Last updated: August 6, 2026, 11:33 PM ET
Mega-Deals and Take-Privates Reshape Global Markets
Apollo secured a recommended cash offer for easy Jet valuing the FTSE 100 airline at approximately £5.7bn, ending a fast-moving four-week bidding contest. KKR agreed to acquire Integer Holdings in an all-cash transaction that values the NYSE-listed company at approximately $5.7bn, marking a major medical device carve-out. KKR has also agreed to acquire Medicover India, the Indian hospital operations of Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Medicover AB, adding a scaled multi-specialty network to its healthcare portfolio. Nordic Capital has struck a deal to acquire BWX Technologies' medical business in a transaction valued at up to $800m, marking a significant radiopharma bet. Partners Group is acquiring a majority stake in AVK Power Solutions, which has delivered more than 20,000 projects and installed approximately 3.5GW of power for data centers across Europe's FLAP-D markets. Clearlake co-founder José Feliciano is nearing a record $3.9bn deal for the San Diego Padres, which would be the most expensive franchise sale in Major League Baseball history. Bodycote plc confirmed receipt of two competing conditional cash offer proposals, from CVC and Veritas Capital Fund IX, in a Rule 2.4 statement issued to the London Stock Exchange on 5 August, with both valuing the heat treatment specialist at £1.56bn. Sunoco is acquiring Court Square-backed oil transporter Offen Petroleum for $600m, with the target operating a fuel distribution network delivering approximately 2.5 billion gallons annually to roughly 7,000 customers.
Secondaries Market Surges with Record Activity
Pantheon is backing a BlackRock BDC credit continuation vehicle that will house over $500m of debt positions held by TCPC, with pricing coming in at 95% of gross fair value as of 31 December 2025. Met Life Investment Management closed its third managed secondary transaction, raising approximately $1.2bn for Met Life Investment Private Equity Partners Fund III, with Lexington Partners as lead investor. Singapore's GIC is preparing to offload around $1bn worth of private equity fund stakes on the secondary market, according to sources cited by Bloomberg. G Squared secured $2.3bn for its seventh flagship secondaries fund, which is about twice the size of its previous vehicle and took half as long to raise. Adams Street doubled its fund size with the latest flagship secondaries raise, closing $2.7bn for Fund 8 as part of a $5bn secondaries programme that seeks a 50/50 split for LP-led and GP-led deployment. LGT Capital Partners has launched a debut credit secondaries strategy that will seek to invest in LP-led, GP-led and opportunistic deals with an emphasis on senior lending. VC investor Ryan Moore has closed on $78.5m for Revenant Ventures' debut secondaries fund, according to a regulatory filing. Carlyle increasingly views Alp Invest as more of a corporate finance business than a standalone secondaries unit, chief executive Harvey Schwartz said on the firm's Q2 2026 earnings call. Market volatility only tells part of the story of the GP-led market's domination in the first six months of the year, with fundraising and expansion into new asset classes also driving growth. Assessing a quick-flip continuation vehicle on the asset's hold period alone is an imperfect metric, as the burden of proof extends well beyond duration. Danish retirement scheme Industriens Pension favours indirect over direct investment in secondaries and has made commitments to all five infra secondaries vehicles managed by Pantheon. Cyclical tailwinds buoying secondaries will persist for the "next several years," according to Carlyle's Harvey Schwartz.
Private Credit and Direct Lending Expand
Ares Management is leading a $2.2bn direct loan to finance Med Impact Holdings' planned acquisition of Puerto Rico-based Medical Card System, according to Bloomberg. The private credit market continues to demonstrate its capacity for large-scale financing as deal sizes grow across healthcare and other sectors.
Fundraising Momentum Across Strategies
Apollo is roughly halfway to target for Fund XI, having begun raising capital for its latest flagship, which has a target of $22bn-$25bn, in February. TPG is nabbing the lion's share of a $17bn target for TPG X and its third healthcare fund, with the two funds launched in mid-2025 as part of TPG's $94bn Capital platform. Nextalia held a first close of more than €1.1bn on Nextalia Private Equity II, pulling in commitments from over 200 investors in the five months since it opened fundraising in February and pushing the Italian platform past €3.4bn. The EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund has made its first investment, co-leading a €450m round into Finnish satellite imaging company ICEYE at a €10bn valuation. Mega-firms are largely defying fundraising and exit headwinds, according to PEI's analysis of earnings season. OMERS is plotting a fivefold increase of its PE portfolio, while carry communication issues are causing headaches for LPs. Hamilton Lane co-chief Erik Hirsch said on a Tuesday earnings call that some investors have been "housing capital" in evergreens before redeeming to fund a Hamilton Lane SMA, describing "evergreen hesitancy" as only temporary.
