Private Equity 8 Hours

Last updated: July 21, 2026, 11:30 AM ET

Private Equity Dealmaking and Fundraising Activity

Private equity firms are actively engaged in both acquisitions and fundraising. Searchlight and Abry have finalized the take-private buyout of IoT company Kore. Meanwhile, Carlyle's Pooja Goyal highlighted the deliberate strategy of building platforms from scratch, as Kayne Anderson and Warburg Pincus agreed to a $4.06 billion exit from Wild Fire Energy to Magnolia Oil & Gas Corporation. In a significant data center acquisition, AIP, MGX, and BlackRock's GIP have acquired Aligned Data Centers from sellers including Macquarie Asset Management.

The secondaries market continues to see robust activity, with Clipway collecting $6.4 billion for its debut fund, surpassing its initial $4 billion target. This surge extends the record-breaking run in secondaries volume seen in the first half of the year. Overall, secondaries fundraising surpassed $50 billion in H1, marking the second-strongest first six months over a six-year period.

Sector-Specific Investments and Venture Capital Trends

Several venture capital and private equity funds are backing companies in emerging technology sectors. Bluecore Energy has raised $10 million in a pre-seed round led by Slauson & Co. to develop portable nuclear reactors on barges. Enlightenment Capital is investing in govtech firm Quorum to accelerate its product roadmap and enhance AI capabilities. In the AI space, European fintech funding figures indicate a strong preference for AI-native startups, with Mistral AI reportedly undertaking a significant fundraise.

Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR are committing $5.34 billion to power projects owned by Williams, taking a 49% non-controlling interest in five power facilities Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR commit. In other platform acquisitions, RFE-backed Launch Pad has acquired home inspection firm Top to Bottom Services, and O2-backed 4M has acquired Bluegrass Commercial Cleaning and Rainbow Maintenance Services. Carbyne-backed Suan Nutra is set to acquire specialty ingredients businesses from IFF, creating an enlarged natural ingredients platform.

Strategic Acquisitions and Fund Management

Private equity firms are also making strategic moves in established sectors. CD&R-backed OCS has agreed to take facilities management company Mitie private in a £3.1 billion deal, representing a 46.8% premium to Mitie's closing share price. Concurrently, Apax Partners is acquiring techoraco and Institutional Investor from Delinian.

In fund management, a $29 billion pension is reducing its exposure to buyouts, signaling a shift in investor intentions A $29bn pension is cutting. Worcester Retirement System is seeking a general investment consultant to guide its strategy. Meanwhile, Angeles Equity Partners has appointed Kyle Huffman as VP of finance for its operations group to enhance financial performance within its portfolio companies.

AI and Fintech Funding Landscape

The artificial intelligence and fintech sectors continue to attract significant attention, though challenges remain for certain demographics. While 2026 has shown improvement in funding for Black founders in AI, with approximately $643 million raised by late May, this increase was driven by a few large deals. The sentiment in European fintech is that "if you're not AI-native, you're not getting funded". Dell Technologies Capital's Daniel Docter believes AI is reshaping Saa S but does not foresee the business model's demise. The UK has appointed Kanishka Narayan as its first cabinet-level AI minister.