Top private equity news of the week

BlackRock secured regulatory approval for its $3.2bn acquisition of UK-based data provider Preqin, following an investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The regulator, which launched the probe in December over competition concerns, confirmed on Wednesday that it will not escalate the merger to a further in-depth investigation.

BlackRock announced the deal in June last year, positioning the acquisition as a strategic move to enhance its investment technology capabilities and expand its footprint in the private-markets data sector.

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Private equity firms Warburg Pincus, EQT AB, and KKR are among potential buyers evaluating a takeover of Gerresheimer, the German medical packaging company, according to a Bloomberg report.

The company confirmed it is in early-stage discussion with private equity investors but emphasized that there is no certainty a public takeover offer will materialize.

Following reports that Gerresheimer is working with advisers to assess interest from suitors, its shares surged as much as 15%. The company stated that it would carefully evaluate any proposals in the best interest of its stakeholders.

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US private equity firms, including Blackstone, Bain Capital, Warburg Pincus, and General Atlantic, have heavily invested in data centres in Malaysia that provide infrastructure for TikTok owner ByteDance.

These investments, which have fueled ByteDance’s artificial intelligence growth, are now facing potential regulatory challenges as the US government tightens restrictions on China’s access to high-performance Nvidia chips.

Several buyout firms have unknowingly backed data centres used by ByteDance, some of which may have provided a legal workaround for acquiring high-end Nvidia chips. Under US restrictions imposed in 2023, Chinese firms are banned from purchasing these chips directly.

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