Private Equity 3d Briefing
×Last updated: March 24, 2026, 8:30 AM ET
Dealmaking Activity & Sector Focus
Private equity deal flow remains active across diverse sectors, with firms targeting infrastructure, defense, and specialized technology assets. Hull Street to acquire pehub.com two power plants from Rockland pehub.com, specifically the natural gas-powered Lee County Generating Station in Illinois and the dual-fuel Tait Electric Generating Station in Ohio, signaling continued infrastructure investment. In the defense space, Arlington Capital to buy pehub.com Eptec Defence, a provider of naval and defense preservation services, while Blue Fire Equity’s pehub.com Farrah Holder discussed the firm’s specialization in defense and government technology following its initial platform investment in Jovian Concepts in March. Furthermore, TSCP invests in pehub.com government technology, backing Karpel, whose client base spans numerous prosecutor and public defender offices nationwide.
Exits and Portfolio Sales
Exit activity shows mixed signals, with some firms opting for strategic divestitures or partial sales amid reported overhang challenges in Asia. Francisco Partners to sell pehub.com music publisher Kobalt to Brookfield-backed Primary Wave pehub.com, with CEO Laurent Hubert remaining in place. In the healthcare vertical, Olympus Partners to sell pehub.com the retina business of Eye South, a U.S.-based eye-care management services organization, for a reported $1.1 billion. Meanwhile, in Europe, reports suggest Advent and Cinven are exploring pe-insights.com a potential €25 billion exit of TK Elevator pe-insights.com, as Kone enters advanced discussions to acquire the asset. These exits contrast with broader APAC trends, where Bain & Co. data privateequityinternational.com indicates the number of portfolio companies held for over five years rose 18% in 2025, suggesting exit difficulties persist in the region.
Infrastructure and Energy Transactions
Large-scale energy and infrastructure plays continue to draw significant private equity interest, particularly in the Gulf region and Southeast Asia. Private equity and infrastructure funds are reportedly targeting a multi-billion dollar Kuwait pipeline deal pe-insights.com, estimated around $7 billion, reflecting ongoing enthusiasm for Gulf energy assets. In Southeast Asia, Actis acquires pe-insights.com a 90% stake in Singapore-based environmental management firm 800 Super pe-insights.com for an undisclosed sum, bringing Actis’s total deployment in the region to $1.7 billion. Separately, Ares commits pe-insights.com at least €1 billion toward a €1.5 billion capital increase for Plenitude, valuing the company at €13.1 billion in a deal with Eni pe-insights.com.
Tech, Software, and AI Investment Trends
The technology sector remains a primary focus, though the slowdown in US startup funding in March was attributed almost entirely to fewer giant AI megarounds closing that month news.crunchbase.com. Despite the broader funding deceleration, specialty software and AI infrastructure continue to attract capital. Lead Edge lands pe-insights.com $3.5 billion for its seventh fund, emphasizing software deals, while Gryphon-backed Rootstock picks up pehub.com ERP software provider Ascent Solutions, which operates on the Salesforce platform. On the AI front, OpenAI offers pe-insights.com a guaranteed minimum return of 17.5% to draw private equity into its joint venture push, indicating a willingness by tech leaders to use attractive terms to secure necessary capital. Furthermore, Oxford spinout raises sifted.eu from Amadeus Capital and OSE sifted.eu to address long-term memory issues in robotics, while Gimlet Labs just raised techcrunch.com an $80 million Series A for its technology designed to run AI inference simultaneously across multiple chip architectures, including NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel techcrunch.com.
Firm Strategy, Personnel Moves, and Secondaries Market
Firms are strategically adjusting leadership and focusing capital on specific niches, while the secondaries market sees continued activity and evolving investor mandates. Altor agrees to deal pehub.com for an electrical installation services provider, later confirmed as inking an agreement to buy pehub.com Eltera from Valedo. Personnel changes include GTCR tapping pehub.com Donnie Phillips as managing director and chief administrative officer in its Chicago office, and ECI naming pehub.com David Danon, formerly of Bain Capital pehub.com, as a new partner. In the secondaries space, concerns over AI are reportedly disrupting privateequityinternational.com ongoing secondaries processes, even as the University of California shops secondariesinvestor.com a $3 billion LP portfolio seeking liquidity. The acquisition of Mercer’s secondaries capabilities by AltamarCAM privateequityinternational.com was framed as bringing a 'missing link' to the firm, particularly valuable amid heightened interest in liquidity options.
European Finance and Talent Dynamics
European private equity and venture capital activity reveals a high demand for specialized talent and significant growth in specific fintech and deeptech segments. Air Street Capital closes sifted.eu a $232 million Fund III, positioning itself as one of Europe’s largest solo GP funds, focused on early-stage European and North American AI companies. Separately, French-Italian VC 360 Capital raises sifted.eu €85 million for a deeptech fund backed by a European defense prime contractor, aligning with defense sector interest seen globally. However, firms face challenges in securing personnel; data suggests half of European GPs see privateequityinternational.com their AI implementation efforts falling short, and broader context points to a significant talent gap where failure to fill roles results in missed opportunities according to Sifted analysis sifted.eu. Fintech players in the UK and Ireland are showing strong revenue growth, with Revolut hitting sifted.eu record profits as it prepares for expansion.
New Entrants and Mid-Market Focus
New firms and independent sponsors are emerging with specific mandates, often seeking higher returns in the mid-market. Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver pehub.com Terrence Murphy unveiled Synergy Sports Capital pehub.com with a debut deal, marking his entry into dealmaking two decades after his NFL career ended prematurely. Meanwhile, independent sponsors are generally seeking returns exceeding 3x, driven by greater deal selectivity and a preference for lower valuation multiples compared to traditional funds, according to research from Headway Capital Partners privateequityinternational.com. In deal origination, Turnspire shops pehub.com USG Water Solutions, a municipal water service provider, to the broader mid-market PE universe, expecting first-round bids in mid-April.