| Good morning, Nina Lindholm here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. This morning, we take a deep dive into EQT’s offer for industrial components distributor OEM, as director Simon Tillmo tells us about the M&A plans for the Swedish business. It’s a sector in which EQT has experience – something it wants to bring to OEM. Next, we delve into the state of European private equity via a report by consulting firm Arthur D Little and Invest Europe. We hear from Jonas Fagerlund, partner at ADL, who walks us through his private equity outlook for segments such as AI and defense. Not veering too far off the topic of AI, we finish with a data center deal. DTCP has invested in a sustainable data center that supports the digital infrastructure of hyperscale, AI and cloud customers. M&A expansion EQT wants to use M&A to expand OEM International’s product verticals and geographic footprint in the fragmented industrial components distribution segment, Simon Tillmo, director, told PE Hub. EQT made a SKr15.3 billion ($1.4 billion; €1.3 billion) offer for Stockholm-listed OEM International, a distributor of industrial components in the Nordics with over 60,000 products from 400 suppliers, in November. You can find the full story here. It covers why EQT finds the distribution business model “fantastic” as well as further details on the offer. Premium Wire subscribers can also learn more here. Not at any cost A majority of GPs and LPs expect transaction volumes to increase over the next year, according to the new ‘State of the European Private Equity Industry’ report by Arthur D Little and Invest Europe. PE Hub’s Irien Joseph caught up with Jonas Fagerlund, partner at ADL, to get his view on some of the topics that emerged in the survey. For Fagerlund's outlook, take a look at the full Wire coverage here. Exploring opportunities DTCP has invested in GreenScale, a sustainable data center that supports the digital infrastructure of hyperscale, AI and cloud customers. Check out the premium Wire for more on the deal. That’s all from me this morning. Obey Martin Manyiti will bring you the US Wire later today and Craig McGlashan will be on Europe duty tomorrow. Nina Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 