Oakley Capital has won PE Hub's Mid-Cap Europe Deal of the Year for its $1 billion exit of legaltech platform vLex to Clio. The Barcelona-based firm sold the business just three years after acquiring it in 2022, generating a 6x gross multiple of money and over 85 percent gross internal rate of return.

The deal capitalized on vLex's vast legal database and AI capabilities, which attracted significant interest from strategic buyers. Oakley partner Valero Domingo noted that vLex's combination of extensive data and productivity tools positioned it as a leader in the legaltech space, particularly after the launch of generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

Separately, PE Hub reported that ETNA has acquired a majority stake in Brolis Defence Group, a Lithuanian developer of advanced electro-optical sensing technology for defense applications. The Vilnius-based company, founded by three brothers in 2011, generated €50 million in revenue in 2025 and supplies systems to European and NATO defense organizations.