Presented by:
Hello {{first_name|friends}}, we’re back to start March with a full slate.
Up first: the $33 billion take-private of the world's largest corporate clean energy supplier just landed - the biggest infrastructure deal you'll see this year, backed by two of the heaviest names in the asset class. Separately, a $1 billion bet on the global egg supply chain values a company most of you have never heard of at $8 billion.
A growth equity manager hit its $3.5 billion hard cap in just over four months, oversubscribed. A financial services specialist committed $200 million to seed a new RIA aggregator built around quality over volume. On the exit side, a Lone Star-backed process technology company changed hands for $4.775 billion, and two utility services platforms found buyers in the same week - one at roughly $1 billion, one at $276 million.
Defense and gov tech saw fresh capital flow into SIGINT and classified systems work. Senior housing had a busy Monday, with two acquisitions closing across Illinois and Tennessee. Japan's largest trading companies are finally showing up in US lower middle-market PE. And the energy royalties market keeps moving, with a Philadelphia-based firm adding 150,000 acres of Haynesville exposure.
Let's dive in.
Global Infrastructure Partners + EQT
AES Corporation
A consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP, now part of BlackRock) and EQT Infrastructure VI has agreed to take AES Corporation private in a deal valued at roughly $33.4 billion enterprise value, with $10.7 billion in equity.
The offer price of $15.00 per share represents a 40.3% premium to AES's 30-day VWAP. AES is the largest supplier of clean energy to corporations globally, with 11.8 GW of signed power agreements serving major tech companies - the kind of contracted revenue profile that makes this asset extremely defensible. CalPERS and the Qatar Investment Authority are co-underwriting alongside GIP and EQT, and EQT Infrastructure VI will be 75-80% invested post-close. AES Indiana and AES Ohio remain locally regulated utilities serving 1.1 million customers.
Close expected late 2026 or early 2027, pending stockholder and regulatory approvals. Advisors: JPMorgan and Wells Fargo (AES); Goldman Sachs (GIP/CalPERS/QIA); Citi (EQT); Skadden (AES legal); Kirkland & Ellis (GIP); Simpson Thacher (EQT).
Warburg Pincus
Global Eggs
Warburg Pincus is investing up to $1 billion in Global Eggs, valuing the company at $8 billion - a number that will raise eyebrows until you look at the scale. Global Eggs is the world's largest multinational egg producer and distributor, with 45 million-plus birds across 50-plus farms on three continents, and is on track to produce more than 15 billion eggs in 2026.
The investment comes through the Warburg Pincus Capital Solutions Founders Fund, which closed in September 2024 with over $4 billion in commitments. You may know the US business as Hillandale Farms; in South America it operates as Granja Faria, and in Europe as Hevo Group. Allison Ross, Principal at Warburg Pincus, joins the board. Morgan Stanley advised Global Eggs; Houlihan Lokey advised Warburg.
J.C. Flowers & Co.
Accelerated Wealth Partners
J.C. Flowers is committing up to $200 million in equity to back the launch of Accelerated Wealth Partners (AWP), a new RIA aggregator founded by Eric Amar. This is not a high-volume rollup - AWP is explicitly positioning itself as a "high-conviction, partnership-led" model, targeting a select group of high-quality firms rather than chasing deal count.
J.C. Flowers brings deep credibility here: the firm has invested over $18 billion across 72 portfolio companies in 19 countries since 1998, with an exclusive focus on financial services. AWP will use the capital to execute a pipeline of strategic RIA acquisitions, with the goal of building what Amar calls "category killers" in their specific markets.
Walker Dunlop Investment Partners
$167.7M Multifamily Debt Close
Walker Dunlop Investment Partners (WDIP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Walker & Dunlop (NYSE: WD), closed $167.7 million across five multifamily bridge lending transactions simultaneously.
The strategy targets flexible, short-term capital for high-quality multifamily assets in transition - a segment that has shown resilience even as other property types have struggled post-COVID. LPs in the strategy include endowments, foundations, pension plans, insurance companies, and family offices. WDIP leverages Walker & Dunlop's position as one of the nation's largest multifamily finance platforms to source and underwrite deals at scale.
From our Sponsor:
Bregal Sagemount
Fund V - $3.5B Hard Cap
Bregal Sagemount closed Fund V at its $3.5 billion hard cap, oversubscribed, after launching in Q4 2025. Four months from launch to close is a fast raise by any measure, and the jump from Fund IV's $2.65 billion reflects genuine LP conviction in the strategy.
