Private Equity 3 Days

Last updated: June 1, 2026, 11:30 AM ET

Mega-Fundraising and Infrastructure Push

EQT has set a €21bn target for its seventh flagship infrastructure vehicle, equating to roughly $24.5bn and underscoring how the largest European buyout houses are doubling down on real assets amid surging demand from pension funds and sovereign wealth clients. Separately, Ardian has committed up to $5.8bn to build a single AI data center campus near Paris, a bet that European hyperscaler capacity will struggle to keep pace with compute demand from large language model developers. Both vehicles land against the backdrop of a record €93bn in foreign investment secured at the Choose France summit, where SoftBank was among the headline participants pledging capital into French AI and digital infrastructure.

PEI 300: A Divided Industry Reawakens

This year's PEI 300 ranking reveals a bifurcated fundraising market, with year-on-year growth returning after last year's flatline even as the composition of winners shifts dramatically. Thirty-five new firms entered the ranking while several legacy names slipped, and mid-market specialists gained ground with LPs who increasingly favor focused strategies over mega-fund generalists. Private wealth remains the structural growth story: evergreen funds account for roughly 5% of private markets NAV today, a figure expected to climb as GP-led vehicles and semi-liquid structures open the asset class to retail-tier capital.

Tech Dealmaking: Permira's AI Bet and the Venture Frenzy

Permira recruited Thoma Bravo veteran Mike Hoffmann as a partner in its Menlo Park office to lead the firm's technology push, poaching one of the most seasoned software investors from a rival that has dominated large-scale take-private tech deals. His arrival signals that European buyout firms are serious about competing for AI-enabled software assets on U.S. soil. The timing is apt: Anthropic's massive $65bn Series H dominated venture headlines this week, intensifying the debate over whether European AI can keep pace. On the chip side, Groq is reportedly raising $650m to pivot toward AI inference services, while ASML spinout Invisix closed a €20m seed round to develop next-generation semiconductor packaging. Three top VCs warned of groupthink in the sector, noting that 22-year-old AI founders in San Francisco are receiving unsolicited term sheets.

Consumer and Restaurant M&A

Long Range Capital has entered exclusive talks to acquire Pizza Hut from Yum Brands, a carve-out that would hand the mid-market buyout firm one of the most recognizable names in global quick-service dining. The deal comes as Bessemer-backed MRG sold 44 Houston-area Taco Bell locations to Ghai Restaurant Group, continuing a wave of franchise portfolio consolidation. In nutrition, Axum Capital took a stake in VitaHustle, the supplement brand co-founded by comedian Kevin Hart and entrepreneur Ron Everline.

Energy Exits and European Consolidation

Post Oak Capital Partners divested Switchgrass E&P, an upstream operator running producing assets across Oklahoma's SCOOP play, marking another energy exit as private equity continues rotating out of U.S. shale. In Europe, Castlelake is weighing a bid for EasyJet after building a 2.14% stake; U.K. takeover rules would require any offer at no less than £403.23 pence per share, and Easy Jet's board has already dismissed the approach as opportunistic. Meanwhile, Astorg-backed Steliau agreed to acquire Acal BFI from H2 Equity Partners, creating a pan-European electronic components distributor that Astorg's Adrien Celdran described as a rare consolidation opening.

Mid-Market Software and Services Deals

PSG Equity invested in CHR Group, a provider of digital food safety and compliance software for foodservice operators, adding another vertical-specific Saa S asset to PSG's portfolio. GI Partners acquired HES Facilities Management from Nautic Partners, expanding its footprint in outsourced building services. In Germany, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG, or DBAG, struck a deal for a majority stake in TNL Gruppe, an environmental planning and permitting consultancy serving complex infrastructure projects. Shamrock Capital backed CardsHQ and Sports Card Investor alongside EnOne Ventures, betting on the booming sports collectibles trading market, while Oridian Capital unveiled AnchorPoint Foundations, a roll-up platform combining four regional foundation repair and waterproofing brands.

Secondaries and Liquidity Solutions

British Columbia Investment Management Corp. launched a dedicated Capital Solutions Group within its private equity arm to provide financing to GPs struggling with a prolonged exit drought, joining a growing roster of institutional investors stepping into the liquidity gap. The Westfield Retirement Board issued an RFP for private equity secondaries managers, reflecting how U.S. public pensions are recalibrating portfolios through the secondary market. Senior leaders from Partners Group, Lexington Partners, and Davis Polk discussed on a podcast how private wealth demand and evolving evergreen fund structures are accelerating secondaries growth, with the strategy increasingly seen as both a portfolio management necessity and a gateway for newer investors.

LP-GP Dynamics and Fund Services Evolution

Technology, regulation, and investor expectations are driving a structural shift across fund services, with transparency becoming a competitive differentiator for GPs courting increasingly demanding LPs. Citco Fund Services executives flagged that hybrid fund structures require stronger data foundations as semi-liquid vehicles blur traditional reporting lines. The findings align with PEI's 2026 LP-GP Dynamic report, which documents the areas LPs prioritize in manager selection, and the 2026 Fund Services report, which maps how firms are adapting operational infrastructure. Meanwhile, this year's New Faces of Finance shared perspectives on where back-office and middle-office functions are heading.

Venture and Regional Trends

Balderton Capital assembled a coalition of European tech leaders including Revolut, Mistral, and Wayve to champion the continent's startup ecosystem at a moment when capital concentration in U.S. AI companies is intensifying. A group of 20 Snap alumni launched the Ghost Angels fund to back next-generation social media startups. Boston-area startups have drawn roughly $7.8bn year-to-date, putting the region on pace for its strongest annual tally in roughly four years, though that figure looks robust only by pre-AI standards when compared to the capital flooding into San Francisco-based model builders. One founder described raising $14m after abandoning aggressive pitch decks in favor of authentic, in-person thought leadership.

Industry Events

PEI Group is hosting its Women in Private Markets Summit this week in North America, convening more than 500 senior leaders including Raymond James' Sunaina Sinha Haldea, Hamilton Lane's Jackie Rantanen, and Brookfield's Kristen Haase.