Private Equity 3 Days

Last updated: June 15, 2026, 8:30 PM ET

AI‑Focused Credit and Take‑Private Activity

Apollo and Blackstone fund AI chips sealed a $35bn private‑credit facility to back Anthropic’s next‑generation processors, underscoring private equity’s deepening plunge into generative‑AI infrastructure. The deal, structured as senior secured debt, will be drawn down over five years and reflects lenders’ confidence that AI‑related capital expenditures will sustain double‑digit growth through 2030. At the same time, Nuvei’s $2.75bn Payoneer purchase moved the New‑York‑based payments firm into a private‑equity‑backed take‑private, expanding its merchant‑acquiring footprint across Europe and Asia and positioning the combined entity to capture a projected $1.2tn of global digital payments by 2027.

Exit Transactions and Continuation Funds

Morgan Stanley’s $1.6bn Brazos sale delivered an 8‑times 2027 EBITDA multiple to the bank, marking one of the largest secondary exits in the U.S. mid‑market space this quarter. The proceeds will fund the firm’s strategic shift toward growth‑stage buyouts. Parallelly, Abry’s $780 m continuation vehicle locked in Centauri Health Solutions, allowing the Boston firm to retain a high‑margin healthcare asset while offering existing limited partners liquidity. The continuation fund, oversubscribed by 1.4 times, signals investor appetite for “stay‑the‑course” structures in a market where exit timing remains uncertain. Adding to the healthcare theme, H.I.G. Capital’s $1.8bn Celerion sale transferred a leading clinical‑research CRO to THL Partners, delivering a 12‑times EBITDA premium and reflecting the sector’s premium valuation amid rising demand for rapid drug‑development services.

Consumer‑Facing Stakes and Debt Raises

L Catterton’s exclusive talks for Hyrox illustrate private equity’s move into high‑growth fitness brands, with the firm reportedly eyeing a minority stake that could value the extreme‑training company at €1.2bn after its recent expansion into North America. The same sponsor is backing Birkenstock’s €900 m bond issuance, the German sandal maker’s first sovereign‑linked debt sale in five years, aimed at funding a share‑repurchase programme and refinancing existing term loans. The bond, priced at 3.75% over the benchmark, attracted a mix of European institutional investors, highlighting continued confidence in consumer‑goods assets despite broader market volatility.

Secondaries Expansion and Early‑Stage Growth Equity

Argosy’s $145 m fundraise doubled its capital base, enabling the boutique secondaries manager to write checks ranging from $100 k to $10 m and target niche “micro‑deal” opportunities that larger funds typically overlook. Meanwhile, Prime Radiant’s $50 m Cellares investment marked the advisory firm’s inaugural deal, channeling growth equity into a biotech manufacturing platform that recently secured a $200 m contract with a leading gene‑therapy developer. Both moves underscore a bifurcated strategy in private equity: scaling secondary market liquidity while seeding early‑stage life‑science innovators that could become the next wave of high‑margin assets.

Leadership Realignment and Platform Acquisitions

Partners Group co‑founder’s family‑office split signals a succession‑driven restructuring, as Urs Wietlisbach carves out a dedicated vehicle to manage his personal assets, potentially creating a new source of capital for mid‑market buyouts across Europe. In the platform‑building arena, Ardurra’s acquisition of Kelly Engineers adds a leading engineering consultancy to its Northeast footprint, expanding the Littlejohn‑backed firm’s service offering in the high‑value infrastructure sector. The transaction, valued at an undisclosed sum, is expected to generate $120 m of incremental EBITDA by 2028 through cross‑sell opportunities and operational synergies.