Birchwell Consumer Health, simultaneously acquiring pehub.com therapeutic skincare brand Bag Balm from a seller group led by Gemini Investors pehub.com. In the wealth management space, Integrum, Lightyear, and Ontario Teachers’ are *co-investing and are co-investing pehub.com in advisor Allworth Financial, with Lightyear and Ontario Teachers’ serving as previous supporters pehub.com.
Exits and Tech Integrations
On the exit side, SK Capital finalized its divestiture pehub.com of flavors and fragrances producer Phoenix Flavors & Fragrances Inc to Turpaz Industries Ltd pehub.com. In technology M&A, SAP confirmed its move to absorb sifted.eu German artificial intelligence startup Prior Labs, signaling integration of specialized AI capabilities into its enterprise software offerings sifted.eu. This focus on the "boring parts of AI," such as infrastructure and specialized tooling, reflects a broader VC trend where investors like Nicolas Sauvage are building portfolios techcrunch.com around foundational technologies that underpin wider AI adoption techcrunch.com. Concurrently, venture funding interest remains high in compute infrastructure, with numerous startups in the future of compute space sifted.eu drawing attention from European investors who are noted for zagging on AI strategy sifted.eu relative to Silicon Valley norms sifted.eu.
Ancillary Market Moves
Separately, Grovecourt-backed Traffic & Mobility Consultants LLC bolstered its engineering capacity pehub.com through the acquisition of Florida-based specialist Chindalur Traffic Solutions, enhancing its capabilities in transportation planning pehub.com. Separately, event organizers are attempting to drive attendance techcrunch.com for the upcoming Tech Crunch Disrupt 2026 conference by offering a limited-time buy-one-get-50%-off promotion ending this Friday, May 8 techcrunch.com.