Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Major Exits and Blockbuster Deals
EQT executed a record $5.5 billion exit pe-insights.com from Swiss dermatology firm Galderma through a secondary share sale, marking the largest such transaction in Swiss history and underscoring the firm's aggressive exit strategy. The deal follows CVC Capital Partners reporting a record €21.9 billion in realised exits for 2025 privateequityinternational.com, a 77% increase year-on-year, highlighting a broader surge in private equity distributions. In a separate strategic move, Brookfield Asset Management is exploring a $1.3 billion acquisition pe-insights.com of World Freight Company from EQT and PAI, while Carlyle agreed to sell Colombian oil producer SierraCol Energy pe-insights.com to Prime Infrastructure Capital, continuing the trend of large-cap exits across diverse sectors.
Fundraising and Strategic Capital Commitments
Bain Capital secured $12.5 billion pe-insights.com across its latest Asia and Japan buyout funds, signaling robust institutional demand for Asia-focused mandates despite global market headwinds. Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital acquired a minority stake pehub.com in the $16 billion private equity platform Atlas Holdings, a move that provides Atlas with permanent capital for its portfolio of 30 industrial businesses. Separately, BNP Paribas Asset Management gathered €540 million pe-insights.com for its first direct GP stakes strategy, targeting minority investments in private capital managers, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners closed €1.3 billion pe-insights.com at first close for a flagship green credit fund, reflecting the sustained flow into climate-aligned strategies.
AI Investment Recalibration and Sector Shifts
Venture capital investors are shifting focus from flashy AI demos to measurable business outcomes news.crunchbase.com, prioritizing startups with proven production usage and revenue over theoretical potential. This sentiment was echoed by Khosla Ventures partner Ethan Choi news.crunchbase.com, who warned that AI could displace entry-level jobs and described a reversal in his investing philosophy toward more pragmatic applications. The trend is mirrored in funding rounds; for instance, AI-powered legal platform Legora tripled its valuation to $5.55 billion news.crunchbase.com with a $550 million Series D led by Accel, while Paris-based AI lab AMI raised $1 billion news.crunchbase.com in Europe's largest ever seed round to build "world models."
Secondaries Market Evolution and Evergreen Funds
The secondaries market is undergoing structural change as large investors actively deploy capital toward real estate secondaries pe-insights.com, with Ardian and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority targeting a $20 billion opportunity. This follows Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan reporting a 6.7% return pe-insights.com as assets reached $279.4 billion, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board coming to market with a multi-billion-dollar private equity portfolio secondariesinvestor.com dubbed Project Ember. Meanwhile, Hamilton Lane's analysis shows evergreen funds outperforming closed-end peers privateequityinternational.com over one- and three-year periods, fueling debate about the future of fund structures. As one senior secondaries executive noted, the definition of secondaries will evolve secondariesinvestor.com as LPs take more proactive roles and continuation funds become a standard exit path.
Healthcare and Industrial Consolidation
Healthcare remains a hotbed for buyout activity. Health insurance unicorn Alan hit a €5 billion valuation sifted.eu following a new funding round, while BV Investment backed a clinical data exchange platform, Moxe Health pehub.com. On the industrial side, Lone Star agreed to buy Lonza’s Capsules and Health Ingredients division pehub.com, and HIG-backed Coriant made its fourth acquisition pehub.com with CVS, building a consolidated industrial maintenance business. In related moves, NorthEdge-backed Ramarketing acquired ISR Market Research pehub.com, and Wynnchurch-backed Hydraulic Technologies bought Foxtrot Industriel pehub.com, underscoring mid-market consolidation in niche manufacturing sectors.
Fintech Licencing and Market Access
Revolut finally secured a UK banking licence sifted.eu after a five-year regulatory tussle, a milestone that will allow the fintech giant to offer full current accounts and credit products under its own banking licence, directly challenging legacy UK lenders. This comes as Lloyds aims to become the UK’s biggest fintech investor sifted.eu, intensifying competition in the space. The broader European fintech landscape is also shifting, with Blackcat’s CTO predicting a move toward multi-rail finance and operational maturity sifted.eu, while Denmark’s proposed wealth tax would be a disaster for startups sifted.eu, potentially driving founders and capital elsewhere.
Infrastructure and Energy Transition Plays
Infrastructure funds are aggressively targeting energy transition assets. GIC-backed renewable developer Greenko is lining up a potential $1 billion IPO pe-insights.com, while XPV Water Partners launched an ocean technology platform, OceanSight pehub.com. In power, TPG completed a $4.75 billion sale of Intersect to Google pehub.com, spinning off its grid-tied business. The trend extends to water treatment, where Italian firm Ambienta acquired industrial water treatment provider Pieco pehub.com, and Ardian added an Italian business to its self-storage platform pehub.com, taking its total investment in the sector past €300 million.
Automotive Services and Consumer Brand Roll-Ups
PE firms are scaling platforms in automotive services and consumer goods. Monomoy Capital agreed to buy Jiffy Lube from Shell in a $1.3 billion deal pehub.com, building a national quick-lube chain with expanded maintenance offerings. On the consumer side, Main Post sold haircare brand Not Your Mother’s to Henkel pehub.com, while E2P Capital sold Furlani Foods to Arbor Investments after a three-year hold pehub.com, with the seller noting operational goals were hit faster than planned. These exits reflect a disciplined approach to value creation in branded consumer staples.
Platform Build-Outs and Add-On Acquisitions
Funds are continuing to build out platform companies through bolt-on acquisitions. Bertram Capital-backed Cogency Global acquired Elemental CoSec pehub.com to expand its UK governance capabilities, and Align Capital’s portco ISPN made a second add-on pehub.com since its December 2024 investment. Thompson Street-backed ATIS picked up Soberman Engineering pehub.com, and HIG-backed Coriant completed its fourth acquisition pehub.com with CVS, demonstrating the relentless drive to consolidate fragmented industrial and business services sectors.
Sporting Investments and Media Consolidation
Private equity’s push into sports continues, with investors citing media rights and franchise value growth. CVC Capital Partners secured €3.7 billion in financing pe-insights.com for its Global Sport Group, backed by KKR and Pimco, while Tencent weighed a fresh investment in a $110 billion Paramount–Warner Bros. deal pe-insights.com backed by Red Bird Capital. This follows broader media consolidation trends, as PE firms seek to bundle sports and entertainment assets for recurring revenue streams.
LP Sentiment and Market Realities
Limited partners are expressing caution about private equity’s relative performance. A large LP bemoaned the asset class’s underperformance privateequityinternational.com, and StepStone’s Matthew Roche declared that ‘DPI is IRR today’ secondariesinvestor.com, emphasizing the importance of cash returns in a slow-exit environment. Meanwhile, GP firms are growing less confident about PE outperformance privateequityinternational.com, and valuation mismatches persist, particularly in technology. The influx of private wealth capital is expanding capacity for larger deals secondariesinvestor.com, but the secondaries market remains undercapitalised relative to the growing volume of GP-led transactions.