Welcome back. I’ll admit it: I didn’t mind flying Spirit Airlines. While some turned their noses up at the “bus with wings,” a $50 weekend getaway was a budget problem that solved itself. When a cross-country flight cost less than a cross-town Uber, you stopped asking where the pretzels are. But as the yellow fleet heads to capitalism's graveyard, the rest of the private markets are busy finding value elsewhere.

Managers of KKR sought to play down private markets turmoil after a strong earnings report, WSJ Pro's Chris Cumming reports. Private credit—a sector hammered recently by concerns about bad loans—provided an unexpected bright spot, as the firm raised more than $15 billion for the asset class during the quarter.

In London, however, a big bank may have been stung through a private-markets deal. HSBC set aside $400 million for a “fraud-related” deal with a U.K. financial sponsor, the Journal reports.

Now onto the news ...

Managers of KKR sought to play down recent private-markets turmoil after beating analysts’ earnings forecasts and posting a profit on strong revenue growth and capital inflows, WSJ Pro's Chris Cumming reports.The multistrategy asset manager on Tuesday reported revenue from its insurance division more than doubled. The pace of fundraising held up while the firm’s revenue from fees and deal profits grew. "Perception of the volatility of our business and industry is disconnected from the lived experience,” said Scott Nuttall, co-chief executive, on an earnings call.

British bank HSBC set aside $400 million relating to an alleged fraud in private markets in the U.K., marring its quarterly results, the Journal reports. London-listed HSBC's shares fell about 5.9% after it gave few details beyond saying the provision reflected a “fraud-related, secondary, securitization exposure with a financial sponsor in the U.K.” But people familiar with the charge connected it with Market Financial Solutions, a property lender that collapsed this year. MFS gave short-term loans for quick purchases, attracting funding from private-credit funds and banks.

Sports investment firm UNA Sports Group is buying the New York summer and winter X Games teams from MoonPay X Games League.

Swedish buyout group EQT AB submitted an improved takeover proposal for Intertek, valuing the test and inspection services provider at £8.93 billion, or roughly $12.08 billion, with a £58 per share offer, Nina Kienle reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The new proposal is EQT's third, after previously putting forward share prices of £51.50 and £54 in cash, which were both rejected by Intertek as undervaluing the company. Intertek is reviewing the latest offer. The company's shares rose almost 6% in London Tuesday to close at £50.90.

A Bridge Growth Partners single-asset continuation fund has closed with $790 million in commitments backing agentic artificial intelligence and real-time data provider Solace. Investors in the fund were led by Apogem Capital, Golub Capital, HSBC Asset Management and Schroders Capital, while New York-based Bridge reinvested through its third flagship fund to retain a more than 15% equity stake. The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan is rolling over its interest in the Ottawa-based company as well.

Long Path Partners in Stamford, Conn., has acquired software company Idox for 71.5 pence a share, valuing the business at about £339.5 million, or $459.4 million, in a deal announced in October. Regulators, local authorities and industrial users rely on Idox programs for planning, building control, environmental health, licensing, running elections and engineering information management.

Accel in Palo Alto, Calif., led a $60 million growth investment in ecommerce operating system software developer ZyG Edge, joined by Felix Capital, among others. The Tel Aviv company uses agentic artificial intelligence technology in its applications to identify scalable products and develop brands online.

Media investor James Murdoch's Lupa Systems investment company is in talks to acquire New York magazine and the podcast division of Vox Media, Jessica Toonkel reports for the Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. Murdoch, the youngest son of News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch, started Lupa in 2019 and has invested in such properties as film-festival producer Tribeca Enterprises. News Corp owns the Journal.

Columna Capital in London is acquiring a majority interest in pharma services provider Evidenze Group from Buenavista Equity Partners, according to an emailed news release.

Private markets firm PAI Partners is joining Fondo Italiano d’Investimento as a backer of Italian aerospace manufacturer Mecaer Aviation Group through a newer Fondo Italiano fund. The investors, which also include LGT Capital Partners and company managers, are backing the company as Fondo Italiano reinvests through Fondo Italiano Consolidamento e Crescita II. Mecaer has been held in the firm's predecessor fund, Fondo Italiano Consolidamento e Crescita. The company has seven plants in Italy and North America and generated revenue of about €242 million, or around $282 million, last year.

Platinum Equity has acquired infrared heating systems maker Infratech from a group that included Chief Executive John Mazzotta, who retains a stake and remains CEO. The Gardena, Calif.-based company makes heating systems and controls used in outdoor settings.

Bregal Sagemount is making a growth investment in Vastian alongside existing backer Silversmith Capital Partners, which is investing again in the provider of quality management software for hospitals and laboratories. Vastian serves more than 9,200 facilities and sites around the world.

Lower midmarket firm Boyne Capital has set up a new commercial building maintenance business with the acquisition of H&B Facility Services, a Lake Hiawatha, N.J.-based company that will serve as the operation's inaugural deal.

