Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: May 27, 2026, 8:30 AM ET

Fund Flows & LP Activity

Institutional allocators continued to deepen their commitment to private markets, with CPP Investments reporting net assets of C$793.3bn at the close of fiscal 2026, a 11% year-on-year increase driven by a 7.8% return, with private equity now comprising 22% of the fund. Across the Atlantic, Seine Capital closed its debut vehicle 20% above target, signaling healthy appetite for secondaries strategies among European LPs. Meanwhile, Japan's top PE investor booked record realisations, while a European general partner is pursuing its largest fundraise to date, reflecting a broader resurgence in capital commitments as macro volatility pushes allocators toward alternatives. At a recent Op Partners Forum in Europe, LP representatives from Nest Pensions, Cambridge Associates, and Malaysia's KWAP emphasized that resiliency, repeatability, and transparency have become the watchwords for evaluating GP value creation amid intensifying macro shocks.

AI, Data Centers & Defense

The AI infrastructure gold rush intensified with I Squared Capital committing up to $1bn to a U.S. data centre platform targeting colocation and AI inference workloads, while Blackstone Life Sciences deployed a $1.3bn royalty and debt package to back Apogee Therapeutics in a strategic financing deal. Greenbriar Equity Group is preparing to take Applied Aerospace & Defense public at a valuation of up to $3.59bn on the NYSE, joining a wave of portfolio companies racing toward exit as public market sentiment for defense and tech-adjacent names improves. In the defense space specifically, Carlyle's Ian Fujiyama told PE Hub that governments are increasingly focused on cyber, AI-enabled capabilities, and autonomy, a trend that is reshaping the addressable market for ADG services and attracting fresh capital into next-generation defense technologies. KKR and Capital Group are extending their hybrid credit franchise into Asia later this year, marking the first time the partnership moves outside the United States and positioning the firms to capture growing demand for structured credit in the region.

Portfolio Moves & Sector Dealmaking

Rights and royalties management attracted significant M&A attention, with Hg investing $500m in Rightsline, a provider of IP management software for rights-intensive industries, just as Hg made a broader move in the sector through a deal with Rightsline. Ambienta's infrastructure play also advanced, with its No Dig Alliance acquiring Sweden's JS Drilling Solutions, a specialist in underground pipe installation, while EQT is set to become the majority owner of a combined U.S. EV charging platform formed by merging its portfolio company Voltera with Revel Transit. In the enterprise software space, Vista Equity-backed Poppulo acquired Sociabble, an employee communication platform previously backed by Ardian, and Main Capital-backed Xait snapped up Germany's SAE, a CPQ and variant management provider. On the healthcare front, New Mountain-backed Swoop acquired prescription management platform Nimble, and Bregal Sagemount backed health tech firm LSPedia to accelerate global expansion.

Other Notable Activity

CVC Capital Partners sold its entire 13.8% stake in Naturgy for around €4bn in a placement, ending an eight-year hold on the Spanish energy group. PGIM deployed roughly $4bn into U.S. residential land-banking transactions through a partnership with Domain Real Estate Partners, underscoring the asset management giant's expanding footprint in asset-based lending. In the wealth management vertical, Houlihan Lokey's James Anderson noted that clients increasingly want human advisors, with Carlyle, JC Flowers, and HGGC among the PE firms taking positions in wealth advisory platforms. Straylight Capital backed loyalty rewards provider Patron Points alongside Scaleworks and co-investors, while Periscope Equity invested in payments tech firm Amusement Connect, with John Tarpley named CEO and Frank Licausi as chief customer and brand officer. On the personnel front, Ardian tapped Mark Benedetti as co-CEO after 20 years with the firm, and Omni Partners appointed Roald Hunvik as partner, its first hire outside the UK. EQT won a mandate to manage the EU's €5bn Scaleup Europe deep-tech fund, marking a significant public-sector allocation. Over in Germany, Staple Street-backed Ivy Technology acquired ISP Tek Services, and Wise Equity invested in Capita-Union Group's holding company Core, while CIG sold its Bach to Rock franchise to Spark Harbor. Bek Ventures, formerly Earlybird Digital East, lost four investment team members in four months, a churn rate that raises questions about retention at mid-tier European growth funds. In legal news, Balderton and AVP suffered an early blow in an unfair prejudice case, and Sifted flagged the hidden cost of unstructured data as a growing pain point for portfolio companies scaling their operations.