Dealmaking

PE snaps up pharmaceutical commercialization assets: 5 deals

DFW, Great Point Partners, SK Capital and Water Street Healthcare Partners are among the PE firms investing in pharma commercialization services.

PE eyes legal roll-ups, but underwriting remains tricky, says DarrowEverett; Verdane backs Clue in women’s health push

Clue is a women-led period and cycle tracker health and wellness app.

Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams’ 888 Midas seeks investments in health, wellness, tech and (of course) sports

The firm backs Fruitist, Gywneth Paltrow-led Goop Kitchen and Zipline, explains managing partner Ross Walker.

William Blair’s Matthew Zimmer sees M&A uplift with pent-up PE portfolio companies to exit; Blackstone said to collect final bids for Sabre Industries

A Q&A with William Blair’s global head of investment banking Matthew Zimmer, who shares that there’s 30,000 or more PE-backed portfolio companies in need of an exit; an update on Blackstone taking final round bids for utility pole manufacturer Sabre Industries; takeaways from Deloitte’s 2026 divestiture survey.

William Blair's Matthew Zimmer: 'Engaged-deal backlog is the biggest it's ever been'

Zimmer pointed to a glut of 30,000 PE portfolio companies awaiting market checks, up from 22,000 or 24,000 four years ago. PE holdings are now stretching out to seven years.

PE eyes scaled luxury fashion brands despite headwinds, says BonelliErede; Ardian makes VMS play with IVB acquisition

Ardian has agreed to buy a minority stake in IVB Wellness Lab, a supplements brand in Spain.

Turn/River buys Starlims from Francisco Partners; Arctos expected to kick off third sports fund

We also have a deep dive into TCG’s recent minority investment in romance book publisher Entangled Publishing.

TCG bets on romance fandom with minority stake in book publisher Entangled

TCG's Julia Beilman: 'We’re drawn to businesses built around passion, storytelling and community.'

OpenAI: Latest ChatGPT model ‘incredibly valuable’ for investment analysis amid ‘super high’ PE adoption; CVC in talks with Infravia over Celeste stake

CVC DIF, the infrastructure business of CVC, has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire an 88 percent stake in Celeste from Infravia Capital Partners.

Final bids for Blackstone’s Sabre Industries sale due this week

Harris Williams and Jefferies are running the sale of Sabre Industries, which sits under Blackstone Energy Partners III and could yield a valuation of $4.5bn-$5bn.