Private Equity 3 Days

Last updated: August 7, 2026, 4:22 PM ET

Mega Deals and Take-Private Activity

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. The Apollo and EasyJet deal is a landmark European take-private, with "bear hugs" on the rise in UK take-privates. Elsewhere, KKR takes control of 24-hospital Medicover India, adding a scaled multi-specialty network to its healthcare portfolio. Bodycote confirmed competing £1.56bn cash proposals from CVC and Veritas Capital for the heat treatment provider. Clearlake co-founder Feliciano nears record $3.9bn MLB deal for the San Diego Padres, the most expensive franchise sale in baseball history. Bain Capital to acquire Gong cha from TA Associates, adding a tea beverage chain to its portfolio. Sunoco to acquire Court Square-backed oil transporter Offen Petroleum for $600m, delivering approximately 2.5 billion gallons annually. Partners Group in talks to buy beauty biz Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo, while CVC and Veritas Capital vie for Bodycote. PE-backed ContextLogic to acquire chemicals manufacturer gChem from Eagle Tree for $850m, its second operating business.

Secondaries and Continuation Vehicles

Pantheon buys $523m of BlackRock TCP Capital's private credit book in a landmark BDC continuation vehicle, with pricing coming in at 95% of gross fair value as of December 2025. The new vehicle will house over $500m of debt positions held by TCPC. GIC lines up $1bn private equity secondaries sale as sovereign wealth funds keep tapping the market, with Singapore's GIC preparing to offload fund stakes. G Squared secures $2.3bn as venture secondaries heats up, its seventh flagship about twice the size of its previous vehicle. Cyclical tailwinds buoying secondaries will persist for the "next several years", according to Carlyle's Harvey Schwartz. Behind GP-leds' banner H1 figures, market volatility only tells part of the story, with fundraising and expansion into new asset classes also driving growth. The shorter the hold, the higher the burden when assessing a quick-flip continuation vehicle on the asset's hold period alone. Infra's single assets: From liquidity tool to access strategy, discipline, alignment and entry valuations remain critical to ensuring buyers bag a good deal. DraftKings seed investor is raising a VC secondaries fund, with Ryan Moore closing on $78.5m for Revenant Ventures' debut fund.

Fundraising and LP Activity

Nextalia raises €1.1bn for second flagship fund in five months, pushing Italian platform past €3.4bn with commitments from over 200 investors. TPG nabs lion's share of $17bn target for TPG X and a third healthcare fund, part of TPG's $94bn Capital platform. Italian pension fund ENPAV releases RFP for private equity co-investment. MMAA seeks domestic blind-pool PE/VC funds for 2026, looking to commit 300bn Korean won. Korea Post Insurance seeks domestic blind-pool VC funds for 2026, targeting 60bn Korean won. Boston Retirement Systems issues RFP for up to a $85m private equity mandate. New Jersey sees opportunity in slow exit market, CIO Shoaib Khan says re-ups and new opportunities are looked at equally despite being spared liquidity concerns. Hamilton Lane: "Evergreen hesitancy only temporary", as some investors have been "housing capital" in evergreens before redeeming to fund a Hamilton Lane SMA. Side Letter: Learnings from earnings notes mega-firms defying fundraising and exit headwinds, OMERS plotting a fivefold increase of its PE portfolio. Industriens Pension mulls adding more infra secondaries exposure, favoring indirect investment and has made commitments to all five infra secondaries vehicles managed by Pantheon.

Infrastructure and Data Center Investments

Partners Group to acquire majority stake in AVK Power, a provider of power systems for data centers and AI infrastructure, having delivered more than 20,000 projects and installed approximately 3.5GW of power. LS Power to acquire Brazos Valley gas-fired power plant from Constellation, satisfying a regulatory divestiture commitment. Veritas to acquire Greenbelt-backed Saber Power Services, a vertically integrated power infrastructure services platform. GSAM lining data center contractor Divcon up for sale, Divcon provides building management and electrical power monitoring systems to mission-critical facilities. Arlington-backed TRP Infrastructure closes five add-on deals to form new highway plastics division called Gulf Highway Materials. EQT's €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund debuts with €450m ICEYE cheque, backing satellite operator at €10bn valuation. Nexa Equity-backed Facility Grid acquires autonomous commissioning company PingCx, introducing new product strategy centered on three integrated offerings.

