Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. Is the valuation gap that has hampered dealmaking for some time finally fully closing? This morning we speak to placement agent Reach Capital to find out whether in discussions with GPs and LPs, there is a willingness to lower deal return expectations. Next we have a new deal as AnaCap agrees to buy a fund services provider. We then finish with some data on private equity investment in defense, a topic we've covered in depth recently. We'll look to see whether an expected uptick in European spending on the sector is having an effect on the figures. Pricing GPs are getting increasingly comfortable with the prospect of selling assets at a lower MOIC than originally envisioned as LPs ramp up the pressure for returns amid a still-sticky exit market, William Barrett and Jean-Philippe Boige, managing partners at placement agent and advisory firm Reach Capital, told PE Hub. Check out the full article to also learn why Houlihan Lokey’s Matt Swain believes there’s a limit to how much return targets might fall and how GPs are changing their language around exits. Fund play AnaCap has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Fiduciaire Jean Marc Faber (FJMF), an independent fund and corporate services provider. Read the premium version of the Wire to find outAnaCap’s M&A plans for the company. Defensive play Private equity is eyeing opportunities in the European defense sector, after several European countries pledged to up their spending on the industry, as PE Hub’s Nina Lindholm wrote last week. But for the moment, while PE investment in defense is booming this year, it’s mainly been focused on North America so far. Subscribe to the premium version of the Wire to find out the key takeaways from the S&P Global Market Intelligence report. OK that’s all from me today. MK Flynn is filling in for Michael Schoeck on the US Wire later today and I’ll be back with you from Europe tomorrow. Cheers, Craig Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 