Partners Group's Capital Machine Turns: Record Fundraising Meets a Two-Pronged Acquisition Spree

Partners Group accelerates investments in data-center power and cosmetics, backed by $20B+ in new fundraising, signaling bold growth amid cautious shares.

The Swiss private-markets heavyweight is deploying capital at a pace that underscores its ambition — even as its share price tells a more cautious story. Within the span of a single week, Partners Group has sealed a majority stake in a UK data-center power supplier, entered exclusive talks for a French cosmetics brand, and closed two fundraising vehicles that together pulled in more than $20 billion.

The most consequential of these moves came on Thursday, when the firm confirmed it had acquired a controlling interest in AVK Power Solutions, a British provider of backup power systems for data centers. The initial investment exceeds $1 billion, a figure confirmed by both the company and Bloomberg. The deal sits squarely within Partners Group's broader thesis that the artificial-intelligence boom will require vast new physical infrastructure — and that the companies supplying it are attractive targets for patient capital.

That same day, reports emerged that Partners Group had entered exclusive negotiations to acquire Aroma-Zone, a French natural-beauty brand currently controlled by Eurazeo. The Financial Times had reported a day earlier that the deal could value the company at around €2 billion, with Eurazeo expected to retain a significant minority stake after any transaction completes. The two acquisitions — one in mission-critical power infrastructure, the other in consumer goods — illustrate the breadth of the firm's current investment mandate.

Fresh Capital, Fresh Firepower

The deal-making comes on the back of a fundraising surge that gives Partners Group ample room to maneuver. Late last month, the firm closed its Infrastructure Secondaries program with more than $5.5 billion in final commitments. Just days earlier, on July 20, it had wrapped up fundraising for its fourth direct infrastructure vehicle with over $15 billion.

These closings explain the recent flurry of activity in both directions. The firm has been recycling capital with visible intent: selling down mature positions while plowing fresh commitments into new growth areas. Late July saw the exit from Polish retailer ?abka, sold to Couche-Tard, adding another realized return to the books. At the start of August, the firm highlighted operational progress at Foundation Risk Partners, an insurance broker in its portfolio that has used artificial intelligence to boost profitability.

The pattern is clear — raise, realize, redeploy — and it has allowed Partners Group to pursue both AVK Power Solutions and Aroma-Zone without stretching its balance sheet.

The Numbers Behind the Momentum

The operational foundation for this activity was laid in mid-July, when Partners Group reported first-half figures that beat expectations. Capital commitments reached $16.0 billion, up from $12.2 billion in the same period a year earlier and comfortably ahead of the $14.0 billion consensus among analysts. Management reaffirmed its full-year guidance of $26 billion to $32 billion in commitments.

Assets under management ticked up to $186 billion by the end of June, from $185 billion at the close of 2025. The modest increase suggests that outflows are absorbing a portion of the fresh inflows. Performance fees, meanwhile, accounted for less than 20 percent of first-half revenues — still below the medium-term target range of 25 to 40 percent.

The Evergreen Overhang

The persistent drag on the story remains the firm's evergreen funds — open-ended vehicles that allow investors to subscribe and redeem on an ongoing basis. In the first half, redemptions of $3.8 billion were only partially offset by new commitments of $4.2 billion.

Back in June, Partners Group capped redemptions from these funds at roughly $8.6 billion, a gating measure designed to prevent forced sales of underlying investments. Such restrictions are typically read as a sign that liquidity profiles in some evergreen structures have tightened more than investors would like.

That concern prompted UBS to downgrade the stock in early July, moving it from Buy to Neutral and slashing the price target from CHF 1,175 to CHF 705. The bank cited negative earnings-per-share momentum and the possibility of further redemption restrictions in more mature evergreen funds. That assessment is now more than four weeks old, reflecting a summer snapshot rather than a current view.

A Share Price That Refuses to Cooperate

For all the positive operational headlines, the market has remained skeptical. The stock was trading at €779.20 on the day of the AVK announcement, down 0.84 percent, and has lost 26.56 percent since the start of the year. A separate trading session saw the shares at €783.40, off 0.66 percent, with a year-to-date decline of 26.16 percent.

There are faint signs of stabilization — the shares sit about 4.58 percent above their 50-day moving average of €749.11 — but the broader trajectory remains firmly negative. The acquisition news has done little to shift the fundamental wariness that has weighed on the stock since spring.

Investors will get a fuller picture on September 1, when Partners Group publishes its detailed first-half results. The key questions: how much the evergreen issue has dented earnings, and whether record commitments and a busy deal pipeline will be enough to rebuild confidence in a stock that has yet to find its footing.