LP Activity and Investor Intentions
Italian pension fund ENPAV has released an RFP for private equity co-investment. MMAA looks to commit 300bn Korean won to domestic blind pool private equity and venture capital funds for 2026. Korea Post Insurance seeks to commit 60bn Korean won to domestic blind-pool venture capital funds for 2026. Boston Retirement Systems has issued a request for proposal for up to a $85m private equity mandate. New Jersey Division of Investment CIO Shoaib Khan says re-ups and new opportunities are being looked at on equal footing, despite being spared liquidity concerns in the slow exit market. LPs are seeking to enshrine better GP reporting standards, while impact investing is being unfairly tarred with the ESG brush, warn GPs. The fourth instalment of PEI Group's podcast miniseries analyses this year's Global Investor 150 ranking to ascertain the investment strategies of the world's largest PE investors.
Energy, Infrastructure and Industrial Deals
LS Power is acquiring the Brazos Valley gas-fired power plant from Constellation, with the transaction satisfying a regulatory divestiture commitment tied to Constellation's 2025 acquisition of Calpine. Apollo agreed to acquire Maverick Water Group, the Houston-based operator of alternative non-potable water systems, from Crosstimbers Capital Group, marking a bet on Texas water infrastructure. Mutares has completed its largest-ever deal with the $450m acquisition of Sabic's engineering thermoplastics business in the Americas and Europe, rebranding it Nex Point Materials under a new chemicals and materials division that employs about 2,800 people and generates roughly $2.5bn in annual revenue. Arlington-backed TRP Infrastructure has closed five add-on deals to form a new highway plastics division called Gulf Highway Materials. PE-backed Context Logic is acquiring chemicals manufacturer gChem from Eagle Tree for $850m, which will become Context Logic's second operating business following its early 2026 acquisition of US Salt. Private equity interest in Naval-centric deals is growing, with the US Navy budget exceeding $300bn—a figure larger than the GDP of over 75% of the world's countries. Waterland has taken a majority stake in Danish industrial services firm Norisol, which posted an operating margin of over 13% in 2025 and expects revenue to exceed DKr1bn in 2026. Ridgemont is acquiring remediation services firm Entact from JFLCO, a national provider of environmental remediation and geotechnical construction services. Veritas is acquiring environmental consultant Trinity Consultants from Oak Hill, which had acquired the firm in 2021 from LLCP. Veritas is also acquiring Greenbelt-backed Saber Power Services, a vertically integrated power infrastructure services platform. Wynnchurch-backed Trimlite has acquired doormaker Barnett Millworks, expanding its geographic footprint into the Southeast market. Axum Capital has agreed to acquire beverage brand Barcode, a Los Angeles-based plant-based and hydration drink brand.
Technology, Software and Data Deals
Thoma Bravo is selling Command Alkon, a software and platform technology provider for the heavy building materials industry, to Francisco Partners. Bending Spoons has struck a $2.25bn Airtable deal in its first acquisition since its IPO. AshGrove is backing 10x Banking, which provides cloud-native core banking technology that enables financial institutions to modernize legacy infrastructure. Verdane has made a majority investment in Factbird, a Danish IoT and recurring software company providing manufacturing intelligence services. Nexa Equity-backed Facility Grid is acquiring autonomous commissioning company Ping Cx, introducing a new product strategy centered on three integrated offerings—FG Construct, Validate, and Sustain. Legaltech Wordsmith has raised a $14m Series B extension from Index and FT Ventures. EIP and OceanSound-backed Convey is acquiring government and utility software Selectron, bringing together two companies providing omnichannel communications and engagement operating systems. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is lining up data center contractor Divcon Controls for sale, with the company providing building management and electrical power monitoring systems to data centers and other mission-critical facilities. Broad Sky has grown Smith + Howard 4x before exiting to TPG, with CEO Tyler Zachem noting that "the business is durable; tax and audit advisory are needed in good and bad times." Advent has agreed to acquire FNZ Bank, an independent wealth management banking and infrastructure provider in Germany, with Harbour Vest also participating in the deal. Wind Point Partners has taken ECI off H.I.G. Capital's hands in a financial services MSP handover, with ECI serving alternative asset managers and regulated financial firms. RedBird's Affinia has added Wilson Partners in a UK accounting tie-up, with Wilson Partners advising SMEs, private individuals and private equity investors across the UK. KKR-backed FGS has scooped up government affairs firm Rich Feuer Anderson, marking FGS's second acquisition of a bipartisan government affairs firm following the September 2025 acquisition of Tarplin, Downs & Young. BV Investments is backing workforce compliance service provider Thomas & Company, partnering with CEO Nate Kenney and the broader leadership team. Copley Equity-backed FMG Leading has snapped up Broadbranch Advisors, with the deal closing at the end of July. Sheridan Capital Partners has acquired Carolina Components Group, a provider of custom-engineered bioprocessing assemblies.
Consumer, Retail and Brand Investments
Bain Capital is acquiring Gong cha from TA Associates, with the brand serving tea beverages including milk tea, fruit tea and other cold drinks. TSG Consumer has taken a majority stake in Saltair, valuing the body care brand at the top of its category after three years of rapid growth. MPK Equity-backed Gorgeous Collective has acquired Clean Your Dirty Face, marking the first acquisition for the platform since its launch earlier in 2026. Partners Group is in talks to buy beauty business Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo.
