The Journal
Our own writing, kept to what we can defend
No market-timing calls, no anonymous "sources say". Method notes on how the index is built, and owner-facing pieces on what actually moves a business between bands.
The Wire
Outside reporting · context, not evidence
Recent private-equity market news we've read and checked: what is trading, who is bidding, and where multiples are printing. Each one opens here with our own desk write-up, and links out to the original reporting if you want it. None of it feeds the index directly — the bands move on our own reconciled inputs.
- Multiples28 Aug 2026PE ProfessionalPE buyers pay up for small add-ons as middle-market multiples climb to 6.9x
Add-on pricing converging toward platform pricing is the clearest signal that the lower middle market band is tightening from the bottom, not the top.
Original at PE Professional ↗ - Deals27 Aug 2026Private Equity WireGenstar to sell First Eagle to Victory Capital in $7bn deal
Asset managers changing hands at scale keeps the Financial Services band anchored to earnings quality rather than AUM headline growth.
Original at Private Equity Wire ↗ - Sponsors27 Aug 2026Apollo Global Management (IR)Apollo funds and KKR partner to back Atlantic Aviation's growth
Two megafunds sharing one infrastructure asset is what happens when single-sponsor cheques stop clearing the return bar at current entry prices.
Original at Apollo Global Management (IR) ↗ - Deals26 Aug 2026Noah IntelligenceKKR's $5.7bn Integer acquisition pushes sponsors into the medtech supply chain
Regulated manufacturing with contracted volume is being bid like healthcare services — worth watching if you price a components business off industrial comps.
Original at Noah Intelligence ↗ - Deals26 Aug 2026Disruption BankingKKR-backed consortium moves on Steadfast, Australasia's largest broker, at $5.5bn
Insurance distribution remains the highest-multiple corner of financial services because the revenue renews without a balance sheet behind it.
Original at Disruption Banking ↗ - Tech27 Aug 2026Business WireSocure raises at a $5.2bn valuation and buys agentic operations platform Fravity
A growth round paired with an agentic tuck-in is the exact profile the AI-premium hatch is drawn for: revenue-attached AI, not roadmap AI.
Original at Business Wire ↗ - Sponsors26 Aug 2026AInvestThe three-handed flip: Victory Capital buys First Eagle from private equity again
Sponsor-to-strategic exits after repeated sponsor ownership tend to price at the low end of the band; every prior owner already took the easy margin.
Original at AInvest ↗
From the desk
- MethodAug 20264 min
Why a range beats a number
A single multiple is a confident lie. A range with a typical tick is an honest answer that still tells you what to do.
- MethodAug 20265 min
Two axes of doubt
Source quality and directional confidence are different things. Collapsing them into one score is how bad numbers get laundered into good ones.
- MethodAug 20263 min
Reading the rolling average
The twelve-month trace on each band is modeled, not observed. Here is exactly what it is and what it is not.
- OwnersAug 20265 min
What actually moves your multiple
Owners overweight growth and underweight transferability. Buyers do the opposite.
- MarketAug 20263 min
The AI premium is a hatch, not a band
Why we draw AI monetization as a zone above the range instead of raising the range.