Morning all, Craig McGlashan here filling in for Nina Lindholm with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom.
We’ve been seeing evidence lately that large-cap private equity firms are dipping into mid-cap deals, amid a wider uptick in mid-market activity. This morning, we have some figures from a Termgrid survey that support that theory.
Next, another topic we’ve been investigating is the openness (or not) of the IPO market for private equity exits. Today we take a look at a new EY report on the wider IPO sector, as well as some promising H1 exit figures from EQT – which include a healthy dose of public market activity.
Finishing up, we’ve got fresh deals from an Inflexion portfolio company and a carve-out by Keensight.
Downsizing
We’re seeing more and more signs that large-cap private equity firms are reaching down into mid-market deals in Europe. That was one of the topics I covered in this look last week at how mid-market activity was picking up, and this morning we’ve got some figures that back up the thesis.
To learn those, as well as the reasons behind the move, check out the premium version of the Wire.
Would love to hear whether readers think large-cap players going to stay in the mid-market in H2. Send your views to me at [email protected]
Public push
Of course, the area of dealmaking that GPs would really like to pick up in H2 is exits, not least the public market route.
This morning, EY released its Global IPO Trends Q2 2025, which suggested some better news on that front – at least in some regions.
For some of the figures as well as our analysis, along with EQT's exit figures for H1, check out the premium version of the Wire.
There’s also suggestions that some tactics are working better than others for private equity firms looking to list portfolio companies in Europe, as PE Hub’s Nina Lindholm explored in this deep dive last week.
New deals
We’ve got a couple of fresh deals to report this morning.
Inflexion portfolio company DSS (styled dss+) has acquired Proaction International, a Montreal-based operational performance management and coaching company.
Meanwhile, in yet another carve-out deal, Keensight Capital has signed an exclusivity agreement to acquire a majority stake in Dimo Maint, a European software publisher of computerized maintenance management system products that aim to help companies optimize the management of their industrial and facility maintenance operations.
Right, that’s it from me today. Michael Schoeck is on US Wire duty later today and Irien Joseph will write to you from London tomorrow.
Cheers,
Craig
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