Private Equity 3 Days

Last updated: August 9, 2026, 8:37 AM ET

Mega Deals & Take-Privates

Apollo secured a recommended cash offer for easy Jet valuing the FTSE 100 airline at approximately £5.7bn, ending a four-week bidding contest. The deal underscores a rise in UK take-privates, with “bear hugs” increasingly used by acquirers. In wealth management, Carlyle agreed to acquire Prime Capital Financial from Abry Partners, exiting after three years of concentrated growth. Meanwhile, Ares Management is leading a $2.2bn private credit package to finance Med Impact Holdings’ acquisition of Medical Card System.

Secondaries & Private Credit

Pantheon bought a $523m slab of BlackRock TCP Capital’s private credit portfolio in a landmark BDC continuation vehicle, with pricing at 95% of gross fair value as of December 2025. The new vehicle will house over $500m of debt positions, according to Secondaries Investor. GP-led deals dominated the secondaries market in H1, driven by fundraising expansion and new asset classes, as detailed in a GP-led overview. However, assessing a quick-flip continuation vehicle solely on hold period is an imperfect metric, notes PE International. In infrastructure secondaries, the single-asset market is blooming, but discipline remains critical, according to Stafford’s William. Danish pension scheme Industriens Pension is considering adding more infra secondaries exposure, having committed to all five Pantheon vehicles.

Healthcare & Workforce Services

Private equity firms are targeting tech-enabled healthcare workforce services, with Accel-KKR, Bain and Knox Lane among those active in the sector. A separate roundup lists eight PE deals driving technology investments in this space. Eir Partners invested in Claims Bridge and supported its add-on of Dialysis PPO, aiming to scale the platform through M&A. Tortuga Growth Partners invested in Advanced eClinical Training out of its Fund I.

Infrastructure & Data Centers

Partners Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in AVK Power Solutions, which has delivered over 20,000 projects and installed approximately 3.5GW of power for data centers across Europe’s FLAP-D markets. In the US, LS Power is acquiring the Brazos Valley gas-fired power plant from Constellation, satisfying a regulatory divestiture commitment. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is lining up data center contractor Divcon for sale, sources say. Meanwhile, TRP Infrastructure closed five add-on deals to form a new highway plastics division called Gulf Highway Materials. Facility Grid, backed by Nexa Equity, acquired Ping Cx to introduce a new product strategy centered on integrated offerings.

Venture Capital & Startup Activity

Startups raised substantial rounds this week, with three companies securing financings of $1 billion or more, according to Crunchbase News. Active startup investors kept up the pace in July, with familiar names topping the ranks of most prolific dealmakers, reports Crunchbase. In Europe, a16z has expanded its scout network with over 30 scouts hunting for deals. Partners also identified the top junior VCs to watch. Lendable is chasing a superapp dream, constrained more by capacity than ideas, says Sifted. QMUL spinouts are looking to raise funding, as reported by Sifted. Meanwhile, Pleo faces a culture crisis amid executive exodus and sale speculation, according to Sifted. In the UK, the government expanded its talent visa to more than 100 companies. Verdane made a majority investment in Factbird, a Danish IoT and manufacturing intelligence company.

European PE & LP Activity

Wise Equity signed an agreement to acquire E-Pharma Trento, which will likely explore bolt-on acquisitions for new technologies. Bernard Arnault has installed Aymeric Le Clere as CEO of Financière Agache, the €3.1bn holding vehicle that anchors the family’s control of LVMH, according to a filing. Allianz posted record Q2 operating profit, driven by €39bn of net inflows into its asset management arm, pushing third-party AuM to a record €2.16tn, as reported by PE Insights. Italian pension fund ENPAV released an RFP for private equity co-investment, per PE International. South Korea’s MMAA seeks to commit 300bn won to domestic blind-pool PE/VC funds for 2026, according to PE International.

Mid-Market Deals & Add-Ons

Copley Equity-backed FMG Leading acquired Broadbranch Advisors, a deal that closed in July. Sunoco is acquiring Offen Petroleum from Court Square for $600m; Offen delivers approximately 2.5 billion gallons of fuel annually. In the beauty sector, MPK Equity-backed Gorgeous Collective acquired Clean Your Dirty Face, the first acquisition for the platform since its launch earlier in 2026.