Private Equity 24 Hours

Last updated: August 25, 2026, 8:34 PM ET

Deal Flow

Private equity activity remained brisk across services, healthcare, and technology. Gryphon-backed Presidential Heating acquired Shipley Plumbing, a Montgomery County, Maryland home-services provider specializing in plumbing, drain clearing, and water heater repair. In California, Great Point Partners-backed Vetn Care bought Geary Veterinary Hospital, a Walnut Creek practice founded in 1979 offering wellness care, diagnostics, surgery, and senior pet services. Quad-C-backed Flow Service Partners acquired Altman Air Conditioning, a South Florida commercial HVAC and mechanical services provider established in 1985. PE-backed 360training.com purchased select assets from Electronic Medical Certification to expand its healthcare training offerings. Fort Point-backed New Bold Technologies completed its buyout of retail technology firm Spencer Technologies.

Capital Raises and Investments

H.I.G. Capital became the first institutional backer of HBK, one of the largest integrated accounting and wealth management firms in the US, via a strategic growth investment. Apax Digital led a $140m round in Alice, the AI trust, safety, and security company formerly known as Active Fence, betting on the fast-emerging market for securing artificial intelligence. The Vistria Group agreed to invest in Curi Capital, a Chicago-headquartered registered investment adviser with more than $14bn in assets under advisement across 12 offices in eight states and Washington, DC. Superstep invested in Zencore, a Google Cloud consultancy founded in 2021 by former Google Cloud leaders. Fiat Ventures combined its venture and advisory divisions into the new FGV Capital brand and raised a $35M Fund II, betting that a differentiated venture model can attract LPs in a tough fundraising environment.

Sector Spotlight: Facilities Management

Private equity is returning to the janitorial sector, with firms of all sizes targeting cleaning companies as the appeal of recurring, contract-based revenue grows. KKR, GI Partners, and O2 Investments are among those pursuing janitorial firms, while Windjammer Capital plans to sell IPS Group, a San Diego-based parking infrastructure provider, to Nayax. The broader facilities management theme extends to fleet services: Foresight Group exited Plantexpand to Premius Capital in a deal generating a 3x return on the outsourced fleet maintenance business.

International Expansion

KM Capital took over Papa Johns' Mexico franchise, acquiring 44 existing restaurants with plans to grow the brand. KKR bought into Japan's beauty boom by agreeing to acquire Ci FLAVORS, a leading beauty and lifestyle brand platform, from shareholders led by L Catterton. Luton Rising is preparing to tender the right to operate Britain's fifth-busiest airport, with infrastructure investors circling the concession.

Secondaries and Liquidity

CIP hired Ben Plant as head of capital solutions, tasking him with spearheading liquidity solutions for the Denmark-headquartered infrastructure manager's funds and overseeing semi-liquid fund strategies. Trophy assets are commanding premiums in the secondaries market, according to PE International's latest Side Letter. The UK's proposed tax reform offers clarity to secondaries buyers, bringing buyers' offshore execution to an end and resolving grey areas around stamp duty in a digital age, according to Hogan Lovells Cadwalader's Elliot Weston. Equity Zen co-founder Phil Haslett discussed the private-market divide, noting that the market for private-company shares has become a much bigger part of the startup ecosystem.

Banking and Financial Services

Warburg Pincus' Peter Deming spies European banking opportunities as investment memos stack up, with AI disruption creating new angles. Deming has fresh eyes on banking deals, noting: "I think of banks as having incredibly rich data. AI is going to be an opportunity for them to move up the value chain as a service provider." Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management named Alain Krief global CIO and recruited Charles Lilford as co-head of equities.

People Moves and Firm Updates

LDR Partners tapped Paul B. Murphy Jr as partner; Murphy began his career in commercial lending at Allied Bank of Texas in 1981. India's first listed GP will use some of its proceeds to fund GP commitments in new and existing strategies, according to PE International.

Startups and Innovation

Revolut launched an AI research unit to build models in-house. Lunar founders raised €8.2m to launch Repodo, an AI-native audit startup. Serbian startups are gaining VC attention, according to investors. The top 10 European robotics startups raised the biggest rounds in H1 2026, per Sifted's analysis. For founders considering exits, Sifted offers advice on avoiding exit regret.

Market Commentary

Private equity-backed companies create more jobs than their public peers, employing more than 13.3m people in the US alone. Richard de Silva of Lateral Investment Management argues that bootstrapped businesses are more relevant than ever, noting that the traditional VC model funds a risky search for product-market fit while bootstrapped founders typically start with known customers.