Private Equity 3 Days

Last updated: August 11, 2026, 8:45 AM ET

Mega-Deals & Take-Private

A landmark European take-private is on the horizon as Apollo lands a £5.7bn recommended offer for easy Jet. In North America, Bernhard Capital agreed to take Bowman Consulting Group private in a $1bn deal that includes a 35-day go-shop period. South Korea’s Lotte Rental is being acquired by TPG for about $925m, marking the largest car-rental and leasing operator control deal. In Australia, I Squared Capital agreed a $733m enterprise-value take-private of out-of-home advertising firm oOh!media at a 100% premium. Elsewhere, KKR took a strategic equity stake in Crowe Advisory, the tax and advisory arm of the global accounting firm. CPP Investments committed $143m for a 49.5% interest in two Hilton hotels in Brazil alongside HSI. HIG Capital completed its acquisition of UK engineering firm Phoenix ME, while New Mountain agreed to buy fire safety provider Jensen Hughes from Gryphon. Amberjack Capital closed the carve-out of Flowserve’s PMV Automation group, including facilities in Houston and Solna.

AI Infrastructure & Compute as an Asset Class

A consortium of the largest private capital firms is mobilizing over $500bn for AI infrastructure, backed by NVIDIA. Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR are creating financing platforms that treat NVIDIA compute as an investable asset class. Apollo, Blackstone, Brookfield, and KKR are among those lining up behind the chipmaker to turn full-stack AI infrastructure into a new asset class for global capital.

Continuation Vehicles & Secondaries

Exponent has closed a €750m ($867m) single-asset continuation vehicle for H&MV Engineering, with Apollo, Pantheon, and SQ Capital co-leading the deal. The transaction values the engineering services company at €1.4bn. H&MV provides high-voltage electrical engineering for data centers and renewables. Meanwhile, continuation fund activity is outstripping traditional secondaries, according to new analysis. Ardian’s Mark Benedetti sees the most mispricing opportunities in European assets and secondaries, as more family-owned firms seek partners to expand internationally.

Fundraising & Institutional Activity

Brookfield Asset Management raised a record $77bn in the second quarter, led by private equity. StepStone surpassed $20bn in private wealth AUM, with its SPRING vehicle attracting nearly $1.7bn in subscriptions. In Korea, the Employment Insurance Fund seeks to commit 120bn Korean won to blind-pool PE/VC funds for 2026. The Plymouth County Retirement Association issued an RFP for a North American private equity manager.

Mid-Market Deals & Sector Specialization

CCMP Growth-backed Airo acquired Legrande’s Enterprises, a specialty plumbing and HVAC firm for multifamily developers. Quad-C invested in Paradigm, an occupational safety and health platform formed by combining Code Red Safety, Concept Controls, and Haz Tek. Trinity Hunt backed management consulting firm Fisher Management Partners, with Todd Fisher continuing as managing partner. New Heritage invested in Power Rail, a manufacturer serving the global rail industry. Provectus Capital made its Romanian debut by acquiring a majority stake in Seatbelt Consulting, the country’s largest occupational health and safety provider. VSS closed a minority stake in Cordoba, betting on infrastructure transformation. The Spanish mid-market is drawing dealmakers as family-owned companies approach succession decisions.

Ecosystem Trends & Venture

Global unicorn creation is surging: 195 companies joined the Crunchbase Unicorn Board in H1 2026, already exceeding the full-year total for 2025. A wave of AI IPOs could return significant liquidity to LPs, fueling a new venture fundraising cycle. Monashees, one of Latin America’s oldest VC firms, is opening a San Francisco office to expand into Silicon Valley. Tony Blair’s son is seeking $200m for a new defense startup. The DeepMind shakeup tests the UK’s AI ambitions, with its future becoming critical for the UK. King’s Cross, once a red-light district, is now one of the world’s top AI hubs. Nabla’s new CEO Brian Manning says he’s “not here to be acquired,” while First Momentum highlights the most underrated areas in deeptech. Seventeen physical AI startups are worth watching, according to VCs. The broader lesson from AI-native vs. AI-sprinkle is that AI is a business change, not just a technology layer. South Summit 2026 identified three trends shaping European tech. PE dealflow had its worst Q2 since 2020, while the European HVAC market continues to attract PE interest.