Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: May 28, 2026, 5:31 AM ET

Major PE Deals & Investments

Saudi Arabia's $1.15 trillion Public Investment Fund is radically reshaping its supply chain strategy within its private equity portfolio amid persistent geopolitical instability, while deploying AI to centralize data across its holdings. In Europe, KKR opened a Milan office as part of its broader strategy to deepen investment in Italy, complementing its $1.3 billion financing collaboration with Apogee Therapeutics. On the M&A front, Digital Bridge acquired ArcLight for $1.05 billion, including $650 million in base purchase price plus up to $400 million in contingent consideration, while Blackstone Life Sciences provided a $1.3bn package to Apogee Therapeutics. I Squared Capital committed $1bn to launch a US AI inference data center platform targeting colocation workloads, reflecting growing investor appetite for AI infrastructure.

European Expansion & Sector Focus

Inflexion backed the launch of Mittelstands-Assekuranz-Partner, a new German multi-specialist insurance broker with Cremer Assekuranz as its first strategic partner, while Main Capital acquired a majority stake in Belgium's Ferranti, an international software provider for utility companies. In the UK retail sector, Modella Capital expanded its high-street roll-up with the acquisition of Flying Tiger Copenhagen, representing the London-based PE firm's most ambitious move yet to build an international high-street platform. Meanwhile, CVC Credit reinforced its position in Curium, the Paris-headquartered nuclear medicine specialist, through a new debt and equity package supporting the refinancing of the business, and Shore Capital-backed Ondex Automation acquired The Fitch Company, an electrical engineering firm.

Leadership Changes & Strategic Shifts

Carlyle tapped Ian Fujiyama as chairman of its US/Europe-focused midmarket platform, just as the firm identifies attractive opportunities in ADG services (administrative, defense, and government), driven by geopolitical priorities and security concerns. Fujiyama noted that "governments are increasingly focused on cyber, AI-enabled capabilities, software, autonomy and other next-generation defense technologies". In personnel moves, EIV Capital promoted Jason Tracton to partner, having joined the firm in September 2022 as managing director of EIV Resources. Meanwhile, Periscope Equity invested in Amusement Connect, a payments technology firm, with John Tarpley and Frank Licausi set to lead as CEO and chief customer and brand officer respectively.

Market Trends & Impact Investing

The private equity industry continues to see momentum in external fundraising, with PEI's latest tally of placement agents showing $82 billion in new capital raised for GP clients last year. For impact-focused investors, APG, the €615 billion Dutch pension giant, is broadening its impact approach to help hit its €10 billion impact PE target, while impact-focused LPs are using CVs to "lock" the impact mission of companies according to panelists at PEI Group's Impact Investor Global Summit. In specialized sectors, investors are finding opportunities in historically "uninvestable" sectors, creating openings for specialized founders and investors to disrupt trillion-dollar industrial markets. KKR and Capital Group are preparing an Asia push with a public-private credit fund, marking the partnership's first move outside the United States.