Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: July 29, 2026, 8:30 PM ET

Fundraising and Dealmaking Activity

The private equity landscape saw significant deal announcements and fundraising updates. TJC, formerly known as The Jordan Company, is eyeing a final close for its seventh flagship fund, Resolute Fund VII, with a hard cap set at $2 billion above its target. BlackRock-backed Influence is set to acquire Anthem Entertainment's music assets for over $600 million, which includes catalogs featuring over 24,000 songs by artists like Britney Spears and Rush. completed take-private of medical technology firm Avanos Medical, with Avanos stockholders to receive $25 per share in cash. Vista Equity Partners agreed to acquire software firm Quantios from Hg, a business formed through mergers of previously held entities. Macquarie is reportedly exploring the sale of waste management company Win Waste, expected to attract interest from strategics and infrastructure funds.

Carlyle-backed Included is acquiring healthcare company Firefly Health. Investcorp has scooped up wealth management firm Berger Financial Group, which manages over $3 billion in assets for more than 3,800 clients. Open Gate Capital has agreed to acquire Knorr-Bremse’s rail HVAC unit, Merak, a company with over 60 years of engineering expertise. Apax is set to acquire two plastic packaging companies, Centor and another from Gerresheimer, for €1.5 billion; these businesses generated combined revenue of approximately €570 million in 2025. Bain Capital in infrastructure platform Eaton Fiber, aiming to accelerate Verizon's fiber broadband expansion across the U.S. In a separate but related development the $1.5 billion investment in Eaton Fiber and highlighted THL's AI value creation strategy in an AMI sale, alongside Golub Capital's investment in Church's Texas Chicken.

Juniper Capital Andes Coil Processors, marking its 11th exit from 12 investments made across four platform companies since 2017. Gemspring-backed Key Line merged with utility services firm Palouse Power, combining construction and maintenance services for electric distribution, transmission, substation, and communications infrastructure. Water tech firm Xylem is to acquire Eagle Tree-backed Water Fleet for $200 million, a provider of mobile water and wastewater utility services. Carbyne-backed Suan Nutra will acquire a portfolio of natural ingredients businesses from IFF. Providence made additional in talent agency The Team, which will be used to acquire the founder's remaining ownership stake.

Market Trends and Strategic Focus

Global macroeconomic concerns are driving increased investor interest towards Europe, with the UK capturing a larger share of private equity activity, according to PE International. Secondaries funds in real estate fundraising, representing 4% of private real estate fundraising in 2025 and continuing to attract capital commitments. Meanwhile, Artificial Intelligence's role in value creation is facing mounting scrutiny, with concerns that general partners (GPs) may be at risk of overpromising and underdelivering on AI's ability to drive topline growth. Providence's Karim suggests that AI "fatigue" indirectly boosts live events, emphasizing the increasing value of physical scarcity in a digitalized world, and notes that more sellers are becoming "realistic" on must-move assets, with new opportunities emerging in communications, live events, and education.

The AI era is predicted to benefit "middleweight" technology companies rather than just large incumbents or AI-native startups, according to Brad Bernstein, managing partner at The Sweet Science. Freehand has raised $75 million in Series B funding to scale autonomous AI agents that manage supply chain spend and back-office operations for enterprises. One of Europe's most active limited partners (LPs) is actively seeking venture capital firms with "industrial know-how." Fox Path has disclosed details of its debut credit secondaries fund, following a partnership last year with Reinsurance Group of America to capitalize future funds. In early-stage funding, 13 deeptech startups received backing from Tier 1 VCs in the first half of 2026. Pliant achieved $100 following its U.S. expansion.

Startup and Technology Ventures

Former Meta and Slack engineers have for their new startup, Centralize, an enterprise sales platform designed to act as a "Deal GPS." The firm emerges from stealth with this Series A funding round. In the realm of AI and enterprise solutions a "Deal GPS" for enterprise sales. Similarly, Freehand has raised $75 million in Series B funding to scale autonomous AI agents focused on managing supply chain spend and back-office operations for large enterprises. The debate continues around AI's true value creation potential, with some expressing skepticism about its ability to consistently deliver topline growth, while others see indirect benefits, such as increased value in physical scarcity, as noted by Providence's Karim Tabet. The AI label alone may not sway LPs, and a "gating-gate" is impacting appetites for evergreen funds, while Spanish PE is experiencing an exit bounce.