Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 24, 2026, 2:30 AM ET
Fundraising & Secondaries Activity
European private equity saw significant fundraising momentum, with London-based Air Street Capital closing its $232 million Fund III techcrunch.com, aimed squarely at early-stage European and North American AI companies, positioning it as one of the largest solo venture capital firms in the region techcrunch.com. This activity contrasts with a broader slowdown in US startup funding in March, which Crunchbase News attributed almost entirely to fewer massive AI megarounds news.crunchbase.com. In the secondaries space, heightened interest in liquidity drove the University of California to shop a $3 billion LP portfolio secondariesinvestor.com to generate capital, while Mercer's acquisition of AltamarCAM privateequityinternational.com bolstered its secondaries capabilities, a move PE International noted was timely amidst focus on investor access to capital privateequityinternational.com.
Mega-Exits and Portfolio Sales
Major exit discussions are underway in Europe, where Advent and Cinven are reportedly exploring a €25 billion sale of TK Elevator pe-insights.com, with Kone entering advanced talks to acquire the asset. Elsewhere, Francisco Partners is divesting its stake in music publisher Kobalt to Brookfield-backed Primary Wave pehub.com, with management remaining intact to guide the next phase of growth. In the US healthcare sector, Olympus Partners is targeting an $1.1 billion sale of EyeSouth's retina business pehub.com, while Sovereign completed a successful exit of Knovia to Eureka Education pehub.com, having overseen a quadrupling of its revenue through organic growth exceeding 15% annually plus acquisitions.
Sector-Specific Deals: Defense, Energy, and Tech
Activity in the defense and infrastructure sectors remained strong, as Arlington Capital agreed to acquire Eptec Defence pehub.com, a specialist in naval and defense preservation services. Similarly, Apollo and CVC jointly acquired a 37% minority stake in packaging firm Syntegon pe-insights.com for €1.75 billion to support its next growth phase. Infrastructure funds are also targeting a $7 billion Kuwait pipeline deal pe-insights.com, reflecting continued appetite for Gulf energy transactions. In technology, Diversis scooped up fintech firm LTi pehub.com, allowing LTi’s founders to retain minority stakes and remain involved, while Aquiline-backed Relation acquired Chinook Insurance Group pehub.com to expand its offerings.
Software & Vertical Buyouts
Dealmaking in enterprise software continues apace, demonstrated by Gryphon-backed Rootstock acquiring ERP provider Ascent Solutions pehub.com, which specializes in cloud ERP on the Salesforce platform. Meanwhile, One Equity completed a take-private transaction for UK wholesale distributor Kitwave pehub.com, and AEA Elevate invested in tech firm Trinamix pehub.com, which services mid-market and enterprise organizations. In an unusual move, Bridgepoint-backed PEI Group acquired Scientific Infra & Private Assets pehub.com, a benchmark provider for private infrastructure and PE markets, suggesting an increasing need for standardized performance metrics.
AI, Robotics, and Deeptech Investment
Venture capital is heavily concentrating on the artificial intelligence supply chain, exemplified by Gimlet Labs raising an $80 million Series A round techcrunch.com for technology that enables AI inference across diverse chip architectures, including NVIDIA, AMD, and ARM. Separately, OpenAI is reportedly offering private equity firms a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% pe-insights.com to entice investment into its joint venture push. In deeptech, a French-Italian VC fund, Capital, raised €85 million sifted.eu backed partly by a European defense prime contractor, while a spinout from Oxford University secured funding from Amadeus Capital and OSE sifted.eu to address long-term memory challenges in robotics. The regulatory side of AI saw the Mistral CEO sparking debate by proposing changes to AI copyright laws sifted.eu, advocating for prioritizing code building over copyright claims.
APAC Overhang and Management Appointments
Despite pockets of activity, the private equity overhang in Asia-Pacific remains a concern, as Bain & Co reported an 18% rise in portfolio companies held for over five years in 2025 privateequityinternational.com, indicating that "solid exit activity" is still insufficient to clear the backlog. Conversely, Actis finalized the acquisition of 90% of Singaporean environmental management firm 800 Super pe-insights.com, pushing its Southeast Asia deployment total to $1.7 billion. In personnel news, Aware Super appointed Alex Satchcroft to lead its $11 billion private equity portfolio pe-insights.com, while GTCR tapped Donnie Phillips as its new managing director and chief administrative officer pehub.com in Chicago, and ECI welcomed David Danon as a new partner pehub.com following his nearly two decades at Bain Capital.
Emerging Trends and Niche Markets
The growth equity space saw Lead Edge secure $3.5 billion for its seventh fund pe-insights.com, maintaining its focus on software deals. A niche area showing promise is prediction markets, where CEOs from rivals Kalshi and Polymarket co-backed the $35 million venture fund 5(c) Capital techcrunch.com. Furthermore, the UK ecosystem continues to produce notable firms, with Sifted tracking the top investors supporting its UK & Ireland leaderboard sifted.eu and profiling several "soonicorns" to watch sifted.eu. In a less conventional career shift, former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Terrence Murphy launched Synergy Sports Capital pehub.com, announcing the firm's debut deal shortly after its March unveiling pehub.com.