March 6, 2026
STG Closes $1.3B Allegro II Software Buyout Fund
STG closed its second enterprise software buyout vehicle, STG Allegro II, with more than $1.3B in commitments across the main fund and related vehicles, surpassing its $950M target and reaching its hard cap in under four months. The lower middle market strategy drew commitments from several US public pensions including Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System, Boston Retirement System, Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System and the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho.
In other fund news, Investcorp closed its second GP stakes vehicle, Strategic Capital Partners II, with $1.1B in fund commitments and $155M in committed co-investment capital. Elsewhere, HighBrook Investors completed fundraising for its first US data center fund with $266M in commitments and a seeded portfolio of Virginia development sites, and IP Capital Partners launched IPCP Southeast Industrial Fund II targeting $250M, with a $300M hard cap and a $37M initial close.
In Europe, EQT, Eurazeo, Northzone, Atomico, and Vitruvian Partners have been shortlisted to manage the EU’s planned €5B Scaleup Europe Fund, which aims to support large financing rounds for strategic technology companies.
Allocator activity included new commitments from France’s Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites, which allocated €110M across three venture and growth funds targeting French and European technology companies. The commitments included €60M to Jolt Capital V, €30M to Serena IV, and €20M to Daphni Blue. Meanwhile, the San Luis Obispo County Pension Trust approved an additional $60M commitment to the infrastructure tranche of the HarbourVest SLO Fund as part of its pacing strategy, and Sweden’s Fund Selection Agency launched a search to replace mandates overseeing roughly $4.4B across active and passive North American equity strategies.
In people news, Lehigh University promoted Michael Gould to CIO after serving in the role on an interim basis since August.
Read on for all the day’s fundraising news headlines.
Have you ever stared at a blank report builder wondering “how do I even start this query?” — meet Dakota Joe.
Dakota Joe is your AI report builder inside Dakota Marketplace (he’s hiding behind the Joe button on your home page). Just click, type what you need in plain English, and let Joe do the heavy lifting. No filters. No guesswork. Just answers.
Ask things like:
“Show me US pensions with over $5B that invest in private equity.”
“Create a list of RIAs that allocate to real estate.”
“Run a report of family offices in Boston with their CIOs.”
Interested in learning more?
INVESTMENTS & SEARCHES
LP Sentiment Improves, Mega-Funds Return, and $312B in Deals Kick Off 2026
Private markets opened 2026 with improving LP sentiment, accelerating fundraising at the top end, and a meaningful pickup in transaction activity. CD&R is targeting $26B+ for Fund XIII, Francisco Partners is seeking $18B across flagship strategies, and Andreessen Horowitz raised $15B across venture platforms. Institutional allocations leaned toward credit and real assets, while Dakota tracked approximately 1,900 announced deals totaling $312B, including Calpine ($27B), Worldpay ($24B), and Penumbra ($14.5B), signaling liquidity is beginning to move again.
Download the full January 2026 Private Markets Review to see how capital is forming and where LPs and sponsors are positioning early in the year.