Private Equity 8 Hours

Last updated: August 25, 2026, 3:02 PM ET

Deal Roundup

Private equity continued its brisk pace of activity across services verticals. Gryphon-backed Presidential Heating acquired Shipley Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, a Montgomery County, Maryland provider of plumbing, drain clearing and water heater services. In Florida, Quad-C-backed Flow Service Partners snapped up Altman Air Conditioning, a commercial HVAC firm founded in 1985 serving South Florida. Meanwhile, Great Point Partners-backed VetnCare added Geary Veterinary Hospital in Walnut Creek, California, a practice founded in 1979 offering surgery, dental and senior pet care.

Growth & Platform Investments

H.I.G. Capital has become the first institutional backer of HBK, one of the largest integrated accounting and wealth management firms in the US, via a strategic growth investment. In the tax and accounting arena, PE-backed 360training.com acquired select assets from Electronic Medical Certification, expanding its Austin-based online training platform into healthcare credentialing. The Vistria Group agreed to invest in Curi Capital, a Chicago-headquartered RIA with more than $14bn in assets under advisement across 12 offices in eight states plus Washington, DC.

Tech & AI

Apax Digital led a $140m round in Alice, the AI trust, safety and security company formerly known as Active Fence, in a major bet on the fast-emerging market for securing artificial intelligence. Superstep invested in Zencore, a Google Cloud consultancy founded in 2021 by former Google Cloud leaders. In fintech, Revolut launched an AI research unit called Pragma is moving beyond off-the-shelf AI solutions.

Facilities Management & Industrials

There's renewed interest in janitorial services. Private equity firms from all sizes are targeting cleaning companies, with KKR, GI Partners and O2 Investments among those scouting the facilities management space. Separately, Windjammer Capital plans to sell IPS Group, a San Diego-headquartered parking infrastructure provider, to Nayax. In a related trend, NewBold Technologies, backed by Fort Point, completed its buyout of retail tech firm Spencer Technologies.

International & Expansion

KM Capital, a Mexico-based investment firm, has become Papa Johns' new franchise partner in the country, taking over 44 existing restaurants with plans to grow the brand. Across the Atlantic, Luton Rising is preparing to put the right to operate Britain's fifth-busiest airport out for tender. The company — which owns Luton Airport on behalf of Luton Council — is expected to draw interest from infrastructure investors.

Funds & Secondaries

CIP, the Denmark-headquartered infrastructure manager, has hired Ben Plant as head of capital solutions to spearhead liquidity solutions for its funds and manage semi-liquid strategies. On the venture side, Fiat Ventures has combined its venture and advisory operations into a new brand — FGV Capital — and is raising a $35m Fund II as it bets that its hybrid service is an alternative model to lure LPs in a difficult fundraising environment.

People & Strategy

LDR Partners has tapped Paul B. Murphy Jr to join the firm as partner; he began his career in commercial lending at Allied Bank of Texas in 1981. The private-equity ecosystem continues its debate over how startups access liquidity — EquityZen's Phil Haslett told Crunchbase News the market for private-company shares has become more central to the startup ecosystem. Meanwhile, Richard de Silva of Lateral Investment Management exports that bootstrapped businesses deserve more attention, adding that the traditional VC model funds a risky search for product-market fit rather than focusing on known customers.