Private Equity 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: October 7, 2026, 2:01 PM ET
Healthcare Buyouts
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has teamed up with McKesson to take Option Care Health private in a $5.8bn deal, marking one of the largest healthcare services transactions of the quarter. The partnership pairs CD&R’s operational playbook with McKesson’s distribution muscle, a structure that analysts say could unlock margin gains in the home-infusion space. Separately, Altaris has completed its carve-out of Clarivate’s life sciences and healthcare data business, which provides AI-enabled decision-support tools to biopharma clients.
Goldman Sachs-backed Integrity Care Group has closed its acquisition of 15 Next Care clinics across Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, extending its urgent-care footprint in the South. Apposite Capital has sold Crest Optics, the Rome-based optical imaging manufacturer, to Evident in the first exit from its Healthcare III fund. Spectrum Equity has made its first institutional investment in Symmetric, a Pittsburgh-based hospital data firm whose database tracks nearly 20 million patient records.
Senior Living and Retail
BDT & MSD has agreed to acquire Sunrise Senior Living from PSP Investments, taking control of more than 230 communities across the US and Canada. The deal underscores continued institutional appetite for demographics-driven real estate assets despite rising operating costs in the sector. Sycamore Partners has struck an $8.9bn agreement to sell Boots to Wittington Investments, the holding vehicle of Canada’s Weston family, ending a multi-year auction process for the UK pharmacy chain. The price represents a modest premium to where Sycamore acquired the business in 2012, reflecting the retail market’s uneven recovery.
Infrastructure and Energy
Global Infrastructure Partners and CPP Investments have taken a combined 50% stake in AT&T’s new fibre joint venture, a transaction that values the network assets at roughly $20bn. The deal gives AT&T a capital infusion while retaining strategic control, a template increasingly common as telecom operators monetize infrastructure. Partners Group-backed Middle River Power has purchased a California gas plant from Ares, adding peaking capacity in a market where reliability premiums are rising.
Old Ironsides and EnCap Flatrock’s Brazos has sealed a $4.4bn sale of its Midland Basin natural gas gathering and processing system to ONEOK, a portfolio of roughly 700 miles of pipelines. Eurazeo is acquiring a majority stake in Miya Water, the water-efficiency specialist that helps utilities curb non-revenue water losses, in a deal that signals growing private-market interest in water infrastructure. Littlejohn’s Ardurra has struck a deal for eHT, the Abilene-based water engineering firm serving public-sector clients.
Fund Services and Business Services
KKR has agreed to buy Gen II Fund Services from Hg and General Atlantic for $5.1bn, a bet on the continued outsourcing of fund administration as private markets scale. The deal values Gen II at roughly 20x forward EBITDA, a premium reflecting the stickiness of its client relationships. Blackstone has sold Clarion, its B2B events business, to Informa at a $3.0bn enterprise value, with the UK-based company operating more than 100 specialist live-event brands. Carlyle and CVC’s CFGI has acquired BAO Consulting, the Texas-based accounting and finance advisory firm founded in 2021.
North Branch Capital has backed Callaway Industrial Services, the Mooresville, North Carolina-based provider of specialized cleaning and maintenance for industrial facilities. Align Capital Partners’ Advantage Investigations has completed an add-on acquisition of Nor Star Investigations, the Fishkill, New York-based surveillance and background-check firm. Searchlight and Fitzroy are acquiring Kredinor, the Norwegian credit management platform, from Spare Bank 1 Gruppen.
European Deals
CVC and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert have lifted their offer for Recordati to €53 per share, labeling it a "best and final" bid in the battle for the Italian pharmaceutical group. The increased price values Recordati at roughly €26bn and raises the stakes for competing bidders. Sojourner is merging with LPNA to broaden its personal care capabilities, while Main Capital, Gemspring and One Equity have all made new cybersecurity investments, according to PE Hub’s SIPA Day roundup.
Fundraising and Capital Markets
Fundraising ticked up in Q3, according to preliminary PEI Group data, signaling a potential inflection point after two sluggish quarters. Boka is targeting $300m for its third defence fund, with a final close expected by Q1 next year. LGPS Central partner funds have committed an additional £2bn to private markets, expanding the £108bn pension pool’s allocation during the financial year.
Tech and Venture
North American startup funding fell 35% in Q3 to $92bn, as AI megarounds faded and investors adopted a more cautious posture ahead of a wave of tech IPOs. The pullback marks a sharp reversal from the record pace of 2025 and raises questions about valuation support for late-stage private companies. As AI companies prepare to go public, investors are raising the bar on revenue quality and unit economics, according to guest author Maor Farid. River Cell, founded by an Owkin alum, has raised a $25m seed round to build a world model for human cells, a bet on AI-driven biology that could reshape drug discovery.
Hilt, a cybersecurity startup founded by a former ballet dancer, has raised $4.2m in seed funding, part of a Crunchbase series on non-tech founders breaking into venture. Aleph Alpha and Mistral have both released new models, boosting hopes for Europe’s sovereign AI ambitions as the continent seeks alternatives to US hyperscalers. Leatherback has rebranded to Foren, completing a two-year transformation that the company says was driven by strategy, not just a name change.
Events and Ecosystem
Tech Crunch Disrupt 2026 has unveiled its full lineup of interactive roundtables, featuring participants from Nvidia, Chime, Obvious Ventures and Anthropic. With six days to go, organizers are offering discounted passes ahead of the 10,000-person gathering. Sifted has identified the top 10 investors backing Europe’s fastest-growing startups and scaleups, while Slush has named its inaugural list of 20 tech talents under. European defence tech is facing a reality check as procurement cycles lengthen and government budgets tighten, according to Sifted analysis. For founders preparing to pitch, Sifted has outlined what Series A investors actually want to see in a deck, from retention curves to unit economics.