The shift marks a notable recalibration by one of Europe’s larger institutional allocators, favouring real assets over buyout strategies as it deploys a growing pool of capital.

The sovereign fund, established in 2017 to finance Germany’s nuclear waste disposal, manages more than €28bn. To reach its new target, KENFO expects to expand its real estate and infrastructure portfolios, the areas where it sees the most compelling risk-adjusted opportunity.

Verena Kempe, KENFO’s head of investment management, said the fund continues to favour those segments. “We continue to see attractive returns in those markets,” she said, while cautioning that private equity now demands a far more selective approach after the asset class underperformed expectations in recent years.

That stance places KENFO among a broader set of institutional investors that have grown more cautious on private equity. Higher interest rates have reset return expectations across the asset class, and the disruption artificial intelligence poses to software business models has added fresh uncertainty to a segment that has long anchored many buyout portfolios. For a fund of KENFO’s scale, a more disciplined posture on private equity, paired with heavier weightings towards infrastructure and real estate, signals where large allocators increasingly see durable value.

KENFO also adjusted its fixed income positioning. The fund cut its US Treasuries holdings to about €200m at the end of 2025, down from €600m a year earlier, before rebuilding the position by more than €500m by the end of June.

“We have no plans to stop investing in Treasuries because they remain a very important part of the government bond market,” said chief executive Anja Mikus, pointing to yields of up to 2.8% that exceed those on many other sovereign bonds, and adding: “We’re taking a flexible approach.”

The repositioning comes on the back of a solid stretch of performance. KENFO returned 6.2% in 2025 and a further 7.9% in the first half of 2026, despite market turbulence driven by US trade policy and later by conflict in the Middle East.

Since its inception, the fund has generated cumulative value for the German state of €8.8bn, of which €5.3bn has already been paid out to cover nuclear disposal costs.

The launch marks a significant step in the alternative investment firm’s European residential strategy, building a dedicated vehicle to consolidate and grow its exposure to one of the continent’s largest housing markets.

Highground is being formed through the consolidation of H.I.G.’s existing investments and operations in the Berlin area. In parallel, the firm is backing a new €450m high-quality residential portfolio in Leipzig and Dresden, extending the platform’s reach across several of Germany’s strongest urban centres from the outset.

The structure combines institutional ownership with an experienced local operating platform. That pairing is designed to create a scalable residential business, focused on improving asset performance while delivering high-quality housing. H.I.G. intends to expand both the portfolio and the operating platform over time, and it frames the opportunity around long-term fundamentals.

Germany ranks among Europe’s largest residential markets, and structural housing shortages, resilient demand, and limited new supply underpin the investment case. For H.I.G., which manages $75bn of capital and has run value-added real estate strategies for years, the move formalises a high-conviction position.

Riccardo Dallolio, Managing Director and Head of H.I.G. Realty Europe, said: “Highground marks an important milestone for H.I.G. Realty’s European residential strategy. We have identified German residential as one of our high-conviction markets and have built a scalable platform to capitalize on the current market opportunity.”

The firm is positioning Highground as an operating business rather than a static holding, with active management at its core. Stelios Theodosiou, Managing Director at H.I.G. Realty in Europe, said the platform is “capable of creating long-term value through active asset management and disciplined portfolio growth”, adding that H.I.G. looks forward to supporting the management team as the business scales across the German market.

The revised approach, disclosed by DCC on 16 July 2026 alongside its annual general meeting, keeps the consortium’s private equity backers in pole position to take the FTSE 100 group private.

Under the improved terms, the consortium retains a cash consideration of £65.25 per share, together with a proposed final dividend of £1.47 already put forward by DCC and due to be voted on at the meeting.

The key addition is a contingent element. Shareholders stand to receive up to a further £1.25 per share, worth as much as £106.8m in aggregate, or roughly 1.9%, provided DCC secures at least $800m from the sale of its remaining technology division, Nexora.

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Ardian will exit the vast majority of its holding, while GBA’s management team will remain invested alongside the new backer.

Bridgepoint has previously partnered with ten TIC platforms, among them Element Materials Technology, LGC, Alcontrol, Fera Science, and NMi.

During Bridgepoint’s ownership, Element quadrupled both its laboratory count and revenue and added more than 5,000 technical experts. That track record now underpins the thesis for GBA, which operates a global network of laboratories serving more than 60,000 customers.

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The financing sits alongside a significant reinvestment from Barkene’s management team, and includes a sizeable committed line to fund the group’s active bolt-on strategy.

