Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Major Buyouts and Bids
BlackRock’s GIP pe-insights.com and EQT are in advanced talks to acquire US power producer AES in a deal valued at approximately $12.4 billion. Blackstone pe-insights.com, CVC Capital Partners and Brookfield Asset Management submitted preliminary bids for Volkswagen’s diesel engine unit Everllence, which is being carved out for around €8 billion. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice pe-insights.com secured shareholder approval for its $6.2 billion takeover of packaging company Sealed Air, gaining EU clearance. Advent International pe-insights.com is among five parties expressing takeover interest for UK-listed engineering group Senior plc, valuing the company at £1.78 billion. Separately, Searchlight Capital pehub.com and Abry Partners agreed to take Io T connectivity firm Kore private for $726 million.
Firm Movements and Leadership
Sverica pehub.com promoted Michael Dougherty to partner and Doug Patrican to principal, also hiring Matt Johnson as a principal. DPI pehub.com appointed Sofiane Lahmar as its new chief executive officer, succeeding a long-time senior partner. Astorg pehub.com will see its mid-cap co-head Edouard Pillot leave the firm, with fellow co-head Lionel de Posson taking sole control of the team. Permira pehub.com named Giorgio Dinaro as the new head of its Milan office, succeeding Francesco Pascalizi.
Fundraising and Capital Targets
Novacap pe-insights.com closed its Technologies Fund VII at nearly $3.8 billion, exceeding its $2.75 billion target by over $1 billion. Carlyle Group pe-insights.com set a new target to raise at least $200 billion in inflows by the end of 2028 as its turnaround strategy gains traction. KKR’s publicly traded private credit vehicle, FS KKR Capital Corp pe-insights.com, reported increased troubled loans and adapted its strategy amid a shifting landscape. A Blackstone private credit fund pe-insights.com priced a $400 million bond despite volatility in the software sector.
Secondaries and Liquidity Strategies
The GP-led credit secondaries market is exploring new deal structures, with Antares secondariesinvestor.com highlighting that asset selection and GP alignment are key to performance. A more selective environment favors younger, high-quality portfolios secondariesinvestor.com in the LP-led market, according to Ardian’s Wilfred Small. CPP Investments secondariesinvestor.com will consider secondaries sales to trim older exposure while aiming to deploy about C$20 billion into private equity this year. A new podcast series examined how an LP and GP are navigating the slower exit environment secondariesinvestor.com to seek greater liquidity.
Market Sentiment and AI Scrutiny
CalPERS pe-insights.com remains confident in its private credit exposure despite rising AI-driven software risks in the $1.8 trillion market. At the NEXUS conference, CalPERS’ CEO Marcie Frost stated the fund is ‘not selling assets’ pehub.com to meet payroll, instead focusing on ecosystem investments. Clearlake Capital’s pehub.com José Felic