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Hello {{first_name|friends}}, Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate.
On to the news. Blackstone's BXPE moved on Champions Group, a premier home services provider with over 1,800 field technicians. AIT Worldwide Logistics partnered with Greenbriar in what Chairman and CEO Vaughn Moore called one of the largest private acquisitions ever in the global freight forwarding sector, capping a 300% revenue run under The Jordan Company. HarbourVest closed its inaugural $1.1B continuation fund, drawing global institutional support.
Platform M&A stayed active across cybersecurity, healthcare, and building services. Ara Partners led a $100M first close for Utility Global's industrial decarbonization tech. Renovus Capital launched Opensity Solutions, combining three MSOs into a $400M+ revenue platform serving legal and financial services firms.
Let’s dive into it.
Correction: We incorrectly noted the date in yesterday’s newsletter as February 15th, rather than 16th.
Blackstone
Champions Group
Blackstone's perpetual private equity strategy (BXPE) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Champions Group, a premier provider of essential home services, from Odyssey Investment Partners. Odyssey and management are retaining a significant minority investment alongside Blackstone.
The Orange County, CA-based company operates across tier one MSAs with over 1,800 field technicians and 150,000 active members, specializing in HVAC, electrical, and plumbing services. CEO Frank DiMarco noted the partnership marks a defining next chapter after building one of the premier home services companies under Odyssey's backing. Senior Managing Directors Michael Staub and Maury Bardovi emphasized the opportunity to redefine homeowner expectations through exceptional quality, reliability, and scale delivered locally.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. William Blair served as lead financial advisor to Champions Group and Odyssey, with Piper Sandler and Baird as co-advisors. Weil advised Blackstone; Latham & Watkins advised Odyssey
Greenbriar Equity Group
AIT Worldwide Logistics
AIT Worldwide Logistics entered a definitive agreement with Greenbriar Equity Group in what Chairman and CEO Vaughn Moore described as one of the largest private acquisitions ever in the global freight forwarding sector.
The deal marks the culmination of five successful years with The Jordan Company, which will remain invested alongside AIT's executive leadership. Under TJC's ownership, AIT acquired 14 businesses and increased gross revenue by more than 300%. Greenwich-based Greenbriar brings $15+ billion in cumulative capital commitments and more than 25 years of transportation and logistics investing experience. Managing Director Michael Wang highlighted AIT's positioning to meet increasing demand for integrated logistics solutions across technology, life sciences, and other specialized sectors.
The Itasca, Illinois-based company operates 150+ locations globally. Goldman Sachs and Citizens Capital Markets advised Greenbriar. Womble Bond Dickinson represented AIT's management. Closing expected before Q4 2026.
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HarbourVest Partners
Private Equity Continuation Solutions (PECS) Fund
HarbourVest Partners closed its inaugural Private Equity Continuation Solutions (PECS) Fund at $1.1 billion, drawing strong support from a global group of institutional and private wealth investors.
The fund focuses on single-asset continuation transactions that enable GPs to extend ownership of high-conviction portfolio companies. While the fund represents a new purpose-built program, HarbourVest has committed more than $12 billion across over 120 continuation solution transactions and maintains one of the largest, most experienced teams in the continuation space. The Boston-based firm manages approximately $146 billion in assets across private equity, private credit, real assets, and infrastructure.
Ara Partners, APG Asset Management
Utility Global
Utility Global announced a first close of $100 million in its Series D financing round, led by Ara Partners and APG Asset Management, one of the world's largest pension investors on behalf of Dutch pension funds.
The Houston-based company enables economic industrial decarbonization for hard-to-abate sectors. Utility's proprietary H2Gen® technology enables the conversion of water into valuable clean hydrogen and a high-purity CO₂ stream without electricity by utilizing industrial off-gases, supporting pragmatic and scalable decarbonization while enabling economic carbon capture, utilization, or sequestration..
Sverica Capital Management - Sverica sold Defy Security to Booz Allen Hamilton. The San Francisco cybersecurity firm tripled in size during Sverica's five-year hold. Defy serves hundreds of enterprise clients through 400+ vendor partnerships. Expected close Q2 FY2026.
Bessemer Investors - Tencarva Machinery, backed by Bessemer, acquired Hoffman-Kane Distributors. The Pittsburgh-based deal expands Tencarva's Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic footprint while securing exclusive territorial rights for John Crane and ITT Goulds. Tim Kane and Will Kane continue as VPs.
Vital Capital Partners - Vital Capital acquired a 36-bed inpatient rehab hospital in Temple, Texas, operated by LifePoint Health under a long-term triple-net lease. The Orange County firm structured it as a DST offering for accredited investors.
Bluestone Investment Partners - Valiant Solutions acquired Abile Group to expand cybersecurity for national security missions. The McLean deal builds Valiant's platform supporting Zero Trust and continuous authorization. Piper Sandler advised Abile.
Exa Capital - Dallas-based Exa acquired StaffReady, a cloud-native healthcare SaaS platform for clinical workforce management. Founded 1995, StaffReady serves hospital ancillary departments and labs. Founder John Janzen continues as CTO.
Hidden Harbor Capital Partners - R.L. James Exteriors acquired Tampa-based Paramount Painting & Services. Jeffrey Heim continues leading the business. First Eagle Alternative Credit provided financing. Akerman LLP advised.
Renovus Capital Partners - Opensity Solutions launched by combining K2 Services, Epiq GBTS, and Forrest Solutions. The Chicago platform brings 4,500+ professionals, 500+ clients, and $400M+ revenue. CEO Michelle Deichmeister leads.
Trivest Partners - Trivest Mid-Market Fund VI added Shinto Landscaping to LMC Landscape Partners. The Boca Raton company serves commercial properties across South Florida's tri-county area.
Deals That Didn't Happen
Apax Walks Away from Pinewood
Apax Partners pulled the plug on its $792 million offer for Pinewood Technologies, the U.K.-based automotive software provider. The firm had proposed 500 pence per share in late January, sending Pinewood's shares up nearly 30%. The deadline to formalize the bid was February 26, but Apax bailed early.
The official line: "challenging market conditions." Translation: the AI selloff and broader tech volatility made the deal math stop working. Pinewood provides cloud-based software for car dealerships—sales, inventory, aftersales operations. It's a solid business, but not solid enough to justify the price in this environment.
Shares predictably tanked on the news. This is the risk when you're a public company in play—if the buyer walks, you're left trading below where you started. Apax had made multiple approaches before this one, so there was clearly interest. Just not enough conviction to close when markets got choppy.
Sun Capital Partners - Sun Capital Partners announced nine promotions across operations and finance. Junaid Zaheer was elevated to Group COO, Operations. Michael Herrmann was promoted to Vice President, Transactions. Charlie Whitehead advanced to Senior Associate, Transactions. Erin Rapkin was promoted to Vice President, Fund Controller. Derek Weigold and Adrian Shevack, CPA were elevated to Fund Accounting Manager. Christine O'Gara was promoted to Tax Manager, and Amber Fox advanced to Financial Analyst.
Charlesbank Capital Partners - Charlesbank Capital Partners promoted five investment professionals. Spencer Friske was elevated to Principal in the Flagship strategy. Michael Galardi and Matthew Maloney were promoted to Principal in Credit. Michael Lanham and Alex Wang advanced to Vice President in Portfolio Resources.
Gauge Capital - Gauge Capital announced four promotions. Alex Asbill, Reilly McAllister, and Colin Santoro were elevated to Principal. Nicole L. was promoted to Senior Operations Manager.
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That's the wrap. More deals coming your way tomorrow.
- Private Markets Minute Team