Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 23, 2026, 9:30 PM ET
Fundraising Milestones & Growth Equity
Private equity fundraising saw significant activity across specialized mandates, with Lead Edge Capital raising $3.5 billion pe-insights.com for its seventh fund, signaling continued confidence in software investments despite market volatility. In the solo venture space, London-based Air Street Capital closed $232 million techcrunch.com for Fund III, focusing on early-stage European and North American artificial intelligence companies, marking it as one of Europe's largest solo GP funds. Meanwhile, the burgeoning trend of prediction markets attracted capital, as CEOs from rivals Kalshi and Polymarket backed a $35 million techcrunch.com VC fund, 5(c) Capital, intended to support startups in that growing category. This fundraising strength comes even as overall U.S. startup funding slowed sharply in March news.crunchbase.com, primarily due to fewer massive AI megarounds closing during the month.
Secondaries Market & LP Liquidity
Investor demand for liquidity in the secondary market remains pronounced, evidenced by the University of California shopping a $3 billion LP portfolio secondariesinvestor.com as it seeks to realize capital from existing private equity commitments. This push for exits and liquidity is also shaping strategic acquisitions in the advisory space, where Mercer’s purchase of AltamarCAM privateequityinternational.com was framed as bolstering secondaries capabilities to meet heightened investor interest in portfolio sales. Furthermore, the growth of regional secondary activity is clear, with a Japan-based secondary shop nearing the hard-cap secondariesinvestor.com for its debut fund, RGCM Fund I, which will maintain flexibility to deploy capital across both direct secondaries and primary funding rounds.
Dealmaking: Sector Focus on Defense, Infrastructure & Healthcare
Deal flow continued across specialty sectors, with defense and aerospace seeing M&A interest; Arlington Capital agreed to acquire Eptec Defence pehub.com, a provider of naval and defense preservation services. In a related defense transaction, Advent-backed Cobham Ultra agreed to sell Ultra Cyber to Airbus Defence and Space pehub.com, following West Monroe’s observation that exit difficulties are prompting sponsors toward partial sales and longer sell-side preparation pehub.com. Shifting to infrastructure, private equity and infrastructure funds are actively targeting Gulf energy assets, with players focusing on a potential Kuwait pipeline deal valued around $7 billion pe-insights.com. In healthcare, Olympus Partners is planning the $1.1 billion sale pehub.com of Eye South’s retina business, while Aquiline-backed Relation acquired Chinook Insurance Group pehub.com to expand its specialty insurance footprint.
AI Investments, Tech Acquisitions, and Portfolio Management
The technology sector remains fertile ground for acquisitions, even as the broader venture environment cools. Francisco Partners agreed to divest music publisher Kobalt pehub.com to Brookfield-backed Primary Wave, with management teams expected to remain in place post-sale. Other technology transactions include Diversis scooping up fintech firm LTi pehub.com, and Gryphon-backed Rootstock acquiring ERP provider Ascent Solutions pehub.com to enhance its cloud capabilities on the Salesforce platform. Meanwhile, firms are aggressively pursuing AI-enabling technologies; Gimlet Labs secured an $80 million Series A techcrunch.com for its technology that optimizes AI inference across diverse chip architectures, including NVIDIA and AMD. The strategic importance of AI is also reflected in how capital is being sought, with OpenAI reportedly offering private equity firms a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% pe-insights.com to secure funding for its joint ventures.
European & Asia-Pacific Transactions
Activity in Europe and Asia-Pacific involved strategic take-privates and infrastructure plays. One Equity completed a take-private transaction for UK wholesaler Kitwave pehub.com, which supplies food and consumables to retail and foodservice customers. In Southeast Asia, Actis finalized the acquisition of 90% of Singapore-based 800 Super pe-insights.com, an environmental management company, pushing Actis’s regional deployment total to $1.7 billion pehub.com. On the industrial front, Apollo and CVC jointly acquired a 37% minority stake in €1.75 billion packaging firm Syntegon pe-insights.com to support its next growth phase. Furthermore, Ares Management committed at least €1 billion pe-insights.com toward a €1.5 billion capital increase in Eni’s energy transition unit, Plenitude, valuing the entity at €13.1 billion.
Personnel Moves & Specialist Investment Areas
The private equity industry continued to see key leadership appointments and the recognition of specialized investment models. Aware Super appointed Alex Satchcroft to lead its $11 billion private equity portfolio pe-insights.com, centralizing management of its substantial alternative assets. In dealmaking talent, GTCR welcomed Donnie Phillips as managing director and chief administrative officer pehub.com in its Chicago office, while ECI named David Danon as a new partner pehub.com following two decades at Bain Capital's PE team. Outside traditional fund structures, research suggests that independent sponsors focusing on deals with greater selectivity often target returns exceeding 3x privateequityinternational.com, seeking higher multiples by avoiding the valuation norms of larger traditional funds. The sector also saw the launch of Synergy Sports Capital by former Green Bay Packers receiver Terrence Murphy pehub.com, who announced the firm's debut deal shortly after its unveiling pehub.com.