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TruSight and Private Equity Info track the global middle market from both ends of the deal cycle. PEI tracks closed deals. TruSight tracks the deal pipeline. The combined data is insightful.
Healthcare's Q1 Closing Share Doubled. The Pipeline Says It Won't Last.
Healthcare's share of North American private equity platform closings hit 21.2% in Q1 2026, more than double its recent baseline of 9.1%. The pipeline behind it sits at 10.5%. That gap is the most important number in the quarter.
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547
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Confirmed global PE platform closings in Q1 2026, of which 378 closed in North America (69%). Source: Private Equity Info proprietary database.
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The conventional read of the quarter was a healthcare rotation. The combined PEI and TruSight view says something different: the late-2025 mandate backlog converted on schedule, and pipeline composition has already snapped back to baseline.
A strong quarter with a mid-quarter pullback
North America delivered 138 platform closings in January, 105 in February, and 110 in March. January was the heaviest single month in our recent tracking. The 24% pullback from January to February stabilized rather than continued, March ticked slightly above February's pace. Q2 will not match Q1 volume unless buyer process velocity improves.
The shape of the quarter is the signal: front-loaded volume followed by a stable plateau.
Tech compressed. The pipeline did not.
Technology and software accounted for 32.5% of NA closings in Q1, down from a 47% share in recent quarters. The pipeline tells a different story. Tech is running at 38.9% of forward mandates. The spread - pipeline ahead of closings by 6.4 points, is the signal that tech share will rebuild through Q2 and Q3.
Healthcare runs the opposite spread: 21.2% closed against 10.5% in pipeline. Q2 and Q3 healthcare closing volume will settle closer to the pipeline rate than to Q1's print.
Technology and software accounted for 32.5% of Q1 closed NA volume. It's still the largest single sector, but a clear step down from prior periods. Healthcare moved into second place at 21%, a mix that looks different from how Q1s have closed in recent years.
| Technology / Software |
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32.5% | ||
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Healthcare
↑ CLOSING WAVE
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21.2% | ||
| Industrials / Manufacturing |
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18.8% | ||
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Construction / Trades
↑ COHORT CLOSING
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9.8% | ||
| Consumer / Retail |
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3.7% |
The healthcare backlog has cleared
Healthcare's recent Q1 baseline was 9.1% of NA platform closings. Q1 2026 came in at 21.2% - more than 2x that baseline. Pipeline share at 10.5% suggests Q2 and Q3 will normalize. Healthcare-focused buyers should expect a more measured environment after an active quarter: sourcing competition easing and process timelines stretching.
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9.1%
RECENT Q1 BASELINE
Typical healthcare share
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21.2%
Q1 2026 CLOSED SHARE
More than 2× recent baseline
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10.5%
CURRENT PIPELINE SHARE
Suggests Q2/Q3 normalization
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AI is a transaction category, not a thesis
Eighteen NA platform transactions in Q1 involved AI-native businesses - companies whose core product is built around AI architecture, not AI-enabled features. Insight Partners was the most concentrated deployer, closing four AI-labeled platforms across identity security, benefits administration, semiconductor optics, and engineering workflow automation. New mandates are broadening the category into legal tech, supply chain, climate intelligence, and professional services.
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18
AI-NATIVE DEALS
Q1 2026 NA
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4
INSIGHT PARTNERS AI
Top concentrated deployer
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10
DATA & ANALYTICS
Tech subsector deals
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12
CYBERSECURITY
Tech subsector deals
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Most active PE buyers: capital is deploying broadly
Q1 buyer activity was widely distributed. Insight Partners led NA closings with 8 platform transactions, followed by a tight cluster of seven firms each closing four to five platforms. The dispersion is the point: capital is deploying across fund sizes and strategies rather than concentrating in a few dominant platforms.
| RANK | PE FIRM | DEALS | |||
| 1 | Insight Partners | 8 |
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| 2 | TPG | 5 |
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| 2 | ETA Equity | 5 |
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| 4 | Blackstone Group | 4 |
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| 4 | TA Associates | 4 |
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| 4 | AEA Investors | 4 |
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| 4 | Petra Capital Partners | 4 |
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| 4 | Eagle Private Capital | 4 |
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| 9 | Bain Capital Tech Opps. | 3 |
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| 9 | Trinity Hunt Partners | 3 |
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Construction and trades has converted
Construction and trades reached 9.8% of Q1 NA closings. Replenishment behind it remains healthy. The category has moved from pipeline build to active closing in a single quarter.
Texas led.
Texas closed 48 platform deals in Q1, narrowly ahead of California and well ahead of Florida, New York, and Massachusetts. Texas remains the most sectorally diversified major U.S. market: 17 technology closings matched by 13 industrial closings.
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Texas
48
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California
44
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Florida
30
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New York
24
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Mass.
14
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Mandate flow across Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin is running above what Q1 closing geography would project.
Sector horizon: Q1 closings vs. forward pipeline
| SECTOR | Q1CLOSED % | PIPELINE % | TRAJECTORY | READ-THROUGH |
| Technology / Software | 32.5% | 38.9% | ↑ Pipeline Ahead | Pipeline composition runs above current closings, which suggests a return to higher tech share in Q2/Q3. |
| Industrials / Manufacturing | 18.8% | 17.5% | → Holding | Pipeline broadly consistent with Q1 closings. Sector looks like a stable contributor through H2. |
| Healthcare | 21.2% | 10.5% | ⚠ Pulled Forward | Closed at more than double pipeline share. Late-2025 backlog has cleared in Q1. |
| Construction / Trades | 9.8% | 7.1% | ↑ Closing Wave | H2 2025 entry surge has converted. Cohort is in-window and converting; replenishment still healthy. |
| Consumer / Retail | 3.7% | 5.0% | ↑ Emerging | Low base but pipeline above Q1 closings. Re-emergence in early stages; too early to call a trend. |
What this means for the desk
Healthcare-focused buyers should expect a more measured Q2 and Q3, with sourcing competition easing toward the pipeline rate. Tech-focused mandates should expect a re-acceleration; the share compression is a Q1 timing artifact, not a structural shift. Intermediaries with construction and trades coverage are in the close window now, the cohort dictating Q2 closings is already in process.
Supply is not the constraint. Buyer conviction is.
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