Editions
1. Highlight of the Week — “America at 250”: the AIC Quantifies 250 Years of Private Capital Behind American Dynamism
Ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the American Investment Council (AIC) and NAIC published in July, with PitchBook data, “America at 250: How Private Capital Fuels American Dynamism”. The headline conclusions give the measure of the phenomenon: US private equity now approaches $3.8tn in assets under management (over $5tn including venture capital), backs more than 13,000 companies across every sector — 85% of them small businesses — and has returned more than $1.8tn in distributions to investors since 2020. The economic footprint is massive: roughly 13.3 million direct jobs plus 20 million indirect ones, $1tn in wages and benefits paid annually, around $2tn in direct GDP contribution (7% of the total) — and up to 16% of GDP for the broader ecosystem according to EY/AIC. On performance, most vintage years since 2015 have outpaced the S&P 500 (double-digit pooled IRRs, direct alpha of +3.2 to +4.7 points for the 2015-2019 and 2023 vintages) — only 2021 and 2022 show negative alpha, and the report notes that excluding AI stocks, whose recent run has pushed the S&P 500 into the 99th percentile of its historical performance, PE also outperforms over three years.
An important methodological caveat: part of this data is extrapolated. The employment, wage and GDP figures are not observed data but estimates from an EY study commissioned by the AIC (March 2025, based on 2024 data), built on an economic multiplier model: the 20 million “indirect” jobs and the GDP contribution are thus extrapolated from the direct jobs actually counted. The PitchBook data also carry cut-off dates predating publication (June 30, 2025 for AUM and performance, December 31, 2025 for the company inventory), and the IRRs of recent vintages rest largely on unrealised valuations (NAVs) — not on actual exits.
The report also traces 250 years of history — from the financing of whaling voyages to the founding LBOs (ARD 1946, Gibson Greetings 1982, Reginald Lewis 1983) — and documents PE/VC convergence: 333 exits of VC-backed companies to PE firms in 2025, a near record. Case studies illustrate the thesis: Calpine, sold to Constellation in 2026 in one of the most profitable PE deals on record; broad-based employee ownership at Geostabilization International (more than 900 employees paid out at exit, up to $325,000 for the longest-tenured); JFK’s New Terminal One ($9.5bn, entirely privately financed). A reading to keep in context: the AIC is the industry’s advocacy body, and this data-rich plea lands precisely as Washington weighs opening 401(k) plans to private markets (see section 4) — it will fuel the debate as much as it documents it.
Sources: American Investment Council / NAIC — “America at 250: How Private Capital Fuels American Dynamism” (July 2026, PitchBook data) — AIC — Research
2. Public-to-Private — Recordati: a Divided Board Backs CVC-led €10.7bn Take-Private
The board of Recordati — the Italian pharmaceutical group listed on the Milan stock exchange (Euronext Milan) — this week deemed “fair” the €10.7bn take-private offer (€51.29 per share in cash) tabled by the consortium led by CVC Capital Partners — which already holds 46.82% of the drugmaker through its Rossini vehicle — and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), acting as co-control investors alongside Luxinva (an ADIA subsidiary), CPP Investments and chairman Andrea Recordati. But the endorsement was far from unanimous: six of the ten directors backed the transaction, while all four independent directors voted against it, arguing the price reflects neither the group’s intrinsic value nor its long-term growth prospects.
The deal — one of the largest European public-to-privates of the year — targets a closing in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to conditions: a 66.7% acceptance threshold, antitrust clearance and foreign-investment approvals. Beyond the headline number, the case illustrates a structural tension in listed buyouts: when the controlling shareholder is also the bidder, price discovery plays out in the boardroom — and the independents’ public dissent will weigh on minority shareholders’ assessment.
Sources: Private Equity Wire (week of July 13, 2026) — Global Banking & Finance Review — Pharmaceutical Technology
3. France — Ardian Turns the Axa Page: ACM and Wafra Buy Out the Remaining 10%
Thirty years after its creation as Axa Private Equity (1996) and thirteen years after its spin-off (2013), Ardian announced on July 17 Axa’s definitive exit from its capital. The insurer’s remaining 10% stake is being acquired by two existing shareholders: Assurances du Crédit Mutuel (ACM), which raises its holding to around 23%, and Wafra, the vehicle linked to Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund. Closing is expected between late 2026 and early 2027.
A page of French private equity history turns for the firm led by Dominique Senequier, now one of the world’s largest managers with around $200bn in assets for more than 1,900 clients. The move also confirms a broader trend: the reshaping of large asset managers’ ownership around long-term insurers and sovereign wealth funds — in contrast with the stock-market listings chosen by their American peers.
Sources: Boursorama / AOF (July 17, 2026) — PE Magazine — L’Argus de l’assurance — Fund Selector Asia
4. Regulation and Critical Corner — SEC: Retailisation Accelerates, and So Do the Guardrails
An update published on July 15 (a media roundtable hosted by compliance firm ACA, reported by FinTech Global) sheds light on the twin dynamics of US regulation. On one side, access keeps widening: following the August 2025 executive order and the Department of Labor’s March 2026 proposed rule on 401(k) plans, the SEC has removed two historical locks on closed-end funds (registered funds available to the general public): until now, any such fund investing more than 15% of its assets in private funds was restricted to accredited investors, with a $25,000 minimum ticket. In practical terms, an ordinary American saver can now gain uncapped exposure to private equity and private credit through these vehicles, with no wealth test and no minimum investment — the main retail gateway into private markets has been thrown wide open. On the other, oversight is tightening: valuation, liquidity, conflicts of interest and marketing practices all face heightened examination as retail savings flow into private markets.
