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Bain & Co: Software portcos should tap into payment flow value; Platinum completes $6.6bn sale of Spanish waste business to Blackstone, EQT

Reported by Pehub
Sep 23, 2026· 2 min read
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Key Takeaways
  • • Platinum completes €6.2 billion ($6.6 billion) sale of Spanish waste management business to Blackstone and EQT in a significant infrastructure asset exit.
  • • MML Capital makes growth investment in Dalcour Maclaren, a UK and Ireland-focused utilities and infrastructure consultancy, to fund regional expansion.
  • • Bain & Co identifies payment flow monetization as a strategic value driver for software portfolio companies, signaling operational optimization opportunities in the sector.
  • • Transaction represents major capital redeployment in European waste management infrastructure, with two leading alternative asset managers acquiring the asset jointly.
Summary
Platinum has completed the sale of its Spanish waste management business to Blackstone and EQT for €6.2 billion ($6.6 billion), marking a substantial exit in the European infrastructure sector. The transaction underscores ongoing appetite among leading alternative asset managers for essential infrastructure assets with contracted cash flows and inflation-hedged revenue models. The joint acquisition structure by two institutional heavyweights reflects both the asset quality and the strategic value of waste management operations in a region increasingly focused on circular economy and environmental compliance objectives.

In parallel market activity, MML Capital has committed growth capital to Dalcour Maclaren, a consultancy specializing in utilities and infrastructure sectors across the UK and Ireland. The investment is designed to accelerate the firm's geographic and service expansion in these regions. This capital deployment reflects confidence in infrastructure advisory services as businesses and governments navigate the transition to sustainable infrastructure models and grid modernization.

Separately, Bain & Co has issued guidance to software portfolio company operators recommending strategic focus on payment flow monetization as a value creation lever. The advisory points to opportunities for software businesses to capture incremental value from transaction and payment processing capabilities embedded within their platforms—a trend reflecting the broader shift toward integrated fintech capabilities within enterprise software. This positions payment infrastructure as a material but frequently underexploited margin driver for software-as-a-service businesses held within private equity portfolios.

Collectively, these developments illustrate divergent but complementary investment themes: institutional capital's sustained focus on cash-generative, long-duration infrastructure assets; operational value creation through payment ecosystem optimization in software platforms; and continued geographic diversification within utilities and infrastructure advisory services.

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Sources

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Pehub Bain & Co: Software portcos should tap into payment flow value; Platinum completes $6.6bn sale of Spanish waste business to Blackstone, EQT