AGM Alts & Wealth Weekly News Roundup | 7.17.26
The news of the week in private markets and wealth management
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AGM News Roundup
🏦 Wealth Management
RIA M&A on pace for a record 400 deals this year: MarshBerry | Alec Rich | Citywire | RIA M&A activity is set to reach new highs. MarshBerry recorded 187 RIA industry transactions through the end of June, which is up 2.7% from this time last year.
Regional Banks, Wealth Lead Financial Services M&A | Tim Leemaster | Bloomberg | Smaller deals involving regional banks and wealth managers are driving acquisitions and consolidation in financial services.
Caprock buys $4bn Texas RIA in second-ever deal | Alec Rich | Citywire | The Caprock Group, owned by TA Associates, has returned to RIA M&A after a two-year hiatus, buying $4B Texas RIA Venturi Private Wealth. The deal pushes Caprock to over $21B AUA.
LPL snags $2.4bn San Diego US Bank breakaway | Faye Kilburn | Citywire | LPL has brought on HighWater Wealth, an RIA that was part of US Bank.
🌲 Evergreen Funds
EQT evergreen platform on track to reach €10bn with Coller deal | John Schaffer | Citywire | Seven evergreen funds managed by EQT saw inflows of €1.8B during the first half of 2026 as the firm approaches €10B in total capital with its acquisition of Coller Capital.
Industriens Pension CIO targets evergreen funds lending to European growth companies | Elliot Smith | AM Watch | Industriens Pension CIO targets private credit evergreen funds focused on Europe. The Danish pension fund also recently invested in a new emerging market equity mandate with US asset manager Artisan Partners.
🛠️ Private Markets Infrastructure
Mariner Partners With Humanity Labs for AI Workforce | Davis Janowski | Wealth Management | Mariner, the Kansas-based RIA with $630B in AUM, has entered into a five-year partnership with technology provider Humanity Labs to scale an AI workforce representing more than 700 full-time equivalents across its operations.
💸 Private Equity
Big private equity firms pull in more cash as winners take all | Alexandra Heal | Financial Times | Private equity’s biggest firms are driving a fundraising revival that is creating a winner-takes-all dynamic in the market. Global fundraising surpassed $260B in 1H26, putting the PE sector on pace to raise 17% more than last year. However, the fundraising flows are not distributed evenly.
Stripe and Advent make $53bn bid for PayPal | Oliver Barnes, Antoine Gara, Ryan McMorrow | Financial Times | Payments behemoth Stripe and Advent International have launched a joint bid to acquire PayPal in a deal that would value the NY-listed company at $53B.
Perpetual Gets Higher Offer From EQT After Rejecting Bid | Joyce Koh and Anshuman Daga | Bloomberg | Perpetual received a revised non-binding proposal from Windflower Pte, a company indirectly controlled by EQT, at A$22.07 per share, worth around A$2.55B. This offer represents a 2% increase on EQT’s original bid.
Thomson Reuters to Sell Stake in Legal, Tax Business to KKR | Hannah Miller | Bloomberg | Thomson Reuters agreed to sell a 51% stake in its legal and tax publishing business to KKR in a $500M deal. TR will retain a 49% stake in the Global Print unit.
💳 Private Credit
Apollo’s Zelter Sees Private Capital Plugging State Spending Gap | Teddy Stoddart, Anna Edwards, Tom Mackenzie | Bloomberg | Private capital is filling the financing void left by governments that can no longer support large-scale industrial capital expenditure, according to Apollo President Jim Zelter. “Many governments in the past have been the purveyor of lots of capital for capex. Today, government pocketbooks aren’t as buoyant to be able to provide that,” said Zelter.
New York Yankees in Talks With Apollo Over $3 Billion Financing Deal | Silas Brown and Randall Williams | Bloomberg | The New York Yankees are in advanced talks to raise $3B of financing from Apollo.
Private Credit Attracts More Insurers Despite Market Jitters | Alexandre Rajbhandari | Bloomberg | Around 57% of global insurers plan to invest more in private credit instruments over the next 12 to 24 months, according to a survey by Marsh & McLennan.
Apollo Muscles In on Wall Street’s Turf With $300 Billion of Loans | Laura Benitez | Bloomberg | Alternative asset managers are encroaching on banks’ territory to provide credit.
🏠 Real Estate
Dubai Property Tycoon Plans $20 Billion Development in Syria | Zainab Fattah | Bloomberg | Mohamed Alabbar is planning two large-scale housing and tourism developments in Syria worth at least $20B.
Blackstone-backed AirTrunk eyes September, October launch for $1.5 billion Singapore REIT IPO, sources say | Yantoultra Ngui | Reuters | Blackstone-backed AirTrunk is targeting September or October for an IPO of a Singapore real estate investment trust that could raise around $1.5B.
Stonepeak holds anchor close on second real estate fund | Evelyn Lee | PEI PERE | Stonepeak's latest real estate fund has already surpassed the size of its predecessor, which closed two years ago.
🥈 Secondaries
EQT Forms New Venture Capital Fund to House Some Existing Tech Stakes | Dominic Chopping | WSJ | EQT has raised $598.7M for a continuation vehicle to house some of the assets from its first venture fund. The CV was led by HarbourVest Partners.
Carlyle AlpInvest Closes AlpInvest Atom Fund II At $1.7 Billion Hard Cap | Amit Chowdhry | Pulse 2.0 | Carlyle AlpInvest held a final close of AlpInvest at its hard cap of $1.7B, exceeding its $1B target. The fund is exclusively dedicated to single-asset continuation vehicle transactions.
Why CVs offer a potential mismatch in credit | Robin Blumenthal | Secondaries Investor | Continuation vehicles are emerging as a liquidity tool in private credit, but many investors are still opting to cash out amid rising market scrutiny.
🛠️ Infrastructure
Williams Announces $5.34 Billion Investment in Power Innovation Joint Venture from Blackstone | Blackstone | Williams has signed an agreement led by funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance, in partnership with Apollo and insurance vehicles managed by KKR, to support the development of its five announced behind-the-meter Power Innovation projects.
Brookfield-Backed Data-Center Firm Raises $1.05 Billion in IPO | Anthony Hughes, Bailey Lipschultz and Ryan Vlastelica | Bloomberg | Brookfield-backed data center business Csquare raised $1.05B in an IPO.
Intel Invests €5 Billion to Expand Irish Hub in AI Chip Race | Olivia Fletcher | Bloomberg | Intel is spending €5B to expand its plant in Ireland to increase output of data center processors and advance research and development activities.
🥩 GP Stakes
Ardian shareholders expand stakes in the firm | Ardian | Two existing shareholders in Ardian, Assurances de Crédit Mutuel and Wafra, expand their shareholdings in Ardian through a new investment. As part of the transaction, existing shareholder AXA will sell its entire 10% interest, but will continue its partnership with Ardian as an LP.
Wafra Holds Final Close of Constellation Generation V at $2 Billion | Wafra | Wafra announced the final close of its Constellation Generation V at $2B, surpassing its $1.5B target. Capital Constellation is Wafra’s dedicated next-generation manager strategy, making minority investments alongside catalytic commitments in high-quality, specialized alternative asset managers.
🔬 Private Markets Research
European Private Credit Monitor | Julia Avdoi-Green and Taron Wade | PitchBook | European direct lending slowed sharply in Q2 2026 to 30 deals, the lowest since Q3 2024, with YTD volume trailing 2025 by 35% as sponsors turned defensive amid the wider PE slowdown and the broadly syndicated loan (BSL) market retook LBO volume share.
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