Healthcare and Workforce Services

Ares leads $2.2bn private credit package for Med Impact healthcare acquisition of Puerto Rico-based Medical Card System. Eir Partners invests in ClaimsBridge, supports add-on of Dialysis PPO, scaling platform organically and inorganically. PE targets tech push in healthcare workforce services with 8 deals, as Accel-KKR, Bain, Knox Lane and LLR Partners transact in the space. Tortuga Growth Partners invests in Advanced eClinical Training out of Tortuga Growth Partners Fund I. Veritas to acquire environmental consultant Trinity Consultants from Oak Hill, which acquired Trinity in 2021.

Wealth Management and Financial Services

Carlyle picks up Prime Capital Financial minority stake as Abry Partners exits the $50bn AUM wealth platform after three years of concentrated growth. Advent agrees to acquire FNZ Bank, an independent wealth management banking and infrastructure provider in Germany. Robinhood to list a fund that lets anyone back Y Combinator startups, enabling retail investors to invest in private tech. Moove raises $250M to become the backbone of the robotaxi industry, scaling autonomous fleet management and planning to own Waymo robotaxis. Legaltech Wordsmith raises $14m Series B extension from Index, FT Ventures. Fintech startup Moss crowned Europe's newest unicorn with €30m Series C.

AI and Technology Investments

Music an "exceptionally active" market, says Reed Smith's Josh Love, with PE firms like Blackstone, TPG and EQT partnering with AI businesses. "We're seeing some of the biggest deals the music industry has ever seen", with AI improving administration and royalty processing. AI makes weather prediction better, Wind Borne Systems raised $37m Series B to scale its weather balloons and AI forecasts. Yann LeCun joins new VC firm 224 Ventures. Clearlake partners with OpenAI as PE firms increasingly collaborate with AI businesses. Njord Partners' Arvid Trolle: AI now a "natural part" of how firm operates, also a key part of operational improvements. Your AI Strategy May Be Destroying Your Exit Value, argues tech strategic adviser Itay Sagie. MagicSchool AI raises $63M from VCs, founded by an educator building edtech AI.

Venture Capital and Startup Ecosystem

The top junior VCs to watch in Europe, according to partners. Meet the 30+ venture scouts A16z has hunting for deals across Europe. The Return Of The Repeat Founder: Inside YC's Growing Class, a dataset of 454 repeat founders. Europe's 50 most active equity investors in H1 2026. The 144 new funds this year reveal Europe's investment market pulse. After a decade of turning down VCs, Oxylabs hits $3.6bn valuation. Sweaty, insane, cracked: Decoding the language of founder praise. Inside Pleo's culture crisis: executive exodus, unhappy staff and sale speculation. UK expands talent visa to more than 100 companies. 7 spots to meet founders and VCs in Paris. QMUL spinouts looking to raise. No Summer Doldrums For Active Startup Investors In July, with Khosla and Y Combinator leading deals.

Private Equity Earnings and Firm Updates

Carlyle realisations drive strong earnings quarter, with US buyout strategy distributing capital at more than double the industry rate. Allianz Q2 driven by €39bn asset management inflows as PIMCO and AGI push third-party AuM to record €2.16tn. Side Letter: M&Nay? a year after acquiring a GP, also backs a novel first-time fund. Broad Sky grows Smith + Howard 4x before exiting to TPG. Copley Equity-backed FMG Leading snaps up Broadbranch Advisors, deal closed at end of July. MPK Equity-backed Gorgeous Collective acquires Clean Your Dirty Face, first acquisition since platform launch in early 2026. Verdane makes majority investment in Factbird, a Danish IoT and recurring software company. RedBird's Affinia adds Wilson Partners in UK accounting tie-up, backed by Fordhouse. KKR-backed FGS scoops up government affairs firm Rich Feuer Anderson, its second acquisition of a bipartisan government affairs firm. Bernard Arnault installs Aymeric Le Clere as CEO of Financière Agache, the €3.1bn capital holding vehicle that anchors control of LVMH. Thoma Bravo to sell Command Alkon to FP as PE exits continue.