Private Equity 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: July 16, 2026, 2:30 AM ET
Major Deals & Strategic Shifts
A potential $53 billion deal for PayPal has emerged, with payments giant Stripe and private equity firm Advent International reportedly teaming up to make an offer reported Wednesday news.crunchbase.com. In a significant financing package, Apollo Global Management is reportedly in advanced talks to provide nearly $3 billion in financing to the New York Yankees report by Bloomberg. Ares Management has completed its $1.7 billion take-private of Whitestone REIT, acquiring the U.S. retail property owner in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.7bn. Francisco Partners is nearing a $1.3 billion acquisition of construction software maker Command Alkon, with Thoma Bravo reportedly eyeing an exit according to Bloomberg sources.
European Tech & Investment Trends
EQT has sweetened its bid for Australian fund manager Perpetual, raising its indicative offer to A$22.07 per share after its initial approach was rejected earlier this month. Verdane, a European specialist growth buyout investor, has acquired a portfolio of minority stakes in technology businesses from bp from bp. In the burgeoning AI space, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Anthropic have launched a new AI services provider named Ode with Anthropic, backed by a consortium of major firms including Apollo Global Management and Goldman Sachs and AI specialists pehub.com. Separately, EQT-backed Syntetica secured $30 million, with Lululemon participating in the round sifted.eu. Monumental, a robotics startup, has raised $32 million, with Khosla Ventures leading the investment sifted.eu.
Venture Capital & Fund Strategies
Greylock has capped its new fund at $1.5 billion, aiming to maintain a focused portfolio of approximately 25 investments per fund to serve as a key partner to its founders to its founders techcrunch.com. Venture funding into fintech startups saw a nearly 23% year-over-year increase in the first half of 2026, reaching $22.6 billion, though the number of deals declined by over 25% suggesting larger, concentrated investments news.crunchbase.com. Corporate venture capital appears to be consolidating, with a trend towards fewer but larger deals, potentially impacting smaller funds disproportionately news.crunchbase.com.
Secondaries Market Activity
The Louisiana Teachers' Retirement System is exploring a sale of private equity secondaries assets to reduce its allocation to buyout investments, increase liquidity, and divest from underperforming fund relationships GP relationships secondariesinvestor.com. Credit manager Serone has launched a buyout secondaries strategy, bolstering its team with hires from Ardian and UBS to lead the initiative secondariesinvestor.com. Carlyle Alp Invest has closed its second single-asset-focused fund at $1.7 billion, exceeding its target and predecessor fund size, with increased LP sophistication cited as a factor Rampelmann says secondariesinvestor.com. High Vista has also launched a GP-led secondaries strategy, extending its existing private equity investment focus pehub.com.
Sector-Specific Investments & Exits
Audax and Linden are preparing to sell Stat Lab Medical Products to Leica Biosystems, an operating company of Danaher Corporation pehub.com. Mutares has divested its Finnish remediation firm Redo to Invex Group, which has been part of Mutares' portfolio since 2023 pehub.com. Gemspring-backed Amplix has acquired One Connect, a technology sourcing and procurement firm pehub.com. Phoenix Equity Partners has invested in Squarcle, a specialist supply chain consultancy founded in 2020 serving clients including the Ministry of Defence pehub.com. VSS has exited its investment in Centroid Systems, a tech services company focused on Oracle Cloud solutions pehub.com.
Music Rights & Entertainment
Cutting Edge has acquired the music rights and royalties catalog of TV/film composer Brian Tyler, known for scores such as the Fast and the Furious franchise pehub.com. Separately, Pophouse has acquired a stake in Iron Maiden's music and NIL rights, recognizing the band's extensive catalog and global reach pehub.com. Stone Point Capital and Further Global have acquired Kroll (formerly Duff & from Permira, with Ardian also reportedly pursuing a healthcare recruitment platform pehub.com.
Real Estate & Infrastructure
BlackRock’s GIP is set to acquire Summit Ridge Energy, a commercial solar power firm that develops, owns, and operates solar and energy storage systems pehub.com. The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) reported a preliminary net investment return of 14.8% for the year ending June 30, 2026, with private equity being a significant contributor to this performance standout contributors. Institutional investors are increasingly turning to real estate secondaries to gain exposure to sought-after asset classes amidst rising confidence in the sector dealflow secondariesinvestor.com.