Partners Group's Growth Engine Is Humming — So Why Is the Stock Still in the Doldrums?
Published on 08/12/2026 at 17:53 | Redaktion boerse-global.deThe Swiss private-markets giant is doing everything right on the operational front: closing billion-dollar deals, hauling in record client money, and squeezing more value out of its portfolio companies. Yet the share price remains stuck in a deep trough, and a fresh downgrade from Deutsche Bank has done little to lift the mood.
The bank moved its rating on Partners Group from Buy to Hold on Tuesday, trimming its price target and knocking the stock lower in intraday trading. The shares closed at €785.20 that day, and by Wednesday were changing hands at €778.20, down 0.9 percent. That leaves the equity a staggering 37.2 percent below its 52-week high of €1,240.00, struck in early September last year. Year-to-date, the stock is off 26.7 percent.
A Two-Pronged Acquisition Blitz
The downgrade lands at a moment when Partners Group is juggling multiple large transactions simultaneously — a burst of deal-making activity that underscores its ambition to deploy capital across very different corners of the market.
The headline move came on Thursday, when the firm confirmed it had taken a majority stake in AVK Power Solutions, a British provider of power supply systems for data centers. The initial equity commitment tops $1 billion, with additional debt financing attached. Power delivery has emerged as one of the critical bottlenecks in the global build-out of AI-ready data centers, making companies like AVK a magnet for institutional capital.
The same day, Reuters reported that Partners Group had entered exclusive talks with Eurazeo over the acquisition of Aroma-Zone, the French natural cosmetics and wellness brand. A minority stake would remain with Eurazeo, according to company statements. The deal is not yet closed, but the parallel negotiations — one in infrastructure, one in consumer goods — illustrate just how broadly the firm is casting its net.
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In a separate move, Partners Group exited its position in Polish convenience-store operator ?abka, selling the stake to Alimentation Couche-Tard. The divestment shows the other side of the private-equity playbook: recycling capital out of mature assets and into new opportunities.
Record Fundraising Points to Institutional Confidence
On the fundraising front, the numbers are hard to argue with. July brought word of two major closes: the Infrastructure Secondaries Program wrapped up with over $5.5 billion, while the fourth direct infrastructure vehicle pulled in more than $15 billion. Add those to the first-half figures — $16 billion in new client money, a record, pushing assets under management to $186 billion by the end of June — and the picture is one of a firm that institutional investors continue to trust with fresh capital.
Management has also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance of $26 billion to $32 billion in new inflows, a target that looks increasingly within reach given the momentum.
Beyond acquisitions and fundraising, Partners Group is leaning on operational improvements within its portfolio. Early August brought news that it had boosted the EBITDA margin at Foundation Risk Partners, an insurance brokerage holding, through a collaboration centered on artificial intelligence. It is a concrete example of the firm's push to create value through hands-on operational work rather than relying solely on buy-and-sell cycles.
The Shadow of Grizzly Reports
For all the operational vigor, the stock's slide has a specific backstory. In April, short-seller Grizzly Reports published a critical analysis alleging that up to 40 percent of the investments in Partners Group's evergreen funds were overvalued. The company rejected the claims outright.
The episode left a mark. In June, Partners Group moved to cap redemptions from one of its large private-equity funds — a vehicle with roughly $8.6 billion in assets — at 5 percent of net asset value per quarter, a response to a surge in withdrawal requests. Such gating mechanisms are technically standard practice, designed to shield funds from disorderly outflows, but the move did little to soothe investor nerves.
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The short-seller report and the subsequent redemption cap help explain why the share price has failed to reflect the firm's operational achievements. The gap between what the business is doing and what the market is pricing in remains wide.
A Stabilizing Trend — and a Key Date Ahead
There are, however, tentative signs of a floor. Over the past 30 days, the stock has gained 4.30 percent and now trades 5.13 percent above its 50-day moving average — modest but notable stabilization after months of decline.
The coming weeks could prove pivotal. Partners Group releases its half-year results on September 1, offering investors their first comprehensive look at whether the record inflows and the new acquisitions can begin to dispel the valuation concerns raised earlier this year. The outcome of the Aroma-Zone negotiations will also be watched closely, as will the integration of AVK Power Solutions into the infrastructure portfolio.
For now, the picture is decidedly mixed: a company firing on all cylinders operationally, yet still wrestling with a share price that reflects lingering skepticism. Whether the operational substance eventually wins out over the market's doubts is a question that the autumn months may begin to answer.
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