Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom.
We kick off the morning with a debrief on some of what I heard at the IPEM conference in Paris last week.
The conference came amid a backdrop of rising bond yields. We also take a look at DC Advisory’s European Debt Market Monitor: Q2 2026 & Outlook, published this morning, to see what the data says about the lending market.
Switching to new deals, KPS Capital Partners has agreed to sell Metra to Grupa Kęty. We’ve got the valuation on that one.
To finish, Ambienta has made its first international add-on for Spaggiari, a developer of software and services products for schools.
Chased assets
I was in Paris last week for the IPEM conference, meeting with a host of GPs. Those I spoke to were on the whole pretty optimistic about the outlook for dealmaking in the rest of the year – even if they admit that there is no real sign yet of a break in the valuation mismatch that has slowed the exit environment.
Another factor to watch: while attractive targets are lining up for sale in the final months of the year, service providers told me that there are large numbers of private equity firms circling these prized assets. So while deals will likely come, a lot of these GPs are likely to be left disappointed.
Of course, all this came against a backdrop of rising rates in the debt markets. When I asked whether that will likely put a dampener on deals, the response was generally that it will have less of an impact than the spike in interest rates a few years ago – while rates are high, they are more stable now than at that period. We’ll see whether that view holds in the coming weeks.
The European broadly syndicated loan market had looked healthy earlier in the year, according to DC Advisory’s European Debt Market Monitor: Q2 2026 & Outlook, released this morning and of which PE Hub had an early look. But there are some warning signs.
The market “rebounded strongly” in the second quarter, with total new loan issuance including re-financings hitting €32.5 billion, up 36 percent quarter-on-quarter and the busiest quarter since the first of 2025. The momentum came later in the quarter – after a “subdued” April, June recorded volume of €16.9 billion, the busiest month since June 2025.
However, DC Advisory said that the reopening was underpinned by a de-escalation in the Middle East following a ceasefire between US and Iran. Of course, tensions have risen since then – as have debt rates.
Metal exit
That’s the outlook – what about deals happening now?
KPS Capital Partners has agreed to sell Metra to Grupa Kęty, a Warsaw-listed Polish industrial group operating in aluminum extrusion, architectural and sun protection systems, and flexible packaging, for €645 million.
Metra is a manufacturer of extruded aluminum profiles and related services, including painting, oxidation, machining, welding and assembly. The company’s profiles are used primarily in rail, industrial and building and construction end markets across Europe and North America. Metra, headquartered in Rodengo Saiano, Italy, operates nine manufacturing facilities and employs about 1,400 people.
KPS acquired Metra in July 2021. During its ownership, the company completed five add-ons, invested in new press and value-added services capabilities, expanded manufacturing capacity, and grew into new geographies and end markets including energy distribution.
Computer learning
Advances in technology are touching every sector, including education. As Karim Tabet, senior managing director and head of Europe at Providence Equity Partners, recently told PE Hub:
“If you think about the complexity of the world and the importance of knowledge and retraining, which is accelerated by AI, and you compare the inflexibility of governments that have provided most of the educational systems for years, it’s very obvious that there’s a huge space for the private market that can evolve very quickly to retrain professionals in the context of AI. And to teach kids differently in the context of the internationalization of the workforce, but also the different needs that you have versus 25 years ago.”
Now, Ambienta has made its first international add-on for Spaggiari, a developer of software and services products for schools that it acquired in 2023.
The company has completed the acquisition of E-Schooling Dream Shaper, an education software group with operations in Iberia and Latin America. The founders and management team of ESDS will reinvest.
Founded in 2007, ESDS supports educational institutions in the digital management of academic and administrative processes, including data management, analytics, student and parent engagement, and project-based learning. It serves more than 3,000 schools and 1.5 million students.
“Having established a leading position in Italy, the group is now well positioned to expand its presence into international markets,” said Giancarlo Beraudo, partner at Ambienta, in a statement.
This is the fourth add-on overall for Parma, Italy-based Spaggiari since Ambienta’s investment. The first was La Fabbrica, an Italian company that connects schools with companies sponsoring educational projects, in 2024.
That’s it from me today. Obey Martin Manayiti is in the US chair later today and I’ll write to you again from Europe tomorrow.
Cheers,
Craig