Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Fundraising & Capital Markets
Founders Fund closed a $6 billion growth fund techcrunch.com, marking its second major capital raise in under a year after securing $4.6 billion for its third growth vehicle last year. Meanwhile, Kembara Capital launched a $1 billion fund sifted.eu targeting deep tech startups, with founder Michael Seibel warning that "missing out on the deep tech era is unforgivable." In the secondaries market, Step Stone's Matthew Roche described DPI as the new IRR secondariesinvestor.com, noting that "it's been a tough four years for private equity" as slow exits have made distributions to paid-in capital the primary performance metric. The evolving secondaries landscape has LPs taking a more proactive approach, with diversity-focused exits expected to represent 10-20% of PE transactions, according to Level 20 CEO Gurpreet Manku.
Major Acquisitions & Divestments
Monomoy agreed to acquire Jiffy Lube pehub.com from Shell in a $1.3 billion deal, expanding its automotive services portfolio beyond core oil changes into brakes, batteries, and tires. In the defense sector, Advent International explored a potential $4 billion sale pe-insights.com of Ultra Maritime, its naval defense business. Blackstone engaged Citigroup pe-insights.com to advise on a potential $1 billion sale of Shya Hsin Packaging, while Lone Star agreed to acquire Lonza's Capsules and Health Ingredients division pehub.com in a deal encompassing hard empty capsules, dosage form solutions, and health ingredients. EQT and Ambienta made separate water treatment acquisitions pehub.com, with Ambienta purchasing Pieco, a provider of high-performance water treatment and recycling solutions.
Portfolio Company Activity
HIG Capital's newly formed Coriant made its fourth acquisition pehub.com, purchasing CVS to complement recent mergers of Rainham, Zenith, and Tei. FFL Partners established Pioneer HOA pehub.com, a holding company for its homeowners association property management investments. Meanwhile, Main Post agreed to sell Not Your Mother's pehub.com, the haircare brand launched in 2010 by Rocky and Bethany Pagliarulo, to Henkel. Altamont Capital Partners invested in Key Container pehub.com, a specialty corrugated packaging provider, while Isembard raised $50 million sifted.eu to strengthen Europe's industrial base.
Infrastructure & Energy
GIC-backed Greenko Energies weighed a potential $1 billion IPO pe-insights.com, backed by sovereign wealth funds including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. In geothermal energy, Telura secured backing from Nucleus and First Momentum sifted.eu, operating in stealth mode on new energy solutions. The Nordics continue to attract attention, with 21 female founders and operators highlighted as ones to watch sifted.eu, though Denmark's proposed wealth tax plan raised concerns about its impact on startups sifted.eu.
Sports & Entertainment
Private equity's growing interest in sports was underscored by insights from investors pehub.com including Ian Charles, Mark Cuban, José E. Feliciano, and Marc Lasry. Meanwhile, Tencent considered fresh investment pe-insights.com in the $110 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. deal backed by Red Bird, potentially adding several hundred million dollars to the entertainment merger.
Technology & Innovation
Peter Diamandis launched the Future Vision Xprize techcrunch.com, partnering with Google, Marc Benioff, and Ben Horowitz to fund optimistic sci-fi films that envision positive technological futures. The contest aims to counter dystopian narratives and inspire innovation through storytelling. In venture funding trends, the Series B pipeline showed encouraging diversification news.crunchbase.com, with annual funding moving steadily higher after 2023's trough and posting a strong start to the current year.
Industry Movements
Sebastien Siou joined Level 20 as managing director secondariesinvestor.com, bringing experience from Secondaries Investor's Next Gen program. Francisco Partners targeted multiple fund closes privateequityinternational.com, reflecting continued demand for technology-focused private equity strategies. As SPACs potentially return to European markets, analysts warned against repeating past mistakes sifted.eu, emphasizing the need for sustainable structures that avoid becoming "dumpster fires" for startups.