Ardian has targeted this market segment for more than two decades. Founded in 2018, Barkene has grown into a leading multi-specialist platform in France, operating across electronic security, fire safety, automatic doors, and remote monitoring.

With close to 800 employees across 39 branches, the business pairs technical expertise with national coverage, serving a diversified customer base in a resilient market underpinned by regulatory requirements, compliance standards, and recurring service demand.

Jean-David Ponsin, Co-Head of Private Credit France at Ardian, tied the financing to the platform’s growth record. “We are delighted to support Astorg and Barkene’s management team, led by CEO Richard Weihart, in this new phase of the company’s development,” he said, adding that Barkene had “established a leading platform with a strong track record of growth and successful integration” and pointing to its continued expansion and long-term ambitions.

Ardian’s private credit business is among Europe’s most established, applying a multi-local approach to partner with private equity sponsors and management teams, and the firm framed the Barkene facility as part of a period of strong activity for the team.

The verdict, set out in the board’s issuer’s statement under Italy’s Financial Act, was not unanimous, according to a report by Reuters, with the company’s independent directors dissenting from the majority view.

The statement marks the formal response to a voluntary tender offer that values Recordati at around €10.7bn, one of the largest European healthcare transactions of the year. The bid is led by CVC, which already controls a 46.82% stake through its vehicle Rossini, alongside Belgian investment holding company GBL, with the two acting as co-control investors.

The consortium also draws in Abu Dhabi Investment Authority subsidiary Luxinva, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Recordati chairman Andrea Recordati.

The split on the board reflects the tension at the heart of sponsor-led take-privates of listed companies. CVC’s existing control and the involvement of the chairman give the deal a firm anchor, since Rossini has irrevocably committed to tender its roughly 47% holding, but they also sharpen scrutiny of whether minority shareholders are being offered full value.

The dissent from the independent directors, whose role is to safeguard outside investors, signals reservations about the price even as the wider board deemed it financially fair.

Recordati has argued that its next phase, including expansion in rare diseases, carries greater execution risk, longer development timelines, and heavier research and development spending, better supported by private ownership offering strategic flexibility and a stable, long-term capital base. Recordati grew 2025 revenue 8.3% to €2.62bn, helped by products such as Cushing’s syndrome therapy Isturisa, and has signalled appetite for further licensing and acquisitions in an increasingly competitive market for assets.

The offer, pitched at a premium of roughly 13% to Recordati’s share price on 25 March, the day before CVC’s initial approach was disclosed, aims to delist the group from Euronext Milan. The bid is being funded partly through a securitisation-based lending structure, the first time the technique has been deployed to support a market acquisition of shares in Italy.

With the board’s reasoned opinion now published, attention turns to the acceptance period and whether the consortium can secure enough minority participation to clear its thresholds. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

The deal spans more than 10 companies and reflects the firm’s continued focus on backing businesses that support the digitalisation of the global economy.

For Verdane, the appeal lies in a cluster of assets tied to the energy transition. The businesses use technology to make the transition more efficient, operating in areas such as the digitalisation of the energy industry and the evolution of transport. The firm will partner with the companies’ management teams, drawing on its in-house operational advisers across functions including go-to-market, data, finance, and talent to support their growth.

The mandates of Verdane’s Freya funds allow it to source complex, multi-company deals of this kind, working with listed corporates and offering sellers a route to liquidity.

Melanie Campbell, Principal at Verdane, framed the deal as a win for both sides. “We’re looking forward to working closely with the management teams of these companies as they continue to digitalise and decarbonise the global economy,” she said, adding that the firm was “delivering value for all parties thanks to Verdane’s flexible mandate and significant experience.”

The acquisition draws on more than two decades of portfolio dealmaking, with Verdane having completed over 50 such transactions across its history. The firm has raised €10bn ($11.5bn) in capital and made more than 200 investments since 2003, supported by a team of over 180 professionals across seven European offices.

A certified B Corporation, Verdane backs only businesses that pass its “2040 test” for long-term sustainability, a screen that fits neatly with the energy transition focus of this latest deal.

The proposed package, being negotiated with Apollo’s sports investing unit, would comprise mostly debt alongside some equity.

Part of the proceeds would refinance existing borrowings, with the remainder earmarked for growth opportunities. Deliberations remain ongoing, and no final decisions on the size or structure have been made.

Major League Baseball prohibits private equity firms from becoming majority owners of its franchises, capping any single fund at a stake of up to 15%, which pushes financial backers toward debt-led packages rather than outright control. The Yankees are owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, controlled by Hal Steinbrenner and his family, a group whose interests also span Italian football club AC Milan and Major League Soccer’s New York City FC.