Returning LPs committed the substantial majority of capital, with select new institutional participants rounding out the book. The firm targets flexible, solution-oriented capital to durable growth businesses with high recurring revenues - often as the first institutional check into bootstrapped companies. Founded in 2012, Bregal Sagemount has now raised $11 billion across equity and credit strategies since inception.
Fidelis Insurance Group
CVC Share Repurchase
Fidelis Insurance Holdings (NYSE: FIHL) is buying back all remaining shares held by CVC Falcon Holdings - 8,597,170 shares at $19.00 per share, totaling $163.3 million. CVC was a founding investor in Fidelis, and upon completion of the repurchase, will hold zero ownership in the specialty insurance and reinsurance company. Clean exits from founding PE sponsors are always worth noting - they signal management confidence and a clean cap table heading into the next chapter.
Arlington Capital Partners - Arlington sold Forged Solutions Group (FSG) to J.F. Lehman & Company, capping a six-year build that started with a blank sheet in 2019. Four acquisitions later - three of them carve-outs - FSG grew to 850-plus employees across seven US and UK facilities producing mission-critical precision forgings for aerospace, defense, and space. CEO Olivier Jarrault was brought in during ownership. Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg advised FSG; Sheppard Mullin handled legal.
Lone Star Funds - ITT (NYSE: ITT) completed its $4.775 billion acquisition of SPX FLOW, marking the exit for Lone Star, which took the company private in 2022 for roughly $3.8 billion. SPX FLOW generated over $1.3 billion in revenue in 2025 and is a global leader in engineered process technologies - mixing, blending, fluid handling, and thermal transfer. ITT is renaming its Industrial Process segment "Flow Technologies" and adding 3,900 employees.
Boyne Capital - Boyne sold McKee Utility Contractors to MasTec for $276 million, a clean exit from a December 2022 recapitalization. During Boyne's ownership, McKee's revenue more than doubled organically and EBITDA approximately tripled. The company laid over 700,000 feet of large-diameter pipe across Oklahoma and Texas. McKee is a third-generation family business focused on water and wastewater transmission infrastructure, founded in 1978.
Bernhard Capital Partners - BCP completed the sale of United Utility Services to Sandbrook Capital, in partnership with Blackstone Credit & Insurance, in a deal reported at roughly $1 billion. BCP built United Utility from scratch starting in 2018 through strategic acquisitions, growing it to 2,200-plus employees serving electric utilities across engineering, design, maintenance, and construction for T&D and substation infrastructure. This is BCP's third closed exit in recent months.
Searchlight Capital Partners - Searchlight sold Euclid Transactional to CRC Group, exiting an investment it made in 2021. Euclid is a leading global provider of transactional insurance - representations and warranties, tax liability - and expanded its geographic footprint and premium volume significantly under Searchlight's ownership. Searchlight manages $16.8 billion in AUM.
Gemspring Capital - Gemspring made an additional investment in SiteMetric and appointed Rich Riley as CEO. SiteMetric provides a connected platform for construction site security, access, and workforce management, with a growing presence serving general contractors and data center owners. Riley previously served as CEO of Shazam (acquired by Apple), held senior roles at Yahoo!, and was most recently Co-CEO of Origin Materials.
Blue Fire Equity - Blue Fire, a DC-based firm focused on defense and government technology, made a strategic investment in Jovian Concepts (Hanover, MD). Founded in 2007, Jovian delivers systems engineering, software development, SIGINT, and data privacy solutions to the US defense and intelligence community across classified environments. Evergreen Advisors Capital advised Jovian; Pillsbury Winthrop advised Blue Fire.
Portal Warehousing + GCM Grosvenor - Portal Warehousing and GCM Grosvenor (Nasdaq: GCMG, $91B AUM) formed a long-term strategic partnership to acquire value-add industrial properties and provide flexible micro-bay space in the 200-2,500 SF range. National vacancy for industrial space under 5,000 SF sits at just 4.4% - Portal is betting that structural supply gap is durable. GCM Grosvenor joins Portal's board.
360training - 360training (backed by GreyLion and Vestar Capital Partners) acquired Canadian Food Safety Group, including the SafeCheck Learning and SafeCheck Safety brands. Canadian Food Safety Group has issued nearly 900,000 food safety certifications since 1999 and operates provincially approved programs across Canada. 360training has now issued 21 million-plus certificates to roughly 13 million learners across 20 brands.
