Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 20, 2026, 1:30 AM ET
Dealmaking & Exits: Mega-Deals and Portfolio Management
The exit environment remains strained, with major European sponsors exploring sales that underscore ongoing holding periods, as CVC and Nordic Capital explore pe-insights.com options for Cary Group that could value the business at over €3 billion. Similarly, Advent and Cinven are testing the waters for pe-insights.com a potential €25 billion exit of TK Elevator amid takeover discussions involving Kone, while Warburg Pincus weighs deal options pe-insights.com for subprime auto lender Exeter Finance in a process potentially worth $3 billion. This difficulty in clearing the pipeline is widespread, as even assets acquired during less frothy privateequityinternational.com periods are proving challenging to offload, prompting sellers to rely more heavily on continuation vehicles; for instance, QHP Capital secured pehub.com an $1.1 billion continuation fund for Azurity Pharmaceuticals, led by Harbour Vest Partners.
Continuation vehicles remain a favored tool for asset management, providing liquidity without a full sale, as evidenced by Ares leading pe-insights.com a €300 million continuation fund for Europastry following a halted IPO plan, a structure also utilized by MCH in a similar deal for the same bakery firm supported by Ares pehub.com, which won a Small-Cap Europe Deal of the Year award for its efforts. GP-led secondaries transactions are seeing new structures, such as the one where Bindley Capital-backed pehub.com Guardian Pharmacy Services priced a 'synthetic secondary' offering. In the secondaries market generally, some LPs are taking a disciplined approach to bringing assets to market over the last 15 months, distinguishing themselves from other sellers through methodical selling secondariesinvestor.com.
Mega-cap firms continue to deploy capital across sectors, with Blackstone backing its portfolio company, healthcare advisor Chartis, to acquire health tech firm pehub.com Leap AI, while LS Power is set to purchase approximately 4.4 gigawatts of predominantly natural gas generation capacity from Constellation Energy in a deal valued at $5 billion acquiring PJM gas assets pehub.com. In Asia, KKR, Silver Lake, and General Atlantic are reportedly preparing for partial exits as Reliance Jio moves forward with a $4 billion IPO, and Singaporean buyout shop privateequityinternational.com planted its first overseas flag in Hong Kong to support investment and investor relations.
Sector-Specific Activity: Healthcare, Industrials, and Tech
Activity in healthcare and life sciences saw B-Flexion Life Sciences-backed entities Paratek and Radius Health complete a merger pehub.com, supported by a $1.3 billion financing led by Blackstone Credit & Insurance backing the combination pe-insights.com. In services, Sterling has acquired managed IT firm Cyber Advisors, targeting small, mid, and enterprise clients acquiring the IT services firm pehub.com, while Hildred-backed Sports Med expanded its footprint in physical therapy by snapping up The Physical pehub.com Therapy and Rehabilitation Center across New Jersey and Connecticut. Industrial services saw LFM scooping up manufacturer pehub.com Power Built to build out its automation platform, and Truelink-backed Southern Carlson acquired distributor Greenwald Supply Direct, bolstering its construction supplies platform pehub.com.
In the specialized services arena, Fort Point invested in environmental services firm Boston Green for a recapitalization, and its portfolio company Visu Sewer acquired United Survey pehub.com to boost its wastewater infrastructure services. Meanwhile, ICG backed Italian railway maintenance provider Comcreta to fuel expansion, coinciding with accelerating investment pehub.com in Italian rail infrastructure. Tech-focused deployment includes Warburg Pincus investing in fintech company The Guarantors, with the deal expected to close by Q2 2026 pehub.com, and TPG launching Velotic, a new industrial software firm appointing former PTC CEO James Heppelmann as executive chairman naming Brian Shepherd pehub.com as CEO.
Secondaries, Capital Structure, and Governance
The secondaries market is seeing shifts in sector preference away from technology, with investment banks observing a boost in interest secondariesinvestor.com for other areas as the market digests tech disruption. High Vista Strategies is launching a GP-led secondaries investing strategy focused on the lower middle market, appointing Raudel Yanez as managing director and head of PE secondaries tapping Yanez to lead pehub.com. Meanwhile, buyers in credit secondaries are prioritizing acquiring valuable assets at a discount, eliminating the J-curve effect, and exploiting market inefficiency secondariesinvestor.com. On the LP side, Nevada PERS is moving its Clearlake exposure due to perceived 'conflicts of interest' arising from Clearlake’s planned acquisition of privateequityinternational.com Pathway Capital Management.
In governance and structuring, one area of focus involves tax planning for General Partners, as CPA Anthony Venette detailed how gifting carried interest early can allow future appreciation to accrue outside the GP’s estate, resulting in significant tax savings privateequityinternational.com. Regulatory and political actions also impact capital deployment: the European Union has unveiled its 28th regime plan following months of negotiation unveiling the new structure sifted.eu, and in the UK, concerns persist that a significant portion of founders may depart the country sifted.eu within the next year, posing a challenge for domestic deeptech growth.
Venture Capital & Growth Equity Trends
The growth equity space saw Idealist lead a C$50 million investment, joined by Canada Growth Fund, in sustainable agriculture company Solugen backing the firm's expansion pehub.com. In climate technology, EQT and World Bank provided backing to 'flying ferry' startup Candela, which raised €30 million to fuel its global rollout supporting the Swedish firm sifted.eu. In the broader tech ecosystem, Bluesky secured $100 million in a Series B round post-CEO transition, funds earmarked for scaling its team and developing its underlying ATProto platform techcrunch.com. Meanwhile, Sequoia provided a vote of confidence to Edra, a New York startup focused on automating workflows using operational data, which raised $30 million techcrunch.com.
Concerns remain regarding equitable funding, with AI investor Rana el Kaliouby warning that if women are excluded from AI funding and leadership roles, the resulting 'boys' club' environment could severely widen the wealth gap techcrunch.com. Despite these concerns, accelerators continue to spot potential, with nominations open for TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 techcrunch.com offering $100,000 in equity-free funding and VC access. In European VC, Index Ventures backed YC alum Parallel with a $20 million Series A to deploy AI agents in hospitals bringing AI to medical facilities sifted.eu, while Tencent and Sapphire Ventures backed fintech Upvest in its $125 million capital raise supporting the German platform sifted.eu.