| Good morning, It’s Nina Lindholm with the Europe edition of the Wire from the London newsroom. The data center market is booming and that’s offering up opportunities for private equity to invest in service providers to the industry. WestBridge-backed Alpine Fire has acquired a fire detection and suppression services provider to the data center market. A rise in defense spending due to events such as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has increased private equity’s interest in aerospace and defense assets. This morning, we cover Centerbridge Partners’ acquisition of a precision components supplier in the aerospace, defense, space and semiconductor end markets. We’ll finish with some people news, as Inflexion has promoted Flor Kassai to managing partner. Cooling down With the increase in cloud services and generative AI, the demand for data centers grows. Those data centers need fire protection, and PE has noted an opportunity. WestBridge portfolio company Alpine Fire Engineers has acquired Das Fire, a supplier of fire detection and suppression products. For more on the deal, take a look at the premium Wire here. In defense Triton Partners’ Johannes Meier told PE Hub in March that the firm had identified that Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 “led to an increase of investments in security.” That has only accelerated since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with some countries joining the push to up defense spending. Centerbridge Partners is the latest firm to make a move in the segment as it has agreed to acquire a supplier of precision components for applications in aerospace, defense, space, semiconductor and other high-requirement end markets. To learn more about the deal, check out the full Wire coverage here. For more on defense, take a look at my interview with Tikehau Capital’s Augustin Blanchard on the firm’s exit from Preligens. Promotion Let’s finish with some people news. Inflexion has appointed Flor Kassai as a managing partner alongside the co-founders John Hartz and Simon Turner. For more on Kassai and the additional appointments, take a look at the premium Wire coverage here. That’s all from me this morning. Obey Martin Manayiti will write to you with the US edition later today, and Craig McGlashan will be with you with the Europe edition tomorrow.
Cheers,
Nina
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