Private Markets

Permira and Warburg Pincus have agreed to acquire Clearwater Analytics Holdings in a take-private transaction valued at approximately $8.4 billion, including debt. The deal will give Clearwater shareholders $24.55 per share in cash, a roughly 47% premium over its pre-speculation stock price. The transaction, approved by Clearwater’s Board, is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals...

Germany has launched a €30 billion (about $35 billion) investment vehicle aimed at crowding private capital into sectors critical to the country’s economic reset. The new “Deutschlandfonds,” unveiled by the federal government, is structured to support projects tied to the energy transition, industrial modernization, and advanced technology rather than rely on direct public spending. Coordinated by the finance and economy ministries and implemented through KfW, the fund will deploy guarantees, loans, and selective equity stakes to reduce risk for private investors...

Private equity returns are likely to continue outperforming public markets even as access widens to retail investors, according to senior executives at Carlyle. Carlyle Chairman David Rubenstein said that regulators are moving to open private equity funds to a broader investor base, including individual investors in the U.S., within the next one to two years. While the inflow of new capital could narrow performance gaps, Carlyle expects private market returns to remain up to 400 basis points higher than those of public equities...

The Bank of England (BoE) has launched the first-ever stress test of the $16 trillion private equity and private credit sectors to examine how these industries would respond to a major financial shock. The system-wide exploratory exercise will focus on the broader impact on the UK economy rather than individual firms and is scheduled to produce a final report in early 2027...

Hillhouse Investment has begun raising a new Asia-focused private equity fund targeting roughly $7 billion, marking one of the region’s largest new vehicles in the current cycle. The launch comes after two years of slower deal activity and limited exits across Asia-Pacific, conditions that weighed on fundraising and delayed new flagship programs. Recent improvements in public markets, particularly in Japan and India, combined with a reset in valuations, have prompted several managers to return to market...

Amundi, a European asset manager with a significant private markets platform, and ICG, a private markets asset manager overseeing nearly $125 billion, have announced a long-term strategic partnership aimed at expanding access to private assets for wealth investors. The agreement includes a 10-year arrangement under which Amundi will act as the exclusive global distributor in the wealth channel for select ICG products, while ICG will serve as Amundi’s exclusive provider for those strategies...

The Charles Schwab Corporation announced its agreement to acquire Forge Global Holdings in a transaction valued at approximately $660 million, marking a major step in expanding access to private market investments. Forge operates a leading private market platform where investors have traded more than $17 billion in private company shares...

Private equity firms completed fewer deals but recorded significantly higher transaction values in the third quarter of 2025, according to KPMG’s “Pulse of Private Equity” report. The study found that 4,062 private equity transactions were completed globally, down from 5,070 a year earlier, while total investment rose to $537 billion from $512 billion. In the U.S., deal count declined to 1,791, but total value surged to $300.2 billion, the highest since early 2022...

Private equity firms are adjusting their strategies to operate effectively in a sustained high-rate environment, according to recent research studies. With interest rates expected to remain above early 2020s levels despite gradual easing, firms are focusing on capital efficiency, conservative debt levels, and revenue-driven value creation...

A new Deloitte report, the “2025 GenAI in M&A Survey,” reveals that 86% of corporate and private equity leaders in the U.S. have integrated Generative AI (GenAI) into their M&A workflows, with 65% doing so within the past year. The survey, which included 1,000 senior executives across major industries, highlights strong momentum in AI-driven dealmaking, as organizations explore the technology’s potential to improve decision-making, identify new value sources, and drive post-deal synergies...