Searchlight Capital Partners managing director James Redmayne told PE Hub the bid-ask gap on quality assets is narrowing, predicting selective deal activity will pick up in H2 for firms with a differentiated thesis. The comment signals growing confidence among private equity leaders that valuation standoffs are easing after a prolonged slowdown.

Redmayne identified B2B events and blue-collar services as high-conviction investment areas for Searchlight, arguing both sectors offer resilience in the age of artificial intelligence. B2B events benefit from irreplaceable in-person networking, while blue-collar services — spanning trades like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical — face structural labor shortages that technology cannot easily solve.

Separately, PSG made an undisclosed investment in a corporate performance management (CPM) software company, adding to a wave of sponsor interest in finance automation tools. The deal underscores continued appetite for vertical software platforms that embed into enterprise workflows.

The combined moves reflect a market bifurcating: generalist processes remain stalled, but thematic investors with deep sector theses are deploying capital. Searchlight's focus on AI-resistant, labor-intensive services and PSG's bet on finance software illustrate where sophisticated LPs expect alpha — not in broad cyclical recovery, but in structural scarcity.