Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 23, 2026, 3:30 PM ET
Dealmaking & Exits Signal Sector Activity
Private equity dealmaking saw a mix of major portfolio sales and strategic carve-outs over the past few days, indicating continued appetite for high-quality assets despite exit pressures. Advent and Cinven pe-insights.com are reportedly exploring a substantial €25 billion exit of their stake in TK Elevator pe-insights.com, with Kone entering advanced talks pe-insights.com to acquire the majority of the business. In the U.S., Francisco Partners is divesting pehub.com its music publishing firm Kobalt to Brookfield-backed Primary Wave pehub.com, with management remaining in place under CEO Laurent Hubert. Further divestitures include Olympus Partners planning the sale pehub.com of the retina business of its eye-care platform EyeSouth for $1.1 billion pehub.com, and Sovereign selling Knovia to Eureka Education pehub.com after growing the company’s revenue by more than four times via organic expansion and acquisitions.
Infrastructure & Energy Investments Heat Up
Interest in large-scale infrastructure and energy assets remains strong, particularly in the Gulf region, where funds are targeting significant transactions. Private equity and infrastructure funds pe-insights.com are positioning themselves for a potential $7 billion pipeline deal in Kuwait, reflecting sustained interest in Gulf energy assets. Simultaneously, global players are deploying capital into essential services; Actis has completed the acquisition pe-insights.com of a 90% stake in Singapore-based environmental management company 800 Super for an undisclosed sum pehub.com, marking a deployment of $1.7 billion across Southeast Asia for the firm. In European energy, Ares Management committed at least €1 billion pe-insights.com toward Plenitude's capital increase pe-insights.com, valuing the Eni unit at €13.1 billion.
Software, Fintech, and Vertical Buy-and-Builds Continue
The software and fintech sectors remain primary targets for growth and buyout strategies, often involving bolt-on acquisitions to drive value. Lead Edge Capital successfully raised $3.5 billion pe-insights.com for its seventh fund, signaling a commitment to software investments despite market volatility. In the M&A pipeline, Gryphon-backed Rootstock is acquiring pehub.com ERP software provider Ascent Solutions pehub.com, which specializes in cloud ERP on the Salesforce platform. Separately, Diversis is scooping up fintech firm LTi pehub.com, with the co-founders retaining minority stakes and remaining involved. Furthermore, Bridgepoint-backed PEI Group acquired pehub.com benchmark provider Scientific Infra & Private Assets pehub.com, demonstrating a strategy of bolstering portfolio firms with data and rating capabilities.
Secondaries Market Sees Institutional Liquidity Needs
Institutional investors are actively seeking liquidity through the secondary market, prompting major portfolio sales and the launch of new funds dedicated to this space. The University of California system is shopping secondariesinvestor.com a $3 billion limited partner portfolio, representing one of the largest recent efforts to secure capital back from private fund commitments. This heightened interest in liquidity is also evident in Japan, where RGCM Fund I is nearing its hard-cap secondariesinvestor.com for its debut fund, which will focus on direct secondaries and primary rounds. The strategic importance of secondaries was underlined by Mercer's acquisition of AltamarCAM privateequityinternational.com, which Michael Dempsey stated privateequityinternational.com added critical secondaries capabilities at a time of increased demand for exits.
AI Investment Attracts Premium Returns and Infrastructure Focus
The race to fund artificial intelligence capabilities is driving both massive venture rounds and innovative financing structures, while infrastructure spending targets the underlying compute needs. OpenAI is offering private equity firms pe-insights.com a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% to attract capital into new joint ventures seeking to scale operations. Concurrently, specialized AI infrastructure startups are securing significant early-stage funding; Gimlet Labs raised an $80 million Series A techcrunch.com for technology designed to optimize AI inference across disparate chip architectures, including NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel techcrunch.com. This push for greater compute efficiency comes as overall U.S. startup funding slowed sharply in March news.crunchbase.com, largely due to the absence of the mega-rounds seen previously.
Firms Announce New Leadership and Emerging Dealmakers
Private equity firms are making key personnel appointments and new sponsors are emerging onto the deal scene. Aware Super appointed Alex Satchcroft pe-insights.com to lead its $11 billion private equity portfolio, centralizing the allocation strategy. In personnel moves, GTCR appointed Donnie Phillips pehub.com as Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer based in its Chicago headquarters. Separately, the market is watching Terrence Murphy pehub.com, a former Green Bay Packers wide receiver pehub.com, who launched Synergy Sports Capital pehub.com and announced the firm’s debut transaction. Meanwhile, ECI named David Danon pehub.com as a new partner following nearly two decades at Bain Capital pehub.com.
Sector-Specific Activity and Growth Strategies
Buyout activity spanned sectors including healthcare, distribution, and enterprise technology, often emphasizing growth acceleration post-acquisition. Apollo, alongside CVC, is acquiring pe-insights.com a 37% minority stake in packaging firm Syntegon for €1.75 billion pe-insights.com to support its next growth phase. In distribution, One Equity acquired UK wholesaler Kitwave pehub.com via a take-private transaction. In healthcare services, Aquiline-backed Relation snapped up pehub.com the Chinook Insurance Group pehub.com, while AEA Elevate invested in tech company Trinamix pehub.com that serves mid-market organizations. These moves contrast with the strategic carve-outs such as Advent-backed Cobham Ultra selling pehub.com its Ultra Cyber division to Airbus Defence and Space pehub.com, reflecting ongoing portfolio optimization efforts.
Investment Mandates and Niche Strategies
While traditional funds pursue large-cap deals, independent sponsors are focusing on selectivity to target higher absolute returns. Research indicates that independent sponsors often target returns exceeding 3x privateequityinternational.com, driven by greater deal selectivity and a preference for lower entry valuation multiples compared to traditional fund deals. This contrasts with the exit environment where West Monroe noted pehub.com that exit difficulties are leading sponsors toward partial sales or longer preparation periods for full sell-sides. Separately, specialized investment firms are continuing to raise funds, such as French-Italian venture capital firm 360 Capital raising €85 million sifted.eu for a deeptech fund backed by a European defense prime contractor.