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Hello {{first_name|friends}}, Thursday was busy.
A global payments firm sold two carved-out platforms to a major card network — a carve-and-exit playbook years in the making.
A defense-tech manager closed $15.3B while most large buyout firms are still grinding through LP meetings. A UK full-fibre network changed hands at £2B, seven years after founding.
Three lower-middle-market funds closed oversubscribed — a debut, a third fund, and an SBIC. Texas grid infrastructure got fresh capital.
Across the M&A tape: electrical safety, crane systems, Gulf Coast environmental services, chemical cleaning, SD-WAN, building engineering, spinal implants, Savannah multifamily, children's fitness franchises.
Let's dive in.
Advent International
Prisma & Newpay → Visa
Advent International is selling two of three platforms carved out of Group Prisma to Visa, with the deal expected to close in Q1 2026. Prisma handles issuer processing for 90+ financial institutions — 75M+ cards, 6B+ transactions annually. Newpay runs real-time A2A payments, QR infrastructure, and ATM network Banelco, processing 300M transactions per month across 7,000+ ATMs.
Advent retains Payway, Argentina's dominant merchant acquiring platform with 700,000+ payment points. The backstory matters: Advent acquired Group Prisma as a single entity, then spent years separating it into three distinct businesses before executing this exit. That's $9.4B invested across 18 payments companies globally since 2008 — and a masterclass in carve-out value creation. Managing Partners Juan Pablo Zucchini and Chris Egan led the deal; Martin Kaplan stays on as Payway CEO.
DigitalBridge
Netomnia → nexfibre (£2B Enterprise Value)
DigitalBridge, alongside co-shareholders Advencap and Soho Square Capital, has agreed to sell its stake in Netomnia to nexfibre at a £2 billion enterprise value.
Founded in 2019 and backed by over £1.6B in funding, Netomnia grew into the UK's fourth-largest full fibre network — 3M+ premises passed, ~460,000 active customers. DigitalBridge came in during 2022 to support the network's expansion phase; the exit now validates that infrastructure thesis. The firm manages $108B of infrastructure assets globally, so this is one of many, but the speed of value creation here — zero to £2B in seven years — is worth noting. CEO Marc Ganzi continues building the DigitalBridge portfolio; Jeremy Chelot remains Group CEO of Netomnia under nexfibre's ownership.
From our Sponsor:
Veritas Capital
Fund IX Strategy — $15.3B
Veritas closed $15.3B across Fund IX and related co-investment vehicles — this in a market where most large buyout managers are grinding through extended fundraising timelines.
Fund IX's hard cap was $14.4B, itself 40% larger than Fund VIII, which was 68% larger than Fund VII. The trajectory speaks for itself. Veritas targets essential software, data, and tech-enabled services in sectors shaped by government policy: aerospace & defense, national security, healthcare, education, infrastructure, energy, fintech. The firm now manages $54B+ in AUM. Recent deployments include GHX (healthcare supply chain software) and MetroStar (AI-enabled digital transformation for defense). Portfolio company Peraton just landed a multi-billion-dollar contract to modernize FAA air traffic control systems. CEO Ramzi Musallam.
Soundcore Capital Partners
Fund III — $450M
Soundcore closed Fund III at $450M — oversubscribed, exceeding its hard cap, up 28.6% from Fund II's $350M. The LP base spans 117 investors across 12 countries; the GP committed $25M (5.6% of the fund).
Strategy: buy-and-build in lower middle-market services, industrials, specialty manufacturing, and distribution. Fund III targets 9 platforms vs. 6 in Fund II. Already 5 platforms established, 28 acquisitions completed, 40%+ deployed — $544M revenue and $95M EBITDA acquired. Jarrett Turner (Founder & Managing Partner) and Arthur Zuckerman (COO) run it. Kirkland & Ellis handled fund formation.
Palm Peak Capital
Fund I — $374M
A true debut. Palm Peak Capital — founded in 2024, based in Boca Raton — closed Fund I at $374M, hitting its hard cap on an oversubscribed raise. Co-founders Steve Liff, Daniel Florian, and Jeremy Stone have roughly 20 years of shared history, which clearly resonated with LPs: university endowments, institutional family offices, pension funds, insurance companies, and fund-of-funds all came in.
The strategy targets lower-middle-market industrial and services businesses through control buyouts with an operational improvement focus. Two platforms are already in the portfolio — Pacific Shoring Products and Domaille Engineering. Connaught placed the fund; Kirkland & Ellis handled legal. For a first-time fund in this environment, $374M is a real statement.
Star Mountain Capital
SBIC Fund II — $286M
Star Mountain's second SBIC fund closed at $286M — oversubscribed, with $175M in SBA debentures (the program maximum).
