Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: August 7, 2026, 12:28 AM ET

Mega-Deals and Take-Privates

Apollo has secured a recommended offer for easy Jet, valuing the FTSE 100 airline at approximately £5.7bn and ending a fast-moving four-week bidding contest for the low-cost carrier. The take-private of a listed carrier ranks among the largest European deals of its kind in recent years, reflecting sustained private equity appetite for undervalued airline assets. KKR has agreed to acquire Medicover India, the Indian hospital operations of Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Medicover AB, adding a scaled 24-hospital multi-specialty network to its healthcare portfolio. The transaction deepens KKR's exposure across emerging market healthcare, a sector that has seen rising deal activity as sponsors chase demographic growth. Ares Management is leading a $2.2bn loan to finance Med Impact Holdings' planned acquisition of Puerto Rico-based Medical Card System. The private credit package underscores how direct lenders continue to displace traditional bank financing in large healthcare M&A transactions, a trend that has accelerated over the past year. The easyJet acquisition will likely face regulatory scrutiny in the UK and EU, though Apollo has signaled confidence in securing the necessary approvals. KKR's Medicover India purchase follows a series of hospital platform investments by the firm, reinforcing its bet on the Indian healthcare market.

Energy and Power Infrastructure

Sunoco will acquire Offen Petroleum for $600m from Court Square, with the target operating a fuel distribution network that delivers approximately 2.5 billion gallons annually to roughly 7,000 customers. The deal expands Sunoco's wholesale footprint in the midstream fuels sector, which has seen a wave of consolidation as distributors seek scale. LS Power is acquiring the Brazos Valley gas-fired power plant from Constellation, satisfying a regulatory divestiture commitment tied to Constellation's 2025 acquisition of Calpine. The transaction highlights how generation assets continue to attract private capital amid surging electricity demand from data centers and electrification. Partners Group will take a majority stake in AVK Power, which has delivered more than 20,000 projects and installed approximately 3.5GW of power for data centers across Europe's FLAP-D markets. The investment positions Partners Group squarely in the data center power supply chain, a critical bottleneck for AI infrastructure buildout. Veritas Capital will acquire Saber Power from Greenbelt, adding a vertically integrated power infrastructure services platform that helps customers build, modernize and maintain critical electrical systems. Offen Petroleum's distribution network serves a diverse customer base across multiple states, making it an attractive bolt-on for Sunoco's existing operations.

Secondaries and Fundraising

Pantheon is backing a credit continuation vehicle for BlackRock's BDC that will house over $500m of debt positions held by TCPC, with pricing at 95% of gross fair value as of 31 December 2025. The pricing point provides a benchmark for credit secondaries in the current market, where buyers and sellers continue to negotiate over valuation gaps. G Squared has closed its seventh fund at $2.3bn, roughly twice the size of its previous vehicle and raised in half the time as venture secondaries heat up. The rapid raise signals strong LP demand for liquidity solutions in a slow exit environment. GP-leds have dominated the secondaries market in H1, with market volatility only part of the story as fundraising and expansion into new asset classes also drive growth. Industriens Pension is eyeing more infra secondaries, having committed to all five infra secondaries vehicles managed by Pantheon, favouring indirect over direct investment in the asset class. The Danish pension's approach reflects a broader trend of institutional investors using secondaries to gain diversified exposure to infrastructure.

Add-Ons and Platform Building

FMG Leading, backed by Copley Equity, has acquired Broadbranch Advisors in a deal that closed at the end of July, adding scale to the advisory platform. Gorgeous Collective, backed by MPK Equity, has acquired Clean Your Dirty Face in its first acquisition since the platform's launch earlier in 2026, marking the start of a buy-and-build strategy in the beauty space. Facility Grid, backed by Nexa Equity, has acquired autonomous commissioning company Ping Cx, introducing a new product strategy centered on three integrated offerings — FG Construct, Validate, and Sustain. The deal boosts Facility Grid's AI capabilities in building commissioning, a niche that has gained traction as commercial real estate owners seek efficiency. Arlington-backed TRP Infrastructure has closed five add-on deals to form a new highway plastics division called Gulf Highway Materials, consolidating a fragmented sector. Red Bird's Affinia has added Wilson Partners in a UK accounting tie-up, with Wilson advising SMEs, private individuals and private equity investors across the UK and backed by Fordhouse. The Affinia deal reflects consolidation in the UK accountancy market, where private equity platforms are aggregating regional firms to build national practices.

Healthcare and Technology

Tortuga Growth Partners has invested in Advanced eClinical Training out of its Fund I, backing a clinical training specialist in the healthcare education niche. The investment targets workforce development for clinical trials, a segment that has grown as drug development activity expands globally. Verdane has made a majority investment in Factbird, a Danish IoT and recurring software company providing manufacturing intelligence services. The deal adds to Verdane's industrial software portfolio in Europe, which has become a focal point for the firm's growth equity strategy.

Exits and Active Sales

Broad Sky has sold Smith + Howard to TPG after growing the firm 4x, with CEO Tyler Zachem noting the business is durable since tax and audit advisory are needed in good and bad times. The exit demonstrates value creation in professional services, a sector that has seen renewed private equity interest as sponsors seek recession-resistant cash flows. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is lining up contractor Divcon for sale, according to sources, in a deal close that PE Hub first reported, with the data center power engineering firm expected to draw strong interest. Partners Group is in talks to buy Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo, while CVC and Veritas Capital vie for heat treatment and metallurgical services provider Bodycote. The dual-track processes highlight the competitive auction environment for high-quality industrial and consumer assets.

LP Activity and Investor Intentions

Italian pension fund ENPAV has released an RFP for private equity co-investment, seeking to expand its direct exposure to the asset class. Korea's MMAA seeks to commit 300bn Korean won to domestic blind-pool private equity and venture capital funds for 2026, a significant allocation that underscores Korean institutional appetite for private markets. Korea Post Insurance is targeting 60bn Korean won for domestic blind-pool venture capital funds in 2026, adding to the country's growing VC commitments. New Jersey's pension fund sees opportunity in slow exits, with CIO Shoaib Khan weighing re-ups and new opportunities on equal footing despite being spared liquidity concerns. The New Jersey approach contrasts with many US public pensions that have pulled back from new PE commitments amid the sluggish exit market.

Market Trends and Analysis

Assessing a quick-flip continuation vehicle on hold period alone is an imperfect metric, as the shorter the hold, the higher the burden of proof required from sponsors. Mega-firms are defying fundraising headwinds in earnings season, with OMERS plotting a fivefold increase of its PE portfolio and carry communication causing headaches for some managers. The UK has expanded its talent visa to more than 100 companies, broadening access to global tech and venture talent and supporting the domestic startup ecosystem. Y Combinator's class of repeat founders is growing, with a dataset of 454 repeat founders shared directly from YC revealing that second-time founders are increasingly common across cohorts. Europe's 50 most active investors in H1 2026 have been ranked, highlighting deployment patterns across the continent and the concentration of capital among top funds.