Morning all, Craig McGlashan here filling in for Nina Lindholm with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. We’re taking a deep dive into the defense sector this morning, looking at where private equity is best placed to play as European governments up their budgets, as well as where potential problems lie. Next, we've got a busy morning for deals. We look at Investcorp moving for a majority stake in a German provider of supply chain and logistics consultancy services, while Astorg portfolio company Steliau has gained a presence in the country with an add-on. Hopping across the border to France, we’ve got Latour Capital entering exclusive negotiations to buy Lynxeo, the industrial cable division of Nexans. Meanwhile, Argos Wityu and BPI France have agreed to acquire a majority stake in Hexvia, a moving services company. Defensive investing The new US administration’s calls for its European NATO allies to spend more on defense has catalyzed what was already a surging sector following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Listed European defense giants’ share prices have surged in response – but it might be private equity that is best-placed to take up the fight, PE Hub’s Nina Lindholm writes. She turned to industry experts to learn why private equity is so well-positioned to help modernize the defense sector and how funds may navigate issues around ESG. Read the premium version of the Wire for the views of Thomas Friedberger, deputy CEO and co-CIO at Tikehau Capital, Dominik Stühler, partner at law firm Dechert, and Mark Thompson, a partner at law firm Covington, to find out why private equity is in a good position to invest in the thriving sector, how to navigate issues around ESG and more. German growth Speaking of Germany, we’ve got a couple of deals in the country to report this morning. Investcorp has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Miebach Logistik, a provider of supply chain and logistics consultancy services. Meanwhile, Astorg has made good on the plans it previously outlined to PE Hubto help its portfolio company Steliau, a design, integration and distribution services company for bespoke electronic products, gain a presence in Germany. Steliau has acquired UX Gruppe, an electronic focused on human machine interface products, embedded software and hardware engineering. It’s headquartered in Gilching, near Munich. Read more about Astorg's plans for Steliau in the premium version of the Wire. Carve-out Switching to the second biggest economy in the EU, Latour Capital has entered exclusive negotiations to buy Lynxeo, the industrial cable division of Nexans, a listed cable technologies company. Premium Wire subscribers can find out the enterprise value. Elsewhere in France, Argos Wityu and BPI France have agreed to acquire a majority stake in Hexvia, a moving services company, from Siparex, BPM Group and other minority financial investors. That’s it from me today. MK Flynn is back in New York after her visit to Orlando for NEXUS 2025 and will bring you the US Wire later today. I’m in the Europe chair again tomorrow, from what the forecast suggests will be a steadily warming London – although probably still some way off the Florida heat. Cheers, Craig Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 