The Bronx club is the financial heavyweight of US baseball, valued by Sportico at more than $9bn, ranking it among the most valuable sports franchises anywhere and one of the most recognisable global brands. The deal fits Apollo’s strategy of specialising in long-term strategic capital for leagues and clubs, as well as taking equity stakes. Its Apollo Sports Capital business, led by Al Tylis, launched a $5bn strategy last year and has since become the majority shareholder in Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid.

The talks also reflect a broader land grab across sports finance. Firms including Arctos Partners, CVC Capital Partners, and Ares Management have been active investors in leagues and teams, drawn by scarce, appreciating assets with loyal followings and growing media value.

Should a deal come together, it would mark a significant escalation of Apollo’s push into the sector, pairing one of the most valuable franchises in world sport with a firm intent on becoming a leading capital provider to the industry.

Beyond the founding partners, the investor group spans Goldman Sachs, General Atlantic, Leonard Green & Partners, Apollo Global Management, GIC, and Sequoia Capital, giving the venture unusually deep pockets from the outset.

Ode pairs Anthropic’s frontier models with a team of experienced engineers and operators, aiming to help companies move from experimenting with AI to embedding it in day-to-day operations.

The company is built on the foundation of Fractional AI, the applied AI services firm acquired in May 2026, whose team forms Ode’s operational core alongside engineers from Anthropic. It is led by chief executive Chris Taylor and chief technology officer Eddie Siegel, who co-founded Fractional AI and held the same roles there.

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Certain Ares Real Estate funds bought all outstanding common shares and operating partnership units for $19.00 apiece, with the transaction now closed.

The deal adds a focused portfolio of convenience-oriented retail assets in some of the fastest-growing corners of the US Sun Belt. Whitestone brings 54 properties totalling around 4.8 million square feet, concentrated across high-growth markets including Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. That geographic tilt sits at the heart of the investment case, giving Ares exposure to metros with strong population and employment growth.

With completion, Whitestone is no longer listed or traded on any public exchange. The take-private continues a broader push by large alternative managers into US real estate at a point when public REIT valuations have left some property owners trading below the underlying value of their assets, creating openings for private capital.

The acquisition also reflects the scale Ares can bring to bear. The firm managed over $644bn in assets as of the end of March 2026, investing across credit, real estate, private equity, and infrastructure, and the Whitestone deal deepens its real estate footprint in the retail segment.

The private equity firm set initial marketing levels on the asset-backed security sale on Wednesday through Alps Partners Germany, with pricing expected by the end of the week, people familiar have said.

The deal is designed to refinance KKR’s exposure to PayPal’s German lending unit. The firm funds the payment platform’s European BNPL activity through a forward-flow arrangement, under which it agrees to backstop loans before they are issued. The structure mirrors a similar tie-up between PayPal rival Klarna and Elliott Investment Management.

BNPL products let shoppers split larger one-off purchases into smaller instalments over a set period, and the market has grown sharply in recent years, with PayPal, Klarna, and Affirm among its largest players.

Fitch Ratings noted that PayPal’s BNPL losses are typically minimal, pointing to the loans’ brief duration and robust underwriting, and set a default expectation of 1.6% on the underlying pool.

The offering is a rare chance for European investors to gain exposure to this form of financing. Whereas Affirm has regularly tapped US securitisation markets to fund its lending, comparable deals have been scarce in Europe, making KKR’s transaction a notable test of appetite among the region’s credit investors.

BNP Paribas, KKR Capital Markets, and Société Générale are arranging the deal.

The buyout firm is in late-stage negotiations with Command Alkon’s private equity owner, Thoma Bravo, over the purchase of a 55% stake, people familiar with the matter told the news agency.

The remaining 45% sits with Heidelberg Materials, the German building materials group and Command Alkon’s largest customer, which acquired its position from Thoma Bravo in 2021 in a deal that valued the business at around $1.7bn.

For Thoma Bravo, a sale would mark an exit from an asset it has held since 2020, when the firm acquired the Ohio-based company. Command Alkon supplies software to producers and suppliers of aggregates, cement, asphalt, concrete products, and ready-mix, and operates offices across multiple regions.

A deal could be announced within days, though the people cautioned the talks could still end without an agreement.

Should it complete, the transaction would hand Francisco Partners control of a proven vertical software platform while allowing Thoma Bravo to crystallise value on a six-year hold, with Heidelberg Materials retaining its strategic minority stake alongside the new backer.

The result comfortably beat both the prior year’s 11.6% and the fund’s 6.8% assumed rate of return, and ranks as the pension giant’s best showing in five years.

