EQT reported first-half 2026 adjusted earnings that exceeded market expectations and raised its outlook for the current fundraising cycle to more than €140 billion. The Swedish investment firm generated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of €837 million during the first half of the year, compared with €806 million in the same period of 2025.
The result surpassed the €771.5 million consensus estimate compiled by Visible Alpha. Analysts at Jefferies attributed the stronger-than-expected performance partly to increased carried-interest income and favorable investment performance across EQT’s funds.
Carried interest represents the share of investment profits earned by an asset manager after a fund meets specified return thresholds. The income can vary depending on investment performance, portfolio exits, and the timing of realizations.
EQT said its key funds continued to perform in line with or ahead of their respective plans. The company also entered the second half of the year with a strong pipeline of prospective investments and continued momentum across its fundraising activities.
The firm attracted €17.8 billion of gross inflows during the first six months of 2026. Based on its current progress and expanding range of investment strategies, EQT now expects to raise more than €140 billion during its current fundraising cycle.
EQT began the year with a fundraising forecast of approximately €100 billion. The company subsequently increased that outlook to between €125 billion and €130 billion after announcing its proposed acquisition of Coller Capital.
The further increase to more than €140 billion reflects progress across the firm’s existing strategies, the anticipated addition of Coller Capital and the development of newer investment products.
EQT agreed to acquire Coller Capital in a transaction valued at up to $3.7 billion. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter of 2026, subject to applicable approvals and customary closing conditions.
Coller Capital specializes in private capital secondaries, which involve purchasing interests in existing private equity funds and portfolios from investors seeking liquidity or adjustments to their private-market allocations.
The acquisition is expected to expand EQT’s capabilities in one of the fastest-developing areas of the private capital market. Institutional investors increasingly use secondary transactions to generate liquidity, rebalance portfolios and manage their exposure to older private equity investments.
Adding Coller Capital would broaden EQT’s platform and provide the firm with another source of management fees, fundraising opportunities and investment products for institutional clients.
EQT’s revised fundraising outlook also includes newer strategies focused on areas such as artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The company’s AI Infrastructure strategy is expected to invest in the data centers, energy systems, computing capacity and related physical assets needed to support the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies.
Demand for AI infrastructure has grown as technology companies and enterprises seek greater access to specialized processors, cloud capacity and power-intensive data centers. EQT believes its experience across infrastructure, real estate and private equity positions the firm to participate in the sector’s continued development.
EQT was also selected to manage the European Union’s Scaleup Europe Fund. The strategy is intended to provide growth capital to larger European companies and help promising businesses expand without relocating or becoming dependent on funding from outside the region.
The Scaleup Europe mandate could contribute additional assets to EQT’s platform while extending its relationships with European companies, institutional investors and policymakers.
Fundraising remains a central component of EQT’s business model. The firm earns recurring management fees from the capital committed to or invested through its funds, while successful portfolio performance can generate carried interest and other performance-related revenue.
The private equity industry has faced a more selective fundraising environment as slower transaction activity and fewer portfolio exits have reduced distributions to institutional investors.
Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and other limited partners often use distributions from existing investments to finance commitments to new funds. When exit activity slows, those investors may have less available capital and become more selective about the managers and strategies they support.
EQT’s €17.8 billion of first-half gross inflows and increased fundraising expectations indicate that the company has continued attracting institutional capital despite those broader industry pressures.
Its diversified platform provides exposure to private equity, infrastructure, real estate, growth investments and other private-market strategies. The expected addition of secondaries through Coller Capital would further expand that offering.
EQT also highlighted an attractive pipeline of potential investments heading into the second half of 2026. The firm will need to balance the deployment of newly raised capital with maintaining its underwriting standards, return targets and valuation discipline.
Private equity firms have faced challenges deploying capital as buyers and sellers adjust to changing interest rates, financing costs and valuation expectations. Managers with substantial available capital may have opportunities to invest as transaction markets recover, but they also face pressure to avoid overpaying for assets.
EQT shares rose following the earnings announcement, although the company’s operating performance, fundraising outlook and strategic expansion were the more significant elements of the report.
The firm’s priorities for the remainder of the year include completing the Coller Capital acquisition, progressing its current fundraising cycle, deploying capital across its investment strategies and developing newer initiatives such as AI Infrastructure and the Scaleup Europe Fund.
