Confidence among UK dealmakers is surging, according to the latest findings from CIL’s Investment 360 Index, with almost half (48%) of all respondents are now positive about the UK’s short-term economic outlook, a dramatic improvement from just 19% in 2023.

Global private investment firm TA Associates has acquired a majority stake in Solifi, a global fintech software partner for secured finance, with existing investor Thoma Bravo retaining a meaningful investment in the business.

LongWater, an alternative asset management firm focused on the lower middle market, has formed Cypress Rail Solutions (Cypress), a new railcar services company, in partnership with longtime industry executives Randy Meyer and Brian Trammell.

VSS Capital Partners, a private investment firm investing in the healthcare, education, and business services industries, has completed a platform investment in private equity sector management consulting firm Treya Partners.

Investment banks, which faced significant losses on risky merger and acquisition (M&A) loans due to a spike in global interest rates, are now aggressively returning to the leveraged buyout (LBO) market — one of the most profitable sectors in finance, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Butterfly Equity, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm specialiSing in the food and beverage sector, is to acquire The Duckhorn Portfolio, a North American high-end wine company in an all-cash transaction that values the business at approximately $1.95bn.

Private investment firm Soho Square Capital has exited its investment in Assured Data Protection (Assured), a managed services provider (MSP) focused on backup, disaster recovery and cyber resiliency as a service, to pan-European private equity firm Oakley Capital.