Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Buyout Activity
Wynnchurch-backed ORS Nasco pehub.com acquired industrial wholesalers AD Member Supply and Alliance, expanding its MRO product distribution platform. Greenbelt-backed Saber Power pehub.com purchased Bounds Construction, bolstering its electrical power system services in the Houston market. Littlejohn-backed Ardurra pehub.com snapped up Remington & Vernick Engineers, adding to its complex engineering and consulting capabilities. Vista pehub.com made a new investment in aviation software provider Portside, with Insight Partners remaining a significant shareholder.
Sector Consolidation
The active pharmaceutical ingredients sector remains hot, with Astorg pehub.com and EQT among firms active in the space. Astorg’s portfolio company Solabia pehub.com executed three add-on acquisitions, marking its first deals since the October 2025 investment. In logistics, Mutares pe-insights.com agreed to sell its in Time Group platform to Tawin Holdings, while BlackPeak pehub.com sold its eu Shipments.com stake to Austrian Post. Visualize Group pehub.com acquired gaming certification lab BMM Testlabs.
Fundraising & Mandates
A consortium including EQT pe-insights.com, Eurazeo, and Atomico was shortlisted to manage the European Union’s planned €5 billion deep-tech investment fund. The competition underscores LP demand for specialist tech mandates. Meanwhile, the mantra that ‘DPI is the new IRR’ privateequityinternational.com is gaining traction across private equity as LPs prioritize realizations over paper gains.
Secondaries Market Evolution
GP-led secondaries deals hit an all-time high in 2025, but process pain points privateequityinternational.com for LPs are coming into focus. Specialization is increasing, with firms developing niche expertise. The market is also looking toward APAC, where GP-led deals privateequityinternational.com remained a small fraction of global volume last year, suggesting room for growth. Evergreen funds are increasingly participating in these transactions, testing the compatibility secondariesinvestor.com of liquidity structures.
Lower Middle Market & Growth Equity
New PE firm Synergy Sports Capital pehub.com debuted, targeting the lower middle market. Abry Partners CEO CJ Brucato pehub.com highlighted the lower mid-market as a relative haven, citing normalized aerospace build rates. Littlejohn pehub.com invested in power infrastructure consulting firm GDS Associates, while Tributary Group pehub.com backed regulatory software company Softworks Group. Serent pehub.com invested in health tech firm Saisystems to accelerate its technology roadmap.
Venture & Tech Funding
Large startup funding rounds continued, led by space tech and AI infrastructure. Science Corp. news.crunchbase.com, a brain-computer interface startup founded by Neuralink alums, raised a $230 million Series C. City Detect techcrunch.com, an AI platform for urban maintenance, secured a $13 million Series A. However, February’s deal activity was concentrated, with active investors news.crunchbase.com spending more on fewer deals despite OpenAI’s record financing.
Market Commentary & Trends
At the NEXUS 2026 conference, PJT Partners’ Adrian Millan secondariesinvestor.com projected 2026 would set another secondaries record despite macro uncertainty. Bridgepoint privateequityinternational.com is evaluating options for a defense investing strategy amid Europe’s projected €14 trillion in related spending. The evolving LP-GP dynamic was a focus, with shifting investment behaviors privateequityinternational.com testing relationships. Meanwhile, Tim Draper news.crunchbase.com discussed his contrarian bets on AI and Bitcoin, framing his approach as building ‘human accelerators.’