Presented by:
Hello {{first_name|friends}}, Monday kicked off February with a flurry of activity across the PE landscape.
A nine-figure cybersecurity financing just closed, a $1.29 billion personal care exit hit the tape in Japan, and major PE firms announced investments spanning applied AI, pharma services, and wealth management. Meanwhile, platform builders stayed busy with acquisitions in IT infrastructure, airport hospitality, and eye care, while one firm divested a European renewables business to sharpen its focus.
Let's break it down.
DC Capital Partners
Knexus Applied AI Platform Investment
DC Capital Partners announced a majority investment in Knexus, a provider of applied artificial intelligence capabilities supporting complex, mission-critical government programs.
Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, Knexus is a trusted partner to U.S. defense and civilian agencies, designing, building, and operating enterprise-grade AI systems that enable secure adoption of next-generation AI in production environments. The company is a Google Public Sector Premier Partner and received the 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year Award for Business Applications in Government.
DC Capital has a long-standing investment focus on government services and defense technology, with recent investments including C5MI, Rivencore Global Solutions, Valkyrie Enterprises, and SiOnyx.
THL Partners
Red Nucleus Pharma Services Investment
THL Partners announced a majority investment in Red Nucleus, a leading provider of strategic services across research and development, medical affairs, market access, and learning and development for the pharmaceutical industry.
Founded over 30 years ago, Red Nucleus has a global team of 700 professionals across seven countries. The company provides clients with unique insights and efficiencies to support their journey to improve health outcomes. Industry veteran Mike Menta will serve as Chief Executive Officer, while current CEO Ian Kelly moves into the role of Chief Relationship Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board.
THL invested through its flagship Fund IX and has been active in pharma services for over 25 years, with investments including Fisher Scientific, PCI Pharma Services, Syneos Health, CSafe, and Adare Pharma Solutions.
Brookfield
Peakstone Realty Trust Acquisition
Brookfield announced an agreement to acquire Peakstone Realty Trust in a $1.2 billion all-cash transaction. The deal represents a strategic move in the industrial REIT sector.
Level Equity
CyberFOX Growth Financing
CyberFOX, the market leader in cybersecurity solutions for managed service providers and organizations including state and local government, announced a nine-figure growth investment from software specialist Level Equity with participation from Radian Capital and CyberFOX's founders, industry veterans Dave Bellini and Adam Slutskin.
The financing will accelerate CyberFOX's next-generation cybersecurity platform serving MSPs and government entities.
From our Sponsor:
Finally, an AI Tool Fit for Private Markets Investors.
ChatGPT chokes when large, complex datasets are on the line. Brightwave doesn't.
Their autonomous research agents surface patterns competitors miss, flag critical risks automatically, and deliver share-ready deliverables on-demand across preliminary research, due diligence, and ongoing monitoring.
Investors, from top-5 PE megafunds to boutique firms, are seeing research-intensive workflows, like CIM review, IC memo creation, and contract review, reduced from hours to minutes.
This is AI built for professionals who need to understand the world's most complex problems. Try it right now for free.
CVC Capital Partners agreed to sell Japanese personal care company FineToday Holdings to Bain Capital in a deal reportedly worth approximately $1.29 billion (JPY 200 billion). FineToday is a market-leading personal care and beauty company with brands including TSUBAKI, fino, SENKA, uno, AG DEO24, and KUYURA.
Jacmel Partners - Virtual Technologies Group announced the acquisition of Whitlock Infrastructure Solutions, strengthening VTG's commercial enterprise service capabilities and federal government services expertise. The combined platform will deliver comprehensive end-to-end managed IT and cybersecurity solutions.
SK Capital - Valtris Specialty Chemicals, completed the sale of its Champlor Renewables business in Baleycourt, France to Avril Industrie. Champlor specializes in rapeseed crushing, refining, and biodiesel production, processing approximately 400,000 tons of seeds per year.
OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners acquired Voyage Wealth Architects, boosting the platform by $700 million in assets under management and strengthening its financial planning focus in the Midwest.
Accel-KKR launched Pacera, a new software company created by unifying three Nordic finance solutions: Aico (Financial Close), AARO (Consolidation), and Mercur (FP&A). Pacera supports more than 700 organizations across Europe.
MiddleGround Capital announced the sale of VYTL Controls Group.
Reddy Ice announced an agreement to acquire Arctic Glacier.
Blackstone, through David Blitzer and Main Street, announced an investment in a MotoGP racing team.
Crestview Partners acquired Tailwind Hospitality, a leading provider of airport food & beverage and retail concessions.
Vision Innovation Partners acquired Ophthalmic Associates of Alexandria, expanding its eye care platform.
BC Partners and Bpifrance confirmed the completion of the acquisition of Biogaran, one of France's major generic medicines companies, starting a new chapter of growth for the business.
No major regulatory or industry developments tracked today.
Aurora Capital Partners – Aurora Capital Partners announced the appointments of Neel Bhatia and John Pencak to its Executive Board to further expand the firm's Strategy & Operations Program. Neel's role will focus on expanding organizational development, partnering with management teams as they scale, and leading enterprise-wide talent development initiatives across Aurora's portfolio companies. John will focus on portfolio operations, bringing extensive experience in interim management, strategy, performance improvement, M&A integration, and transaction advisory.
|
Share Private Markets Minute Know a colleague who should be reading this? Send them your link.
Your referrals: {{rp_num_referrals}} |
That's the wrap. More deals coming your way tomorrow.
- Private Markets Minute Team