Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: August 21, 2026, 10:51 PM ET

Deals & Exits

A KKR-backed consortium has agreed to a $5.5bn take-private of Steadfast Group, Australia's largest general insurance broker network, which will be split between three US backers. Across the Atlantic, Advent and Bain are pressing to acquire 100% of Amil, one of Brazil's largest health insurers, at a valuation of roughly R$17bn ($3.3bn).

Arctos has agreed to buy a 10% stake in the Atlanta Falcons at an enterprise value of $10.6bn, marking one of the largest private investments in an NFL franchise. Meanwhile, CVC is preparing to bid for Aldermore, the UK challenger bank being sold by South African parent First Rand under the shadow of a motor finance mis-selling scandal.

Waterland has emerged as the latest bidder for Gamma Communications, the London-listed business telecoms group, reopening a contested takeover battle. And Carlyle is exploring a sale of Yipit Data, its alternative-data provider, that could value the business at more than $2.5bn.

Fundraising & Startups

AI accounting startup Rillet raised $100M and became a unicorn in just 48 hours, after CEO Nicolas Kopp's growth numbers at a board meeting sparked a fundraising frenzy from Iconiq, Sequoia and others. The week's largest financing went to Castelion, a defense tech startup developing hypersonic missiles, with other sizable rounds going to AI inference and video-creation companies.

This month's startup deal flow is dominated by AI, with applications ranging from recycling to breathing to winning construction bids.

Firm News & Governance

Charlesbank has appointed Brandon White and Sandor Hau as co-managing partners, with Michael Choe, who led the firm for 12 years, moving to managing partner emeritus. The DOJ is investigating a16z, which has two partners sitting on boards of competing companies — Ben Horowitz at Databricks and Martin Casado at Fivetran — raising questions about what the probe means for venture capital broadly.

Long Ridge Equity Partners has invested in Market Sphere Unclaimed Property Specialists, which helps enterprises manage unclaimed property compliance across US and Canadian jurisdictions.

Healthcare & Sector Plays

Revenue cycle management platforms are drawing PE interest from Carlyle, Longshore and Serent, while SEVA announced an investment in healthcare price transparency. That's part of a broader wave — eight specialty RCM deals have closed with Francisco Partners and New Mountain among the buyers.

In AI services, Ode, a San Francisco-based enterprise AI transformation company backed by Anthropic, has acquired AI services firm Casper Studios.

Secondaries & International

CV pricing is strengthening as new market entrants seek to pre-empt auction processes to "differentiate themselves," according to Lazard's Kevan Comstock. In Ireland, Phoenix Equity and Thoma Bravo are among firms betting on the market, with Exponent agreeing to invest in OFS, a provider of specialist technical services for the global power generation industry.

A record number of corporate venture capitalists are making repeat bets on European robotics startups. Meanwhile, when asked to name Europe's "top" VCs, Claude and ChatGPT came up with some left-field picks.

A legal dispute has emerged at the Monaco banking venture founded by Monzo's cofounder. And a cautionary note for founders: tech shortcuts taken early in a startup's life can come back to haunt it later.