The regulator is also targeting artificial intelligence governance: only 24% of firms reportedly have a policy governing third-party vendor AI use — a blind spot the SEC intends to close, against a backdrop of strengthened cyber-incident notification duties (Regulation S-P). The message to managers is clear: access to retail capital will be paid for in documented compliance — a useful reminder as the debate over whether private markets serve individual savers well (fees, liquidity, evergreen fund performance — see Week 28) remains very much alive.
Sources: FinTech Global (July 15, 2026) — ACA Group
5. AI — Mistral: EQT in Advanced Talks to Lead the Series D
According to a Sifted exclusive picked up on July 17, EQT is in advanced negotiations, through its €5bn Scaleup Europe fund, to lead or co-lead the Series D of Mistral, the French generative AI champion founded in 2023. Nvidia and Salesforce, both existing shareholders, could reinvest. The round’s exact parameters remain debated in the press: in mid-June, Bloomberg reported talks around a €3bn raise at a valuation of roughly €20bn — figures that remain unconfirmed at this stage.
Beyond the numbers, the signal matters: a top-tier institutional private equity firm entering a generative AI company marks a change in the nature of the capital — from backing a technological promise to backing a revenue trajectory with, ultimately, an exit thesis. For the European ecosystem, it is also a test of the continent’s ability to fund its own sovereign AI.
Sources: Sifted (exclusive, week of July 13, 2026) — Proplace (July 17, 2026) — Bloomberg (June 12, 2026, context)
References of the week: AIC / NAIC (PitchBook data) · Private Equity Wire · Global Banking & Finance Review · Boursorama / AOF · PE Magazine · L’Argus de l’assurance · Fund Selector Asia · FinTech Global · ACA Group · Sifted · Bloomberg · Proplace
1. Signal of the Week — Retail PE in Question
The debate over opening private equity to retail investors turned quantitative this week. A Bloomberg Opinion column published July 7, 2026 argues that private equity remains “too risky for mainstream investors.” The case rests on evergreen fund performance: the 15 largest evergreen private equity funds aimed at retail investors posted a median return of 11.97% in 2025, versus 17.43% for the S&P 500. Over 2023–2025, the median annualized return was 11.31% — roughly half the index’s 22.48%. Expense ratios of 3% to 5% per year weigh on the gap. The push continues nonetheless: following the August 2025 executive order and the Department of Labor’s proposed rule, private credit is now heading into America’s $14 trillion 401(k) market (The Motley Fool, July 10, 2026).
Sources: Bloomberg Opinion (July 7, 2026) — Advisor Perspectives (July 7, 2026) — The Motley Fool (July 10, 2026)
2. Global Market and Europe — Slower Exits, Bigger Checks
S&P Global Market Intelligence released its first-half exit tally this week: 1,504 exits announced globally between January 1 and June 30, 2026, down 6% from 1,601 in H1 2025 — while aggregate exit value rose, driven by a handful of exceptionally large transactions. In its midyear outlook published in July, PwC describes an exit market that is “improving but not fully reopened.”
Europe illustrates the same pattern — fewer but larger deals. PitchBook data reported July 8 by Tech Funding News puts European deal value at €319.7 billion (about $375 billion) in H1 2026, up 8.6% from €294.4 billion a year earlier, on a deal count down 4.5% (4,202 versus 4,399): the average deal size rose from €66.9 million to €76.1 million in a year. AI is driving the European momentum, with €21.3 billion invested in the theme through May 2026, per PitchBook’s EMEA midyear update.
Sources: S&P Global Market Intelligence (July 2026) — PwC US Deals Midyear Outlook (July 2026) — Tech Funding News / PitchBook (July 8, 2026)
3. Secondaries — Continuation Vehicles Under the SEC’s Eye
Two weeks after Bloomberg revealed (June 24, 2026) that the SEC’s enforcement division is investigating continuation vehicles, analysis of the market consequences multiplied this week. The probe centers on conflicts of interest, how transferred assets are valued, and whether investor disclosures are sufficient and consistent. The emerging consensus: regulatory pressure will force GPs to “show their work” on valuations without breaking the market’s momentum. New data point this week: capital raised by continuation funds hit $62.67 billion in 2025, the highest total since at least 2017, and the global backlog of unsold portfolio companies is estimated at more than 30,000 — the liquidity valve remains indispensable.
Sources: Bloomberg (June 24, 2026) — Yahoo Finance / PitchBook (July 2026) — The Middle Market (July 2026)
4. Europe — A Decade of Deals: Invest Europe Tallies €260.9 Billion in 2025 Transaction Value, with France Leading Buyouts
Invest Europe (the European private equity association) released its Transaction Value Analysis 2016–2025 on July 9, tracking ten years of private capital transaction value across Europe. Total transaction value reached €260.9 billion in 2025, flat year-over-year and slightly above trend (+3% versus the five-year average), across 8,681 transactions. The split: buyouts 72%, venture 14%, growth 13%.
A notable shift in regional leadership: France & Benelux once again took the top spot in European buyouts (as in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023) at €60.0 billion (+21% year-over-year), while the UK & Ireland declined 21%. Mega deals accounted for 49% of total buyout value (€189.0 billion, down 4%).
On the sector front, healthcare and biotech led the way at €51.9 billion (+43%), reaching 20% of total transaction value. Consumer goods and services, by contrast, fell sharply (–44%) to just 11% of the total. Venture capital hit €35.3 billion (+11%), its second-highest level on record, and growth capital returned to expansion at €33.4 billion (+12%) after three consecutive annual declines — a recovery driven entirely by larger deals (transactions above €30 million: 77% of total value).
A full analysis of this report is forthcoming on peresearch.eu.
Sources: Invest Europe, Transaction Value Analysis 2016–2025 (July 9, 2026)
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
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