Private equity delivered a preliminary 17% return, sitting behind only public equity, which gained 24.1% on the back of a strong finish for stock markets. Across the wider private markets book, private debt returned 11% and real assets 6.3%, underlining the growing role of alternatives in the fund’s performance. Private market valuations lag by a quarter and are stated as of 31 March 2026.

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The revised proposal, disclosed by Perpetual in an ASX announcement, values the group at around A$2.5bn ($1.65bn) and marks the Swedish private equity firm’s second attempt to secure one of Australia’s oldest financial institutions.

On 1 July, Perpetual turned down an initial A$21.64-a-share cash proposal from Windflower, a bidding vehicle Perpetual understands to be indirectly controlled by EQT, saying the approach was “highly conditional” and did not adequately represent fair value in a change-of-control transaction.

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The consortium is offering $60.50 a share, a premium of roughly 28% to PayPal’s closing price on Tuesday, in what would rank among the largest take-private bids of the year.

The proposal is unusually well funded. Reuters reported that the offer is backed by around $50bn in committed financing from banks, and that the approach was submitted earlier this month, following an initial overture in April.

Under the terms, Stripe and Advent would jointly own PayPal, each holding an equal stake, rather than breaking the company up. As of the report, PayPal had not responded, and the two bidders are looking to advance discussions in the coming weeks.

Advent has long treated fintech and payments as a core theme, having agreed to take Canadian payments group Nuvei private in a $6.3bn deal in 2024. Partnering with Stripe, itself valued at about $159bn, would give the firm access to one of the sector’s most active strategic acquirers alongside its own capital.

PayPal’s market capitalisation peaked at roughly $360bn in 2021 before sliding to as low as around $36bn earlier this year, with the stock down more than 40% over the past 12 months. The company has grappled with slowing growth and intensifying competition from the likes of Apple Pay and Google Pay, issued soft profit guidance for 2026, and this year replaced chief executive Alex Chriss with former HP executive Enrique Lores. It has also reorganised into three operating units spanning checkout, consumer financial services and Venmo, and payments and cryptocurrency.

Nothing has been agreed yet. Advent declined to comment, while PayPal and Stripe did not immediately respond to Reuters, and the people familiar with the talks cautioned there is no certainty the approach will lead to a deal.

News of the offer sent PayPal shares up sharply, rising as much as 16% in premarket trading.

The haul cleared the vehicle’s $4bn target, a result the firm attributed to strong demand from both new and existing limited partners across its global investor base.

The programme gives investors access to a diversified portfolio of direct co-investments across buyout and growth equity, deployed alongside leading private markets sponsors.

Alongside HarbourVest’s core buyout strategy, HCF VII includes a dedicated fund that raised more than $500m to target growth equity and expansion-stage opportunities tied to structural trends such as artificial intelligence and healthcare innovation.

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A notice posted on the China Securities Regulatory Commission website on Friday approved the offering, allowing the company to issue up to 341.6 million shares on the Hong Kong exchange.

The retailer’s cap table features some of the biggest names in growth and venture capital, including General Atlantic, its largest external backer, whose chief executive Bill Ford sits on the board, alongside Mubadala, Sequoia China’s successor HongShan, Tiger Global, and IDG Capital. Many of those firms have been waiting years for a realisation event, having backed the company across funding rounds that once made it one of the world’s most valuable private businesses.

Shein was valued at as much as $100bn in 2022, before investors marked it down as the pandemic-era e-commerce boom faded, according to Reuters. A 2023 fundraising priced the business at around $66bn, and reporting has since pointed to a materially lower valuation for the listing, as margin pressure, intensifying competition from rivals such as Temu, and the closure of the US de minimis import loophole weighed on profitability.

The path to this point has been long and politically fraught. Shein first filed for a US IPO in November 2023 before resistance from lawmakers pushed it toward London, where Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority approved a draft prospectus, only for the CSRC to withhold its sign-off. The company then pivoted to Hong Kong in 2025, in what amounts to its third attempt to go public.

Although it moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2022, it remained subject to Chinese listing rules because its products are largely made by a network of suppliers in China, leaving Beijing with effective veto power under offshore-listing regulations introduced in 2023.

The listing would also be a coup for Hong Kong, which has emerged this year as one of the world’s busiest venues for new issues. Reuters noted that the CSRC has cleared more than 180 other IPOs over the past 12 months, fuelling a revival in the city’s equity capital markets.

