Partners Group's Deal-Making Machine Rolls On, But the Share Price Tells a Different Story
Published on 08/12/2026 at 03:24 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The Swiss private-markets giant is sprinting while its stock limps. On Thursday, Partners Group confirmed two fresh acquisitions that underscore an investment pipeline firing on all cylinders — even as the company's shares remain more than a third below their 52-week peak and sentiment is still recovering from a bruising spring.
In the consumer space, the firm has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire French natural cosmetics retailer Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo, with an enterprise value estimated at roughly EUR 2 billion. The seller is expected to retain a significant minority stake in the business. Alongside that, Partners Group has struck a deal to take a majority position in AVK Power Solutions, one of Europe's larger suppliers of power infrastructure for data centers. That transaction involves an equity investment exceeding USD 1 billion, supplemented by debt financing, and targets a market enjoying structural tailwinds from the buildout of AI-driven computing capacity.
The twin deals fit a pattern: deploying capital into established consumer brands with growth runway on one side, and infrastructure tied to the data-center boom on the other. Both are areas that private-equity and infrastructure investors have circled as strategic priorities.
Fundraising Momentum Masks a Fee Squeeze
The acquisition activity caps a half-year in which Partners Group blew past its own fundraising targets. Capital commitments for the first half of 2026 reached USD 16 billion, up from USD 12.2 billion in the year-earlier period and comfortably ahead of the USD 14 billion analysts had penciled in. Assets under management climbed to USD 186 billion by June 30, versus USD 174 billion a year earlier and USD 185 billion at the end of 2025. The company has reaffirmed its full-year guidance of USD 26 billion to USD 32 billion in new commitments.
Investments and realizations each came in at USD 9 billion during the first half.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Partners Group?
The less flattering chapter concerns performance fees. These accounted for under 20 percent of total revenue in the first six months — short of the company's own medium-term target range of 25 to 40 percent. Management attributes the shortfall to weaker portfolio performance in more mature Evergreen strategies. Redemptions in that segment reached USD 3.8 billion against fresh commitments of USD 4.2 billion, and three older Evergreen funds saw withdrawals equivalent to 9 percent of their respective fund volumes — a sign that investors are increasingly pulling capital from less liquid, aging structures.
Management also cautioned that the Evergreen platform could shave 1 to 2 percentage points off net AuM growth in the second half, with a similar drag anticipated in 2027.
The ?abka Exit: A Billion-Dollar Payday
The deals arrive on the heels of a major realization. Late July saw Partners Group, alongside other large shareholders, agree to sell its stake in Polish convenience-store chain ?abka to Alimentation Couche-Tard. The transaction values the business at roughly USD 8.6 billion, with Partners Group and fellow investors having committed to tender about 57 percent of shares. It ranks among the larger exits the firm has executed this year.
A Share Price Still Digging Out
The market's response to all this activity has been muted at best. The stock closed Tuesday at EUR 784.40, down 0.18 percent on the day, though it has gained 4.20 percent over the past month. Year-to-date, however, the shares remain 26.07 percent in the red, and they sit roughly 36 percent below the September 2025 high of EUR 1,240.00. At last check, the shares were trading at EUR 783.60, about 4.92 percent above their 50-day moving average — evidence of tentative stabilization, but little more.
The equity has been wrestling with a credibility gap since spring. In April, short-seller Grizzly Research published a critical report alleging that investments in the firm's Evergreen funds were significantly overvalued — claims Partners Group rejected outright. Then in early July, UBS downgraded the stock from "Buy" to "Neutral," slashing its price target from CHF 1,175 to CHF 705, citing negative earnings momentum and expectations of further gating measures in mature Evergreen funds. Barclays followed by trimming its target from CHF 1,200 to CHF 940.
Both analyst calls now date back several weeks, meaning they predate the latest acquisition announcements and may not fully reflect the current picture.
Investors will get a fuller read on September 1, when Partners Group publishes its detailed half-year report. The key questions: whether Evergreen redemptions continue to accelerate, and how the new cosmetics and power-infrastructure bets reshape the earnings mix. For now, the firm's deal engine is clearly running hot — the share price just hasn't caught up.
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