The Zug-based private equity house is running a revolving door of portfolio transactions this summer — selling down mature holdings while ploughing fresh capital into data-centre infrastructure and consumer brands. Yet the flurry of dealmaking has done little to arrest a slide in the share price that has now reached double digits in percentage terms since the start of the year.
In its latest move, Partners Group has taken a 10 percent stake in atNorth, a Nordic data-centre operator, for $260 million. The investment comes after the firm had already sold down the majority of its position in the company, with CPP Investments acquiring 51 percent for $1.3 billion and Equinix taking 34 percent for $895 million. Rather than walking away entirely, the investor has opted to retain a foothold in a business that remains one of the most sought-after corners of the private equity market, given the relentless demand for computing infrastructure to support artificial intelligence and cloud services.
The atNorth transaction is emblematic of a broader strategy taking shape across Partners Group’s portfolio. Capital is being recycled — realised from mature investments and redeployed into new growth areas, rather than returned in full to limited partners. That pattern is also visible in the firm’s agreed exit from Zabka, the Polish convenience-store chain. Late last month, Partners Group signed up to tender its shares alongside other major holders — together controlling 57 percent of the retailer — in connection with a takeover offer from Alimentation Couche-Tard valued at $8.6 billion.
On the acquisition side, the firm has signed a deal to take a majority stake in AVK Power Solutions, a provider of power-supply systems for data centres, with an equity investment planned at more than $1 billion, supplemented by debt financing. The move underscores how heavily Partners Group is now tilting toward the energy-and-infrastructure complex that supports the AI buildout.
Running in parallel are exclusive negotiations to acquire Aroma-Zone, a French beauty-and-wellness brand currently owned by Eurazeo, which is expected to retain a significant minority interest once the deal completes. The Financial Times has put a roughly €2 billion enterprise value on the target. Talks were first reported in early August and remain ongoing.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Partners Group?
The transaction pipeline arrives against a fundraising backdrop that, by most measures, has been remarkably strong. Partners Group collected $16 billion in the first half of 2026 — a 31 percent increase year on year and the best opening six months in the firm’s three-decade history. Assets under management ticked up to $186 billion from $185 billion at the end of 2025, a 7 percent improvement on the year, even as industry-wide fundraising has contracted by around 15 percent since 2023.
That operational vigour, however, stands in sharp contrast to the earnings picture. First-half revenues fell 7 percent to CHF 1.12 billion, dragged down by a 39 percent collapse in performance fees. Management had already flagged the problem in its interim report, trimming its guidance for the share of performance fees in total income this year to a range of 20 to 25 percent, down from the previous 25 to 40 percent. The culprit, the firm said, is delayed exits and weaker performance across mature evergreen strategies. The guidance for new capital commitments of $26 billion to $32 billion for the full year was nonetheless reaffirmed.
Shareholders have so far greeted the dealmaking with a shrug. The stock closed Friday at €722.20, down 1.2 percent on the day, and has shed 9.4 percent over the past seven sessions. Since the start of the year the decline stands at roughly 32 percent, leaving the shares more than a third below the 52-week high of €1,187.50 touched on 16 January. The gap to the 200-day moving average of €916.07 now amounts to about 21 percent to the downside — a technical signal that the medium-term trend remains firmly negative.
The disconnect between a booming fundraising machine and deteriorating profitability defines the current predicament. New investments in data-centre infrastructure and consumer brands may broaden the earnings base over time, but for now the market is focused on the fee-income shortfall and the sluggish pace of exits. Whether the recent portfolio moves translate into a more stable earnings contribution will only become apparent in coming quarters, as the newly acquired assets begin to feed through to results.
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