LLR Partners is making a strategic investment in FastSpring, a digital commerce payment technology provider for artificial intelligence, gaming, software and digital products companies. LLR is joining existing backer Accel-KKR, which initially took a majority stake in FastSpring in 2018.

O2 Investment Partners has backed Atlas Asphalt alongside the company’s second-generation owners Tyler and Jordan Cianciulli, who took over the business from their father in 2018. Atlas provides maintenance paving services for commercial and residential customers.

The software growth investment arm of Bregal Investments, Bregal Milestone, is backing building energy management applications provider Meteoviva, acquiring a majority interest in the German company. Meteoviva's applications employ artificial intelligence to create predictive models to manage energy use.

Our add-on deal interactive tool allows you to sort and analyze volumes of add-on deal data compiled by WSJ Pro. View more.

Technology services investor Siris is selling cryptocurrency transfer and shareholder services provider Equiniti to strategic buyer Bullish in a deal valued at $4.25 billion, the Journal reports. The transaction helps the Cayman Islands-based company establish a global transfer system for tokenized assets. Siris acquired the West Palm Beach, Fla.-based business in 2021.

European buyout firm CVC Capital Partners is selling armored car operator Hermes Transportes Blindados in Peru to strategic buyer Loomis at an enterprise value of 4 billion Swedish kronor, or roughly $430.6 million. CVC first backed the company about six years ago, when it acquired a majority interest in the Lima-listed cash management business from Carlyle Group.

Sentinel Capital Partners has agreed to sell Autronica Fire and Security, a unit of its Spectrum Safety Solutions business, to publicly traded MSA Safety in a transaction valued at around $555 million. Sentinel initially acquired Norway-based Autronica in a carveout transaction from Carrier Global's industrial fire business. Autronica produces fire detection, gas detection and alarm systems for infrastructure, energy and maritime applications.

Salt Creek Capital has sold IT Assist, a TeamLogic franchisee, to franchisor TeamLogic, according to an emailed statement. Salt Creek initially acquired the Newtown, Pa.-based provider of managed information technology, cloud computing and cybersecurity services in 2020.

Apollo Global Management has wrapped up its Apollo Hybrid Value Fund III with about $6.5 billion to invest primarily in structured equity deals and to provide capital to support growth initiatives, acquisitions and shareholder liquidity. The total exceeded the $4.6 billion that Apollo raised for a predecessor vehicle in 2022. Investors include the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, according to the WSJ Pro Private Equity LP Commitments database, while the New York State Common Retirement Fund has also disclosed an investment in the vehicle.

Ares Management’s secondary strategy led investors in a continuation fund formed by Baird Capital to recapitalize Blue Matter Consulting, a life sciences-focused business that Baird initially backed in 2020. Baird is also making a new investment in the company out of Baird Capital Global Fund III, which closed last month with $450 million. Blue Matter's management team retained a majority stake.

Chicago-based Twin Bridge Capital Partners has raised more than $855 million for Pacific Street Fund VI, above the fund of fund’s $800 million target. The Pacific Street strategy focuses on commitments to midmarket buyout funds targeting more than $750 million each as well as direct co-investments alongside such fund sponsors. The new fund targets fund commitments of $25 million to $30 million each and co-investments of $10 million to $20 million each.

Midmarket investor Weatherford Capital has hired Jessi Marshall as a partner and chief operating officer of the Tampa, Fla.-based firm. Marshall previously spent more than a decade at Vista Equity Partners, where she had held both partner and managing director roles.

Cerberus Capital Management in New York has appointed Rahul Sangwan as head of India. He has been with the firm's credit operations for at least 15 years and has overseen the firm's India operations, working from Mumbai since 2019.

Aqualis Partners, a secondary firm founded by Cari Lodge, has named Dan Santopietro as chief financial officer, and Dylan Arpey as director of investor relations at the firm, which Lodge formed last year. Santopietro previously served as head of finance at CVC Secondary Partners (previously Glendower Capital), while Arpey was a director of investor relations for the growth buyout team of SV Health Investors.

Jeito Capital, a private investment firm focused on the biopharmaceutical industry, has added Elaine Caughey as a partner of business development and Sarah Shackelton as a partner of talent. Caughey was previously deputy chief operating officer of Blackstone Life Sciences in Cambridge, Mass. Shackleton was the chief talent officer of Oxford Science Enterprises.

Buyout firm KKR & Co. has acquired sports-focused Arctos Partners after receiving approvals needed from various professional leagues. The Dallas firm manages about $16 billion. New York-based KKR set up a new unit, KKR Solutions, led by Arctos co-founder Ian Charles, to house the group, including its Keystone business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed giving public companies the option to report earnings semiannually instead of quarterly, Kelly Cloonan writes for the Journal. The proposal is subject to a 60-day public comment period and then would be put to a vote by the commission.

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