Verlinvest bullish on consumer sector; LDC fuels growth at Harper James; Tech takes the spotlight

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Verlinvest bullish on consumer sector; LDC fuels growth at Harper James; Tech takes the spotlight

Morning all, Irien Joseph here with the Europe edition of the Wire from the London newsroom.

Let’s kick things off with a look at the consumer sector outlook for the second half of 2025, where we hear from Verlinvest’s Anaïs Jollivetabout where the firm is placing its investment bets and which sub-sectors are drawing their attention.

From there, we pivot into professional services, as LDC has taken a stake in commercial law firm Harper James.

Rounding things out, we spotlight this week’s tech deal activity, where private equity continues to be active across the US and Europe with 11 deals.

Consumer DNA

While many investors are pulling back from the consumer segment due to macro uncertainty, Verlinvest isn’t budging, Anaïs Jollivet, senior principal at the firm, told PE Hub.

Subscribe to the premium version of the Wire to find out how Verlinvest is defying market trends by doubling down on resilient consumer sectors.

Here’s a rundown of consumer sector deals we reported this week:

For more on this, read PE Hub’s interview with TSG Consumer Partners’ Beth Pickens, who shares how the firm is scaling brands that excite consumers.

You can also dive into PE Hub’s Q&A with the Raine Group’s Erik Hodgeon how YouTube, Europe and AI are offering opportunities for PE investors in content.

Flexible lawyering

Over in legal services, LDC is now backing Harper James, a Birmingham, UK-based full-service commercial law firm.

Dive into how flexible, scalable services is reshaping professional services sector and what that means for the future of legal deals in the premium version of the Wire.

The legal sector activity follows several deals announced in the accounting sector, including Cinven’s majority stake in Grant Thornton UK.

Is PE turning a new page on legal and professional services? Tech-forward models could be the key. I’d love to hear your thoughts – drop me a line at [email protected]

Tech in focus

Now onto this week’s tech deal roundup – here’s a look at the 11 tech deals we covered across the US and Europe:

For more insights, check out PE Hub’s deepdive on how Hg is riding the regtech wave through Cube’s compliance-focused mid-market expansion.

That’s all from me for now. John R Fischer will bring you the US edition later today and Nina Lindholm is back with the Europe edition on Monday.

Warmly,

Irien

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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