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| The Daily Pitch |
| PE, VC and M&A |
| Your edge on global private capital markets |
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| Europe's absent workers create PE's latest health gold rush |
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| (Josie Doan/PitchBook News) |
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By Emily Lai, Private Equity Reporter
As poor health eats into the European workforce, employee well-being is moving up the corporate agenda—for PE investors, it's a chance to back an emerging occupational health sector that's also ripe for consolidation.
In September, the UK's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development reported that the average number of sick days taken by British workers in the previous 12 months was 9.4 days—two days more than in 2023 and a significant increase from the pre-pandemic average of 5.8 days.
The UK labor market is not alone. Across the region, poor health is leaving fewer people available to work.
In 2023, workers in Germany, Europe's largest economy by GDP, called in sick for an average of 15.1 working days, a four-day increase from two years ago, according to the country's Federal Statistical Office.
But while Germany posted one of the biggest increases, it doesn't report the most sick days. The World Health Organization reported that in 2024, Norway saw 18.9 days of sick leave per employee, rising from 15.8 days in 2016.
Furthermore, governments are struggling with shrinking workforces. The UK has launched a review into mental health diagnoses, as 4.4 million working-age people are on sickness or incapacity benefit, up by 1.2 million since 2019.
Against this backdrop, the occupational health sector—focused on the physical and mental well-being of workplace employees—is attracting record PE funding.
According to PitchBook data, this year saw a record number of PE deals in the sector in Europe, with €1.8 billion (around $2.1 billion) invested across 32 pacts, up from 18 in 2024.
Investors are tapping into a sector that's not only aimed at keeping people healthy and working longer, but also arguably trying to fill a gap as public health services become strained. |
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| Private capital’s turning point: Predictions for 2026 |
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Affinity’s latest survey of nearly 300 private capital professionals shows a sharp shift in fundraising sentiment: Investors seeing “less opportunity” to raise a fund dropped from 34% to just 15%. But optimism comes with new pressure. LPs are more selective, and more than half of respondents say proving value in the existing fund is their biggest challenge going into 2026.
The 2026 predictions report explores how firms are responding through better data, clearer value articulation, and increased operational discipline—while preparing for a competitive fundraising environment where differentiation hinges on evidence, not narratives.
Read the 2026 Predictions report |
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• SoftBank is reportedly in talks to buy DigitalBridge, a publicly traded digital infrastructure investor with exposure to data centers. Read more
• Netflix has inked the largest bridge loan on record, at $59 billion, to back its planned $72 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studio businesses. Find out more
• Lone Star has sold SPX Flow to ITT in a $4.8 billion deal, following a quarter marked by subdued total PE exit value. Read more
• Just four of the 1,086 VC deals recorded for AI startups in Q3—funding rounds for xAI, Anthropic, Nscale and Mistral—accounted for nearly half of the quarter's total deal value, according to our recent Emerging Tech Research. |
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| Asia's private markets in rebuilding mode |
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By Ansel Tan, Director of APAC Private Capital Research
Private markets in the Asia-Pacific region will enter 2026 on firmer footing, though the recovery is far from complete.
Easing monetary policy has lowered financing costs and stabilized valuations in public and private markets, shifts that slightly boosted investor confidence.
Still, PE and VC dealmakers remain cautious as they wait to get their money back on earlier commitments. While realizations have picked up in select markets like India and Japan, exit activity across the wider region has yet to regain full momentum, according to our 2026 APAC Private Capital Outlook.
Overall dealmaking held steady year-over-year while net cash flows remained thin, showing only modest improvements in distributions and leaving LPs with limited room to commit fresh capital. |
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The coming year is shaping up to be one of gradual normalization rather than a strong rebound, driven by several themes:
• Local capital formation, especially in China, will play a larger role as global LPs continue to pull back from the country and domestic investors step up allocations.
• Alternative liquidity mechanisms, such as secondary transactions and especially continuation funds, will gain popularity as traditional IPO markets remain selective.
• Policy alignment and institutional reform—from Japan's governance initiatives to Singapore's fund-of-funds expansion and Australia's listing reforms—will deepen regional market infrastructure and improve long-term resilience.
Taken together, these shifts place APAC's private markets in a measured rebuilding mode. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• US lawmakers want to stop Nvidia from selling chips in China. A bill introduced by senators would deny export licenses for advanced chips to China for 30 months. [Financial Times]
• Sequoia's hedge fund is trying out a new leadership model. Ditching the structure of a single manager, the fund now has four leaders. [The Wall Street Journal]
• Perplexity is being sued by The New York Times and Chicago Tribune. The newspapers claim the AI developer is distributing exclusively published content unlawfully. [Bloomberg] |
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