Bain Capital - Bain Capital's European PE team acquired a majority stake in Tingstad, a Swedish specialist distributor of non-food consumables (packaging, hospitality supplies, facilities management) founded in 1959. The company has 700-plus employees across 13 cities; founder Paul Jigberg retains a minority stake. Advisors: Jefferies, Danske Bank, Kirkland & Ellis (Bain); DNB Carnegie and Setterwalls (Tingstad).
Scarlet Security & Risk Group (SSRG) - SSRG acquired Elite Residential Concierge, an Ontario-based provider of concierge and security services for high-rise and luxury communities. All 1,000 Elite employees join SSRG and remain in their current roles. This follows SSRG's December 2025 acquisition of Pillar Security as the firm builds a national Canadian security platform.
Meritus Gas Partners - Meritus Gas Partners (a portfolio company of AEA Investors Small Business PE) acquired Green's Welding Supply in Granbury, Texas through its Meritus Texas subsidiary, effective February 28. Green's Welding was founded in 2000 and distributes industrial gases, welding equipment, and safety supplies across southwest DFW. Meritus Texas now operates 17 branches across DFW and Houston - this is its 9th DFW location.
Branford Castle + Marubeni Corporation - Marubeni Corporation (Tokyo, TSE: 8002.T) is making its first entry into the US PE market by investing in Branford Castle's new flagship fund. Branford Castle, founded in 1986, focuses on lower middle-market control investments in industrials, specialty manufacturing, consumer products, and business services. The collaboration goes beyond capital - Marubeni brings deal sourcing, logistics support, manufacturing expertise, and supply chain diversification across its 130-plus global offices.
WhiteHawk Energy - Philadelphia-based WhiteHawk Energy is acquiring natural gas mineral and royalty interests across roughly 150,000 gross unit acres in the core Haynesville Shale for up to $105 million. The package includes approximately 500 producing wells. Post-close, WhiteHawk will hold interests across 3.5 million gross unit acres and 11,000-plus producing wells.
Town Lane + Arcole - Town Lane and Arcole acquired The Sheridan at Green Oaks, a 198-unit independent living, assisted living, and memory care community in Lake Bluff, Illinois, to be rebranded Modena Green Oaks. This is Town Lane's fifth senior housing investment in its inaugural $1.25 billion real estate fund. Solera Senior Living will manage the property post-acquisition.
Clarion Partners - Clarion Partners Real Estate Income Fund (Nasdaq: CPREX) acquired Vitality Living Franklin, a 126-unit senior living property in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. Built in 2014 and renovated in 2023, the property was 99.2% leased as of January 2026. Clarion's Healthcare platform now stands at $3 billion, with roughly $600 million in additional transactions underway.
Hamilton Lane - Mika Tashiro was appointed Head of Private Wealth Solutions, Japan - a newly created role. Tashiro brings 20-plus years of experience, most recently in Index Sales at MSCI, with prior roles at UBS Asset Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Littlejohn & Co. - Shant Mardirossian joined as Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, and Head of Strategic Initiatives - another newly created role. Mardirossian spent nearly 30 years as Partner and COO at Kohlberg & Company and began his career at McKinsey & Company.
Sverica Capital Management - Three moves: Michael Dougherty was promoted to Partner (from Principal) after 14-plus years focused on tech and software from the SF office; Doug Patrican was promoted to Principal (from VP) in the Boston office, where he focuses on healthcare with prior experience at Great Point Partners and Citi; and Matt Johnson joined as Principal in the Austin office, bringing 14-plus years of PE experience in tech and software.
Great Hill Partners - Leland Lockhart, PhD joined as Head of AI on the Growth Team. Lockhart spent seven years as Executive Director at Vista Equity Partners driving AI and ML adoption across the portfolio, holds a PhD in Quantitative Methods from UT Austin, and has 15-plus years at the intersection of AI and business.
Forum Investment Group - Grant Turner joined as Managing Director and Client Portfolio Manager for Forum Exchange, the firm's 1031 and DST distribution platform. Turner brings 13-plus years in real estate investment solutions, most recently as VP at Ares Real Estate Exchange.
Emerald Lake Capital Management - Five moves across the Santa Monica-based firm: Stephen Burhenn and Joe DeJean were both promoted to Partner. Burhenn came from 10-plus years in the PE group at Ares Management; DeJean joined from Audax Group, with earlier experience at Water Street Healthcare Partners and Goldman Sachs. Sourabh Bhat and Derrick Lee were each promoted to Principal - Bhat previously at Metalmark Capital and UBS, Lee previously at Cinven and Bregal Investments. Simrit Hundal joined as Associate from RBC Capital Markets M&A.
|
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