Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 12, 2026, 7:34 AM ET
Market Activity & Exit Trends
EQT's $5.5bn Galderma exit pe-insights.com set a record for a Swiss secondary transaction, underscoring the continued depth of the direct secondary market for large-cap portfolio companies. This follows CVC's reported €21.9bn in realised exits for 2025 privateequityinternational.com, a 77% year-on-year increase that highlights a broader resurgence in exit activity. The trend extends to corporate carve-outs, with TPG completing its $4.75bn sale of Intersect to Google pehub.com and Advent International exploring a potential $4bn sale of its naval defense business Ultra Maritime pe-insights.com. These blockbuster exits contrast with persistent valuation mismatches in the market, where PE firms are pushing back against AI-driven fears pehub.com even as they navigate challenging pricing environments for new deals.
Artificial Intelligence: Investment Focus and Sector Impact
Private equity's pursuit of AI is shifting from hype to tangible infrastructure and application. Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman are in discussions with Anthropic pe-insights.com for a potential joint venture focused on AI infrastructure, while Breakout Ventures raised a $114m fund techcrunch.com to back early-stage startups at the intersection of science and AI. This aligns with a wider VC recalibration toward agentic AI startups demonstrating real revenue and outcomes news.crunchbase.com, moving beyond flashy demos. The technology's disruptive potential is prompting warnings from industry leaders like Partners Group chair Steffen Meister, who cautioned that AI could drive up private credit default rates pe-insights.com by accelerating business model obsolescence.
Secondaries Market Evolution and GP-Led Dynamics
The secondaries market is experiencing structural evolution, with GP-led transactions hitting an all-time high in 2025. Lindsay Goldberg is building out a dedicated continuation vehicle (CV) strategy secondariesinvestor.com, joining a wave of PE firms expanding into the space. However, record growth in GP-led volume does not necessarily equate to LP satisfaction secondariesinvestor.com, as investors voice frustration with process inefficiencies. BNP Paribas Asset Management gathered €540m for its first GP stakes strategy pe-insights.com, targeting private capital managers, while Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance and Jasmin Capital formed a partnership secondariesinvestor.com to focus on co-control CV deals. The definition of secondaries is evolving secondariesinvestor.com, with LPs taking a more proactive stance and CVs forecast to represent 10-20% of all PE exits.
Fundraising: Mega-Funds and Niche Strategies
Despite a selective environment, large fundraising continues. General Catalyst is rumored to be raising a $10bn mega-fund techcrunch.com, following Spark Capital's reported $3bn target techcrunch.com, while Bain Capital secured $12.5bn across its latest Asia and Japan buyout vehicles pe-insights.com. In Europe, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners achieved a €1.3bn first close pe-insights.com for its green credit fund, and UVC Partners raised €77m for its first close sifted.eu in a move into multi-stage investing. These raises occur as VC mega-funds return techcrunch.com, though LPs are increasingly scrutinising fee economics and the underperformance of traditional PE relative to public markets privateequityinternational.com, which is driving demand for alternative liquidity solutions like secondaries.
Sector-Specific Deals: Healthcare, Industrials, and Consumer
Deal flow remains robust in targeted sectors. In healthcare, Riverglade-backed Dynamic Access acquired Minneapolis-based Picc Stat pehub.com, a vascular access provider, and Chicago Pacific Founders invested in Nexben pehub.com, a benefits management firm. Industrials saw significant activity: Chimney Rock bought Gas Clip Technologies pehub.com, a gas detection supplier; AE Industrial’s AIM MRO acquired AA Bushings pehub.com for a fourth add-on; and Hyperion’s Ranger bought MarkOne Safety Solutions pehub.com. The consumer space included Monomoy’s $1.3bn agreement to buy Jiffy Lube from Shell pehub.com, expanding its automotive services platform, and Main Post’s sale of the Not Your Mother’s haircare brand to Henkel pehub.com. Add-on acquisitions remain a core strategy, with Bertram-backed Cogency Global buying Elemental CoSec pehub.com to expand its UK governance capabilities.
AI Infrastructure and Compute Scale
The demand for AI compute is driving massive capital projects and specialist investments. Nscale is poised to deliver $14bn of compute infrastructure sifted.eu, though questions remain about its ability to meet aggressive deadlines. This aligns with Blackstone and Blue Owl’s minority investment in Atlas Holdings pehub.com, valuing the $16bn industrial platform, which includes data center assets. The scale of required capital is also evident in CVC securing €3.7bn in financing pe-insights.com for its Global Sport Group, backed by KKR and Pimco, reflecting the cross-over of large-scale private capital into high-growth, tech-adjacent sectors.
European Venture and Unicorn Landscape
Europe’s tech ecosystem continues to produce unicorns, with almost 40 new unicorns minted year-to-date techcrunch.com, fueled by AI. Notable rounds include Legora’s $550m Series D at a $5.55bn valuation news.crunchbase.com and Entrepreneurs First’s unicorn status following a $200m fundraise sifted.eu. The region also saw Turing Award winner Yann LeCun’s new AI lab AMI raise $1bn news.crunchbase.com in Europe’s largest-ever seed round. However, Europe’s regulatory green agenda faces a funding gap sifted.eu, and Revolut finally secured a UK banking licence sifted.eu after a five-year process, signalling maturation for fintechs. Despite success stories, succession planning remains a critical issue for VC firms sifted.eu, with one of Europe’s youngest female managing partners warning that enduring firms cannot ignore it.
Secondaries Supply and LP Sentiment
Large-scale portfolio sales are testing the market’s capacity. CPP Investments launched a multi-billion-dollar PE portfolio sale secondariesinvestor.com, dubbed Project Ember, while Ontario Teachers’ reported a 6.7% net return pe-insights.com as assets reached $279.4bn. Ardian’s Ava Mallin noted that private wealth capital is expanding capacity secondariesinvestor.com for larger deals, yet the secondaries market remains undercapitalised. This tension is driving innovation, as seen with BNP Paribas’s €540m GP stakes fund pe-insights.com and the proliferation of CVs. However, LPs are growing less confident about PE’s outperformance privateequityinternational.com, a sentiment echoed in analyses showing evergreen funds outperforming closed-end peers privateequityinternational.com, prompting a rethink of traditional structures.
Build-Out Strategies and Platform Creation
Firms are actively building sector-specific platforms. XPV Water Partners launched OceanSight pehub.com, an ocean technology platform, while FFL Partners formed Pioneer HOA pehub.com to consolidate homeowners association management firms. In Italian self-storage, Ardian is acquiring Casaforte pehub.com, bringing its total investment in the sector across Italy and France to over €300m, and Bridgepoint’s Fera Science added Qotho Minerals pehub.com to its science services platform. These build-outs reflect a trend toward creating scaled, thematic operators through serial add-ons, a model also seen with Align Capital portco ISPN’s second acquisition pehub.com and Main Capital-backed TMA’s second buy pehub.com of the year.