Private Markets Sector
Private markets activity showed divergent momentum, with strategic consolidation in fund administration and biotech IPO strength offset by regulatory setbacks and distressed asset sales. Berkshire Hathaway's aggressive capital deployment and Banco Santander's major banking acquisition demonstrated confidence among established players, while emerging fintech ventures faced headwinds from regulators and market pressures.
Warburg Pincus-backed professional services firm Acclime has agreed to conditionally acquire Polar 993, a Melbourne-based fund administration and trustee services business. No transaction value was disclosed. The deal integrates Polar 993's technology platform into Acclime's regional network, broadening its fund service operations across Australia, New Zealand, and global markets. Acclime adds institutional trustee, responsible entity, fund accounting, custody, registry, and compliance services targeting asset managers in private equity, venture capital, private credit, and real estate. Led by Adam Lindell, Polar 993 joins a growing roster of recent Acclime acquisitions in the region, including Bourke Group in Melbourne, Boutique Capital and Capital Architects in Sydney, and Rockburgh Fund Services in New Zealand. Dentons advised Acclime on the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals.
cnbc.com reports that Greg Abel deployed a significant portion of Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile in his second quarter as CEO, bringing reserves down 8% to $365.5 billion from a record $397.4 billion in March. Berkshire spent $4.5 billion on share buybacks—up from just $235 million in the first quarter—and bought a net $20 billion more equities than it sold, ending 14 consecutive quarters of net stock sales. The equity buying includes a $10 billion investment in Alphabet announced in June. Second-quarter operating earnings grew 16% to $12.98 billion, driven by a 27% gain at Berkshire Hathaway Energy and a 24% jump in manufacturing, service, and retail profits to $4.5 billion. Insurance underwriting slipped 13%, pulled down by a 45% drop in underwriting profit at GEICO. Berkshire also sold 183,000 shares of dialysis provider DaVita for $36.5 million under a contractual anti-dilution cap, pricing the sale at a volume-weighted average of $200 per share. Barron's estimates Abel continued buying back shares after quarter-end, deploying an additional $3.4 billion in July.
Federally regulated exchange Kalshi has escalated its trade surveillance by referring suspected insider trading cases directly to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to fortune.com. Kalshi operates a platform where users trade binary event contracts tied to political and economic outcomes, requiring daily trade reporting and strict user identity verification. The exchange flagged trades made by former Congressman George Santos linked to the State of the Union address, forwarding evidence to federal regulators while pursuing internal enforcement to recover penalties for affected traders. Authorities have separately investigated former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez for allegedly using advance access to presidential speech transcripts to trade on specific word choices.