Top private equity news of the week

Apollo Global Management and BNP Paribas are close to finalising a partnership to originate private credit loans for European corporate and private equity borrowers, Bloomberg reports.

The arrangement would mirror Apollo’s $25bn private credit agreement with Citigroup in North America, extending the model into Europe. The size of the European programme has not been disclosed.

BNP Paribas is among the most active European arrangers of investment-grade bonds and leveraged loans. Apollo operates one of the largest credit platforms among private capital managers globally.

Volkswagen AG has received preliminary bids valuing its diesel engine unit Everllence at around €8bn, equivalent to approximately $9.44bn including debt, Reuters reported.

The disposal would rank among the largest European carve-outs of the year, underscoring how major corporates are accelerating portfolio simplification and creating sizeable opportunities for private equity capital deployment.

Private equity firms including Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners, and Brookfield Asset Management are among bidders for the business, which produces shipping engines and heat pumps. Japanese diesel engine manufacturer Yanmar has also submitted an offer.

Novacap has closed its Technologies Fund VII at nearly $3.8bn, exceeding its $2.75bn target by more than $1bn in under a year, the firm announced.

The vehicle marks Novacap’s largest fund to date and brings total assets under management to more than $12bn. The raise comes amid a challenging global fundraising backdrop, underscoring continued LP appetite for sector-specialist technology buyout platforms.

Tech VII will pursue middle-market and lower-middle-market investments in profitable North American B2B software and technology-enabled services businesses. The strategy emphasises operational value creation and cross-border add-on acquisitions to accelerate scale.