Editions
- Week 27 — 29 June to 5 July 2026 (latest)
1. Top story of the week — EDF sells its North American renewables to KKR for $4.2bn
EDF signed on 29 June the sale of EDF Power Solutions (US and Canada) to KKR for about $4.2 billion, with earn-outs of up to $390m. The divested portfolio represents 5.6 GW of net capacity as of 31 March 2026 (renewables, storage, microgrids, EV charging): it is KKR’s largest-ever renewables investment. For the French state-owned utility, the sale cuts net financial debt by around $5.5bn and frees up capital for its domestic nuclear programme. A textbook illustration of PE’s role as a capital relay for infrastructure assets that industrial owners must arbitrate.
Sources: Bloomberg (1 July 2026) — pv magazine USA — Renewables Now
2. Exits — KKR: over $900m in asset sales in Q2
In an intra-quarter update on 25 June, KKR reported more than $900m from asset sales over the 31 March–24 June period — about 80% performance income and 20% investment income —, above the $878m of Q1 and 66% above its average quarterly level over the past three years. The signal is twofold: the recovery in exits is confirmed (helped by stronger equity markets and a pickup in sponsor-backed IPOs — e.g. the ~$3bn listing of GMR in May), and capital is flowing back to LPs.
Sources: Private Equity Wire — KKR / Business Wire (25 June 2026)
3. Deal — CVC invests in Chess.com
CVC (via CVC Capital Partners IX) announced on 25 June an investment in Chess.com, the world’s largest online chess platform (over 250 million members, 10 million daily active users). CVC joins General Atlantic, which remains a shareholder; Goldman Sachs advised Chess.com. The thesis: bring CVC’s expertise in live events, media rights and sponsorship to monetise a massive community. A reminder that high-audience digital platforms remain a high-conviction target, even in a selective market.
Sources: CVC (25 June 2026) — Private Equity Wire — Paul, Weiss
4. Public-to-private — EasyJet rebuffs Castlelake (again)
EasyJet’s board rejected the latest non-binding proposal from Castlelake — a US private equity firm specialising in hard assets and private credit, notably in aviation — worth 625 pence in cash, or nearly £4.9bn. It is the third offer turned down, deemed undervalued and “opaque” in structure. The company nonetheless granted limited access to commercial information to try to lift the price, ahead of the 26 June UK “put up or shut up” deadline. The case illustrates private credit / PE’s persistent appetite for discounted listed targets — and boards’ ability to hold firm.
Sources: Aerotime — Business Recorder
5. France / case study — Europlasma: a “descent into hell” and the specifics of its investor (Le Figaro, Friday 3 July)
Summary. Under the headline “Europlasma’s descent into hell, a serial acquirer of distressed companies” (Le Figaro, 3 July, Véronique Guillermard), the article traces the collapse of the Gironde-based group. After acquiring six distressed industrial companies since 2021 — including Forges de Tarbes (France’s last maker of large-calibre shell bodies), Valdunes (railway wheels and axles) and Fonderie de Bretagne (former Renault) — Europlasma is itself running out of breath: a loss widened to €35.3m in 2025 on €70.4m of consolidated revenue, with accounts that PKF Arsilon and Deloitte declined to certify (going-concern doubt). On 3 July, the Lorient commercial court was due to rule on placing Fonderie de Bretagne into receivership; Satma Industries and FP Industries already tipped into receivership or liquidation in June. Some 800 employees are exposed.
The specifics of the investor — Alpha Blue Ocean (ABO). This is the heart of the matter, and the antithesis of a private equity fund:
- A financier, not an industrialist. Europlasma is described as “the front for Alpha Blue Ocean, which in reality controls it. ABO does not view it as an industrial asset but as a financial underlying” (Gérault Verny, MP).
- The mechanism: OCABSA (convertible bonds). Since the 2019 takeover, these bonds convertible into shares have been Europlasma’s sole source of financing, subscribed through Luxembourg funds of the “ABO galaxy”. A tool born in the US (1990s) and developed in France since 2015: the lender converts its notes then resells them on the market, earning on the discount to the share price. In theory win-win; in practice “the resale of shares is massive” and destroys value (Aurélien Saintoul, MP).
- Effect on shareholders: near-total dilution. The share has collapsed 99.9% since 2019, to a fraction of a cent (€0.002–0.004).
- Not a fund regulated in Europe. Unlike a private equity fund — subject to AIFM authorisation and ongoing AMF supervision — ABO operates through offshore vehicles: run by Pierre Vannineuse, registered in the Seychelles, with entities in several tax havens (Bahamas, Dubai…). It is nonetheless among the “vulture” players the AMF is watching, for having “misused” OCABSA.
The link with our coverage. The case directly feeds the French National Assembly’s inquiry into “the predation of French productive capacity by speculative funds” (chaired by Emmanuel Mandon, MP; rapporteur Aurélie Trouvé, MP) — the very one we discussed in our article “…put to the test of the facts”. A caveat, though: OCABSA/ABO is dilutive market financing, far removed from LBOs and classic private equity. The case illustrates, by contrast, what PE brings — an active shareholder, a time horizon, alignment — versus a purely financial scheme.
Sources: Le Figaro — “Europlasma’s descent into hell…”, Business section, 3 July 2026, Véronique Guillermard (print) — Boursorama (30 April 2026) — Le Journal des Entreprises
6. Critical view — CEPR publishes “Buyouts: Private Equity Reshaping the Economy”
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR, a progressive-leaning US think tank based in Washington, co-founded by economist Dean Baker — not to be confused with the European Centre for Economic Policy Research) published in July 2026 a critical analysis of private equity’s footprint on the real economy (jobs, prices, leverage of LBO-owned companies). Worth reading even if the angle is hostile: such work feeds the public and regulatory debate on the sector’s transparency, at a time when “democratisation” is opening the asset class to individual savers.
Sources: CEPR (July 2026)
7. Debate — Elizabeth Warren and private equity’s rollups of veterinary clinics
Summary. In a video from her economic series, US Senator Elizabeth Warren denounces the consolidation of veterinary care by private equity. The point extends the inquiry she is running with Senator Richard Blumenthal: after a letter to JAB Holding (August 2024), the two lawmakers opened an investigation into the impact of Mars Petcare and large corporates on pet owners and veterinarians. Their thesis: “private equity rollups of veterinary practices harm veterinarians and customers alike” — overworked clinicians, pushed to multiply expensive tests and procedures via quotas and revenue-linked pay, with higher prices for owners. The documentary “Private Equity Is Coming for Your Pets” (More Perfect Union) illustrates this wave of consolidation.
For a European reader, the interest is twofold: it is a flagship case in the US debate on sector rollups (healthcare, veterinary, dental…), and a mirror of the criticisms found in France about the alleged “predation” of funds — useful to know in order to respond with facts, distinguishing real abuses from generalisations.
Sources: Elizabeth Warren — video — Warren & Blumenthal — statement — Rolling Stone — More Perfect Union / PESP