Private Equity 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: May 21, 2026, 11:31 PM ET
Secondaries Surge as CPPIB Offloads and Step Stone Defends Fees
The secondaries market showed fresh momentum as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board completed a $2.9 billion sale of 33 limited partnership fund interests to Blackstone Strategic Partners and Ardian secondariesinvestor.com, part of a broader portfolio liquidation that has drawn institutional capital into the space. The transaction followed a recently launched portfolio of 56 lines secondariesinvestor.com by CPPIB and adds to a wave of activity catalogued by Secondaries Investor's CV deal log secondariesinvestor.com, which shows activity broadening across segments, transaction types and asset classes. Meanwhile, StepStone secondariesinvestor.com announced it will lower fees during investment periods in its flagship secondaries funds before raising them after the period, a move that defends its pricing mechanisms privateequityinternational.com even as competitors question evergreen structures. Pantheon's Hassanally secondariesinvestor.com noted that the manager's $1 billion continuation vehicle created access for insurance investors that had lost the ability to back private equity, while DBJ Asset Management secondariesinvestor.com signaled openness to both LP- and GP-led credit secondaries strategies. Across the Atlantic, Macquarie Asset Management and Baird secondariesinvestor.com described infrastructure secondaries as riding a "tremendous tailwind," with deal flow accelerating as LPs seek yield in a higher-rate environment.
AI and Defense Drive Niche Fund Raises
Private equity's thematic bets sharpened around AI and defense in the past 24 hours. EQT's Per Franzén pehub.com told investors that AI holds a "very, very high sense of urgency" for operationalizing across portfolio companies, noting that legacy code rewriting capabilities could expand the investable universe. That sentiment echoed in a deal involving a PE-backed AI-native enterprise services firm and Anthropic pehub.com, which acquired Fractional AI with backing from Goldman Sachs pehub.com, Apollo Global Management pehub.com and others. On the defense front, Earlybird sifted.eu is raising a €500 million fund with French investor AVP sifted.eu, while Capitol Meridian pehub.com appointed former U.S. Navy Secretary Ryan McCarthy as an operating partner to advise on defense market trends and portfolio value creation. Convective Capital techcrunch.com broadened its mandate with an $85 million fund targeting disaster resilience, and Oakley Capital recruited ex-Red Bull Formula One team principal Christian Horner to scout premium sports deals. The defense theme also extended to startups, with Sifted reporting that strike drones startup Stark sifted.eu is targeting a blockbuster funding round.
Big Exits and Platform Plays
KKR delivered one of the largest exits in recent memory, agreeing to sell CIRCOR Aerospace to Parker Hannifin for $2.55 billion, a significant return on a business it carved out of its broader CIRCOR International platform after acquiring the parent for $1.8 billion in 2023. KKR will retain ownership of CIRCOR's naval and industrial businesses. The deal follows a pattern of large-scale divestitures across PE portfolios secondariesinvestor.com, with Authentic Brands Group pehub.com acquiring denim brand Lee in another sector exit. On the growth side, KKR's Next Generation Technology Growth fund techcrunch.com led an $80 million investment in booking platform Fresha, pushing its valuation to $1 billion, while Accel-KKR pehub.com invested in asset operations platform UpKeep to support its AI-native expansion. Trinity Hunt Partners pehub.com formed Elevation Landscape Group with an initial investment in Colorado-based Landscape Endeavors, and McNally-backed Foundral pehub.com acquired mechanical contractor A. Hattersley & Sons.
New Funds, IPO Filings, and Smaller Bets
Partners Group privateequityinternational.com launched a new total return strategy targeting long-hold periods of up to 12 years with an emphasis on immediate cash yield, reflecting a broader shift among GPs toward differentiated alpha-delivery as longer hold periods and lower distribution rates reshape LP expectations privateequityinternational.com. On the public markets front, SpaceX news.crunchbase.com filed its IPO prospectus seeking a trillion-dollar-plus valuation, though the filing reportedly looks distinct from those of elite tech peers. In smaller deals, Imperagen techcrunch.com raised £5 million for enzyme engineering using quantum physics and AI, Patina techcrunch.com secured $2 million for fragrance technology, and One Bow River pehub.com backed aerospace startup Ptero Dynamics to accelerate development of transwing VTOL unmanned aircraft systems. HIG Capital pehub.com tapped Brian Dutzar as managing director for its private wealth management team, while Kingswood Capital pehub.com sold marine services firm Lind Marine to Tallvine Partners. The Pinault family office Artémis exited its majority stake in Giambattista Valli as the designer regained full control, and ICG delayed the launch of its mid-market Strategic Equity fund secondariesinvestor.com after raising $11 billion for its largest dedicated continuation vehicle last year.