Healthcare and Life Sciences
Tortuga Growth Partners has invested in Advanced eClinical Training out of Tortuga Growth Partners Fund I, L.P. KKR's $5.7bn Integer Holdings acquisition adds a significant medical device platform to its portfolio. The healthcare sector continues to attract substantial private equity capital across services, devices and pharmaceuticals.
Venture Capital and Startup Funding
Global venture funding showed no signs of slowing in July, with startup capital totaling $65 billion—up 100% year over year—as the month notched the highest-ever number of billion-dollar venture rounds. A record 14 billion-dollar rounds in July pushed venture's historic run higher. Moove has raised $250M to become the backbone of the robotaxi industry, scaling up its autonomous vehicle fleet management business with plans to someday own, not just manage, Waymo robotaxis. A16z has backed Happy Robot at a $1.2bn valuation. Fintech startup Moss has been crowned Europe's newest unicorn with a €30m Series C. After a decade of turning down VCs, Oxylabs has hit a $3.6bn valuation, with the founder citing "right timing, right partner." Magic School AI, founded by an educator fascinated by the educational potential of Chat GPT, has raised $63M from VCs, leading a series of articles featuring startup founders from non-technical backgrounds. WindBorne Systems has raised a $37 million Series B round to scale its weather balloons and AI forecasts. Zurich-based Exclaim Robotics has come out of stealth and raised $4.95m. Plural has backed a $43m round for next-generation battery startup Ore Energy. European robotics startups raised more in six months than in the past two years combined. The EU's €5bn tech superfund is officially open for business. Y Combinator's growing class of second-time founders shows a notable trend, with a dataset of 454 repeat founders revealing interesting insights about the ecosystem. Robinhood's latest financial instrument intends to let any retail investor back Y Combinator startups. Lightspeed partners Josh Machiz and Claire Zau discussed their strategies behind their growing social media presence and their podcast, Lightwork, including how they found their newest hire via Instagram DM. The Crunchbase Tech Layoffs Tracker shows over 127,000 workers at U.S.-based tech companies were laid off in mass job cuts in 2025, with layoffs continuing into 2026. Yann LeCun has joined a new VC firm. Europe's 50 most active equity investors in H1 2026 have been ranked by Sifted. The 144 new funds launched this year reveal what they reveal about Europe's investment market. Twelve investors who recently became founders have been profiled. Seven spots to meet founders and VCs in Paris have been identified. Nik Storonsky faces a lawsuit over a €350m superyacht. Nscale will provide compute to Oxford, UCL and Imperial AI researchers, according to an exclusive report.
AI, Data and Emerging Technology Themes
While integrating AI into a startup's product strategy is often viewed as a way to enhance valuation, it can inadvertently reduce exit value, argues tech strategic adviser Itay Sagie. The rise of AI content could lead to a "rights-clean" data re-rating, according to Graphite's Mike Tilbury, who notes that "the market still values many of these businesses as ordinary information or subscription companies, when what they own is a critical and defensible input into everyone else's AI." AI has enormous potential to improve administration, metadata management, royalty processing and licensing efficiency in the music industry, which is seeing "some of the biggest deals the music industry has ever seen," according to Reed Smith's Josh Love. PE firms like Blackstone, TPG and EQT have been active in partnering with AI businesses, while Clearlake has partnered with OpenAI. Njord Partners co-founder Arvid Trolle says AI is now a "natural part" of how the firm operates and a "key part" of operational improvements, while noting "resilience" in the value segment including the exit market. The special situations investor is seeing resilience in the value segment. "We need the bravery to change the process," according to a Sifted report on how AI is impacting physical environments. Exclaim Robotics has come out of stealth with $4.95m raised.
Market Analysis and Industry Trends
Carlyle's US buyout strategy distributed capital at more than double the industry rate, chief executive Harvey Schwartz noted on the firm's latest results call. The firm's realisations drove a strong earnings quarter. Private equity interest in Naval investments is driven by five key reasons, with the US Navy budget exceeding $300bn. The music industry is an "exceptionally active" market for deals, according to Reed Smith's Josh Love. The shorter the hold period, the higher the burden of proof for continuation vehicles, according to PE International analysis. GP-leds' banner H1 figures were driven by fundraising and expansion into new asset classes, not just market volatility. Apollo, a year after acquiring a GP, downplays manager consolidation, while also backing a novel first-time fund. CalSTRS is tackling the climate question with new approaches. Blue Owl has bolstered its Tokyo talent. The changing shape of private equity's biggest allocators is analyzed in PEI's Data Dive podcast miniseries. Host a Side Event during Tech Crunch Founder Summit Week in Boston to tap into the energy of 1,100+ startup founders, investors, and tech leaders descending on Boston for the Founder Summit 2026 on June 9.