26North Closes $5.9B Debut PE Fund; LACERS Opens $1.35B Infra Search
26North Partners announced a $5.9B final close for its debut private equity fund, well above its $4B target. The raise gives Josh Harris’s three-year-old platform another significant pool of discretionary capital as it builds out its middle- and upper-middle-market buyout, carve-out, and structured equity franchise, with seven equity investments already announced or completed.
Other fundraising updates included Leeds Equity Partners closing Fund VIII and parallel vehicles at roughly $1.9B, ahead of target and above its prior fund, while Adams Street Partners raised $7.5B for its third private credit platform including leverage. GoldenTree reached the $3B hard cap for the first series of its Tactical Opportunities Fund, and Arcmont Asset Management completed a $2.5B credit continuation vehicle led by Ares Credit Secondaries, offering liquidity and rollover options to existing investors in Direct Lending Fund III.
In the allocator space, activity included several sizable mandates and commitments. LACERS launched searches for two global listed infrastructure allocations totaling up to $1.35B across active and passive strategies, while NEST awarded Crescent Capital a £450M mandate focused on US middle-market senior secured loans. France’s FRR committed €200M to European securitization strategies through mandates with Amundi, BNP Paribas, and Eurizon.
Myth: Fundraising Is About Relationships Reality: It Starts With Targeting
Relationships matter in fundraising.
But before a relationship begins, someone has to know who to call.
For many investment sales teams, that’s where the friction starts. Lists are outdated, contacts have moved firms, and information about allocator preferences lives across multiple systems.
Dakota Marketplace brings that intelligence together.
The platform provides verified contact data for institutional investors, consultants, RIAs, and family offices — along with context around strategies, allocations, and industry movement.
The result is simple: outreach becomes more targeted, conversations become more relevant, and teams spend less time researching and more time fundraising.
Because the best relationships usually start with the right introduction.
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The Next Sports Investments Aren’t Always Obvious
Some of the most interesting opportunities in sports weren’t designed as investments.
They started as games people played for fun.
Pickleball. Flag football. Padel.
Today, those same sports are attracting institutional capital, with leagues forming, investors building platforms, and participation translating into revenue models.
Dakota’s latest Sports Investing report takes a closer look at this shift — how recreational sports are becoming investable, and what it means for investors looking beyond traditional franchises.
Because in this market, the edge often comes from seeing what others overlook.
People News
The Conditions for a Strong 2026 Are Falling Into Place
Private markets are entering the year with momentum.
Deal activity is stabilizing, fundraising remains resilient, and capital is concentrating in sectors with long-term tailwinds — from healthcare and diagnostics to infrastructure and energy transition.
At the same time, large-scale transactions and take-privates are returning, signaling renewed conviction from both sponsors and strategic buyers.
Dakota’s latest monthly Private Markets Review outlines the key trends shaping the market — and what they suggest for the quarters ahead.
For market participants, the signal is getting clearer.