Significant risks remain, from an EU consumer-protection investigation to persistent scrutiny of Shein’s supply chain and ongoing geopolitical tension. Even so, with Beijing’s clearance now in hand, the company’s backers are the closest they have been to turning a bruising, multi-year listing saga into an actual return.

The investment is likely to total several hundred billion yen, with the Nikkei business daily reporting that it could reach as much as ¥300bn ($1.85bn).

Sumitomo Mitsui Card, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, may also take a stake.

Seven & i has spent the past year as one of Asia’s most closely watched restructuring stories, having fended off a takeover approach from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard that would have ranked as Japan’s largest-ever foreign buyout. That tussle collapsed, but it left the retailer under sustained pressure from investors frustrated by lacklustre returns and pushing it to concentrate on its core convenience store operation.

The company has already turned to private capital to reshape itself. In March 2025, Seven & i agreed to sell its supermarkets business, a collection of larger-format stores operating under separate brands, to Bain Capital, carving out a non-core division as part of its slimming-down. The latest talks suggest the group is now looking to strategic and financial partners to inject fresh capital rather than pursue another wholesale change of ownership.

Bloomberg reported that the telecoms group aims to deploy its in-house artificial intelligence to improve store management and to introduce autonomous robots that would reduce staffing needs across Seven & i’s network.

SoftBank Corp, the domestic telecoms arm of SoftBank Group, has been developing enterprise AI tools with OpenAI, in which the wider group’s cumulative commitment is set to exceed $60bn by the end of 2026.

Should the investment proceed, it would offer a capital boost to a business still searching for a turnaround, while stopping well short of the full buyout that private equity and strategic suitors have circled for years.

The interest has yet to firm up into any formal approach, but it has been enough to reignite long-running speculation about a buyout of the Dutch-listed diagnostics group.

Some of the firms studying the business have signalled they could offer at least $50 a share should they choose to proceed, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. That prospect sent Qiagen shares up as much as 14% in US trading on Thursday, their sharpest intraday gain since January. The stock was trading 11% higher at $42.18 by mid-morning in New York, giving the company a market value of around $8.7bn.

Qiagen has attracted takeover interest repeatedly in recent years, though previous discussions never resulted in a transaction. Bloomberg noted that the field could yet widen, with additional buyout firms and strategic players potentially drawn in.

The renewed attention follows a burst of consolidation across medical diagnostics. This year has already seen Danaher acquire US-listed Masimo, while Germany’s Merck agreed a deal for Bio-Techne, sharpening the strategic case for scale in the sector. Against that backdrop, a large, independent testing platform such as Qiagen stands out as a rare available asset.

Qiagen itself has laid some of the groundwork for a deal. The company confirmed in March that it was working with Moelis & Company and Goldman Sachs on a strategic review, having told investors in January that it was weighing options and had held talks with possible buyers.

Chief executive Thierry Bernard plans to step down once a successor is found, a move seen by people familiar with the matter as helping to clear the path to an eventual transaction. For now, the deliberations remain preliminary, and there is no certainty they will lead to an offer.

As part of the deal, Ares funds also took a direct minority stake in Firebird, and Ares managing director Jeevan Sagoo has joined the company’s board.

According to Billboard, the platform comprises roughly $350m of equity secured from Ares, Firebird, and Raine, alongside $400m of debt financing provided by Pinnacle. That firepower is aimed at recorded music and publishing catalogues, royalty streams, and other music-related assets, while also supporting Firebird’s longer-term partnerships with artists and songwriters.

“We believe Firebird’s innovative platform is helping artists build longer lasting, more impactful, and more profitable careers by investing in IP,” Sagoo said, adding that Ares was “excited to join alongside Raine to provide scaled capital and deep music and entertainment investing experience to support their work with artists and their long-term growth.”

The deal follows the firm’s April 2025 involvement co-leading a $500m capital raise for music rights company GoldState Music. Ares managed more than $644bn in assets as of the end of March 2026.

The platform gives Firebird meaningful buying power in a competitive market. Founded in 2022 by former KKR partner Nat Zilkha and former Ticketmaster chief executive Nathan Hubbard, the company backs the management of more than 1,000 artists and holds stakes in firms including Red Light Management, Mick Management, and Transgressive Records. Raine, one of Firebird’s earliest investors, remains its largest single shareholder.

“This is an exciting chapter for Firebird,” Hubbard said, pointing to the Ares partnership and expanded Raine relationship as a way to “deepen partnerships both within and beyond our ecosystem.”

The launch lands in a buoyant market for music rights, where investors have committed billions to catalogue acquisitions in recent months even as valuations begin to stabilise after several years of record-breaking deals.