news

News (w/e 2/6/26)

Lee McCabe

09 Feb 2026 — 1 min read

Carlyle Reports Fourth-Quarter Profit Up as PE Dealmaking Strengthens

The Carlyle Group posted a 13.7% rise in fourth-quarter distributable earnings, beating expectations with $436 million in profit as its private-equity deal activity, credit platform, and secondaries business generated strong results. The firm also raised roughly $53.7 billion in new capital in 2025 and saw increased exit activity across its U.S. and global portfolios, signaling renewed momentum in private markets. Link

KKR to Buy Arctos Partners, Entering Sports and Secondaries Business

KKR agreed to acquire Arctos Partners for about $1.4 billion, moving the private capital firm into sports team minority investments and second-hand private equity stakes. The deal creates a new KKR Solutions unit aimed at expanding tailored financing options and reflects broader interest in alternative asset niches beyond traditional buyouts. Link

Hamilton Lane Raises $1.9 Billion for Infrastructure & Secondary Opportunities

Hamilton Lane closed roughly $1.9 billion for its second infrastructure-focused fund, targeting secondary stakes and co-investments in mid-sized infrastructure assets including logistics, data centers, and renewables. The oversubscribed raise reflects investor interest in cash-flow-oriented private markets strategies amid persistent macro uncertainty. 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.