Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: May 18, 2026, 5:30 PM ET

PE Fund Mandates & European Deep-Tech

European private equity is consolidating around a concentrated set of growth themes as institutional capital flows into public-private programs. EQT has beaten Atomico to manage the €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund, a vehicle designed to back high-growth European startups, while EQT also won a separate EU mandate to oversee a €5bn Scaleup Europe deep-tech fund targeting quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other frontier technologies. The dual mandates position EQT as the dominant European platform for EU-backed innovation capital at a time when quantum computing startup investment is already showing signs of softening, with overall funding projected to dip from last year's peaks despite resilient public-market valuations. Meanwhile, Bain Capital and General Atlantic are competing for control of Gong Cha, the bubble-tea chain targeting a $2bn exit, suggesting that traditional consumer brands remain attractive even as the deep-tech narrative intensifies.

Private Credit & Infrastructure Financing

A wave of institutional-private credit partnerships is reshaping lending in Europe. Citi and BlackRock's HPS Investment Partners launched a €15bn Private Capital Programme focused on direct lending to corporate and sponsor-owned borrowers across EMEA, marking one of the largest credit facilities of the year. In the energy sector, Kimmeridge, CPP Investments, and Mubadala have anchored a $13bn Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana, with Caturus reaching a positive final investment decision and closing $9.75bn in project financing. The convergence of private credit expansion and project finance activity reflects a broader appetite for infrastructure exposure as Next Era Energy agreed to acquire Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $66.8bn, capping a year in which private capital has fundamentally restructured the U.S. power market.

Healthcare Exits & Sector Consolidation

Healthcare investors are actively rotating portfolio positions. Triton is exiting Aleris, the Nordic specialist-care provider operating more than 100 clinics across Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, through a strategic sale, while Wynnchurch-backed EMS acquired American Metals Supply, a Lake Worth, Florida-based aluminum distributor, signaling that industrial distribution remains a target despite macro uncertainty. On the medical device side, Salt Creek acquired MML Diagnostics Packaging and promoted Geoffrey Pestes to CEO after more than a decade running operations, underscoring the importance of operational continuity in platform deals. EQT and IDG Capital have also advanced in the bidding for Poly Peptide, a Swiss healthcare asset, as European healthcare deal flow remains robust.

Music Rights, AI, and the New Asset Class

Private equity's pivot toward intellectual property is accelerating. Pophouse acquired Tina Turner's catalog and NIL rights to develop the late superstar's brand through live experiences, streaming, and IP monetization, part of a broader wave of music-rights purchases by PE firms. Sverica is exiting its agentic AI investment WinWire by selling to NTT Data, having initially invested in April 2021, while Sequoia backed the AI agents scaleup Dust with a $40m Series B round. The pattern extends to media distribution, as L Catterton exited Everlane by selling the DTC apparel brand to Shein for approximately $100m, a sharp markdown from its peak valuation that reflects the reset underway in direct-to-consumer retail. Sverica is also selling the agentic AI firm WinWire in a separate transaction, illustrating how quickly the AI startup lifecycle is compressing.

Compensation, Liquidity, and Regional Expansion

Talent economics in private markets are diverging. Median compensation for secondaries distribution specialists reached $739k in 2025, trailing the $800k median for the broader alternatives market, suggesting that secondaries roles are losing relative pay competitiveness even as the strategy grows in scale. On the liquidity front, Blue Owl Capital's LP documents reveal a detailed monetisation playbook that includes managed distribution strategies to generate interim returns, a technique gaining traction as investors demand more frequent liquidity events. Regionally, Bain's latest mega-fund highlights APAC's appeal while Vista opens a Middle East outpost and Andreessen Horowitz eyes Japanese defence opportunities, indicating that fund managers are doubling down on geographic diversification to offset Western regulatory headwinds. Meanwhile, Europe's chip startups are waging lobbying campaigns against semiconductor giants, a fight that could shape the policy environment for the deep-tech funds EQT now manages.