news

News (w/e 1/16/26)

Lee McCabe

20 Jan 2026 — 1 min read

Private Equity Recruiting Machine Roars Back After Six-Month Pause

U.S. private equity on-cycle recruiting restarted after a long pause, with megafunds back to running compressed interview processes for future associate classes. The break didn’t cool demand, it just produced more seasoned candidates and reinforced how competitive and unforgiving the talent funnel still is. Link

Bain Capital Names David Gross as Sole Managing Partner

Bain Capital consolidated leadership by naming David Gross as its sole managing partner, ending the prior co-lead structure. The shift signals a tighter command structure as the firm navigates slower exits, tougher fundraising, and a more competitive global landscape. Link

Private Markets Enter a New Era as Retail Capital Moves In

Private markets are seeing rapid growth in retail-accessible vehicles such as interval funds and tender offer structures. As access broadens, institutional LPs may lose some of their historical advantage in allocations, pricing, and co-investment access. Link

Soho House Take-Private Deal Revived After New Funding Secured

Soho House shares jumped after new financing was secured to support its previously announced take-private transaction. The episode highlights how fragile deal certainty can be in this market and how capital stack repairs are now a routine part of private equity execution. Link

Private Credit Keeps PE Portfolio Bankruptcies Subdued

S&P Global data shows U.S. private-equity portfolio company bankruptcies declined even as broader filings increased. Private credit lenders are increasingly extending liquidity to avoid formal restructurings, delaying pain rather than eliminating it. Link

Lifestyle (w/e 2/19/26)

Vox on the rise of “admin nights” — friends hanging out while doing life chores (budgeting, emails, meal prep), i.e., the new nightlife for people with calendars and back-to-back calls. link Reuters on “sober raves” taking off with Gen Z — earlier nights, no hangovers, still a proper dance floor. link

News (2/19/26)

McKinsey Declares “The Fog Has Lifted” on Private Equity McKinsey’s 2026 Global Private Markets Report says the fog has finally lifted, with buyouts up, exits rebounding, and IPOs creeping back after three flat years. That may be true, but the backlog of PE-owned companies is at record highs and

Deals (w/e 2/19/26)

Ariel Alternatives Acquires Front Line Power Construction Ariel Alternatives has acquired Front Line Power Construction, with Cherokee Nation Businesses joining as a minority co-investor. Power grid infrastructure is no longer theoretical. It’s cables, substations, and hard backlog tied to AI data centers and electrification mandates. This isn’t energy-transition

Capital doesn’t scale businesses. It scales whatever dysfunction is already there.

You see this constantly in home services and other PE-backed, multi-location businesses. New locations are added faster than systems mature. Marketing budgets increase, but lead quality becomes harder to explain. Revenue targets go up, while visibility into what’s actually driving demand goes down. On paper, the business is scaling.