The LP base expanded from Fund I, adding new commercial banks alongside family offices and individual investors. Banks get CRA credit; the fund is Volcker-exempt. Strategy: debt and equity in established, recession-resilient U.S. SMBs. Brett Hickey (Founder & CEO) and Ryan McGovern (MD) lead the program. Winston & Strawn handled legal; Stifel placed the fund.
Ares Management
European Direct Lending CLO II — €300M+
Ares priced its second European Direct Lending CLO at over €300M — the second in less than 12 months, and among the first multi-currency middle-market CLOs in Europe. Collateral: directly originated loans from 70+ Western European middle-market companies. Partners Michael Dennis, Andrea Fernandez, and Matt Theodorakis led the deal. Ares has issued 108 CLOs since 1999, with 72 active today.
Ariel Alternatives — Front Line Power Construction
Ariel Alternatives — affiliated with Ariel Investments, $1.45B inaugural fund — invested in Front Line Power Construction, a 15-year-old Houston-area electrical construction firm. Cherokee Nation Businesses co-invested as a strategic minority. Ariel's second energy/utility services platform in six months, timed to unprecedented Texas grid demand.
Bregal Sagemount — Harbor Compliance: Majority growth investment in Harbor Compliance (Lancaster, PA), a SaaS compliance platform serving 80,000+ organizations. Chad Nuss joins as CEO; John Weber (former CT Corporation CEO) joins the board.
OceanSound Partners — Automated Financial Systems: OceanSound acquiring AFS (Exton, PA, founded 1970), commercial loan servicing software for community and regional banks. Edward Jenkins (former Veriforce COO/CPO) comes in as CEO.
HKW — Handling Systems and Conveyors: Indianapolis-based HKW acquired HSC (founded 1992) — vertically integrated crane, hoist, and conveyor solutions for aerospace & defense and industrial manufacturing.
Amberjack Capital — CIMA Services: Amberjack (Houston, $800M+ committed) partnered with CIMA Services, a Gulf Coast waste management and environmental remediation firm. First institutional capital for CIMA.
Palladium Equity / SES — ChemWorx: Palladium-backed SES acquired ChemWorx (Decatur, AL) — SES's 12th acquisition and 6th since May 2024. Specializes in heat exchanger cleaning and chemical degassing.
Oaktree / Scale Computing — Adaptiv Networks: Oaktree-backed Scale Computing acquired Adaptiv Networks, an SD-WAN/SASE provider. Combined customer base: 9,000+ across QSR, retail, and distributed industries.
Leo (Orion Group) — Bevara & Blackfin: Leo's facilities management network partnered with Bevara (WI; 200+ engineers) and Blackfin (KS; 80+ engineers), adding ~300 on-site building engineering professionals.
Spur Ridge Capital — Axis Medical: Colorado-based independent sponsor Spur Ridge made its first platform investment in Axis Medical (Denver), a spinal implant and orthobiologic distributor. Capitala Group co-invested.
Henderson Park + Green Room — Pointe Grand: Henderson Park and Green Room Partners acquired Pointe Grand, a 288-unit multifamily in Port Wentworth, Savannah, GA. Oxford Economics projects Savannah's growth to outpace the national average.
Hidden River — Somersaults / The Little Gym: Hidden River-backed Somersaults acquired 6 The Little Gym locations in South Bay and San Jose, CA — now the system's largest franchisee. 29 units across 8 states.
Copley Equity / Herzig Engineering — Martin Technical: Copley-backed Herzig Engineering acquired Martin Technical in arc flash analysis, infrared inspections, and lockout/tagout services.
Endurance Investment Partners — Advisor Expansion: Dallas-based Endurance (launched September 2025) added four senior advisors: Barry Davis (former EnLink Midstream founder/CEO), James Lytal (40+ years midstream), Tony Weber and Scott Gieselman (both former NGP).
True Green Capital Management — Bo Wiegand promoted to Co-Managing Partner. Co-founder since 2011, Wiegand now shares leadership alongside Panos Ninios. Sam Salisbury also promoted to Managing Director, focused on European deal origination.
Star Mountain Capital — Paul Efron joined as Senior Advisor. Former Goldman Sachs General Partner (38-year tenure, elected GP in 1998), Efron ran Debt Capital Markets in London and Leveraged Finance.
Continental Grain Company — Paul Fribourg transitions to Executive Chairman after 50 years as CEO (effective April 1). Ruth Kimmelshue and Ari Gendason named Co-CEOs. Bob Golden becomes Vice Chairman; Jordana Fribourg joins the Board.
Kian Capital / Diamond Landscaping — Anson Martin appointed CEO. Martin brings 17 years of PE-backed operating experience, most recently six years as CEO of Burroughs. Diamond serves luxury residential markets across LA, the Hamptons, and Jackson Hole.
FTV Capital — Adam Hallquist promoted to Partner. Core member of FTV’s investment team focused on fintech, financial services, and enterprise technology.
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That's the wrap. More deals coming your way tomorrow.
- Private Markets Minute Team