Good day. Environmental, social and governance investing is shaping up to be one of the major growth sectors for asset managers in the coming years, and private-equity firms are rushing to get in on the action. Today we start with a trio of stories on the ESG theme. Ted Bunker reports that Ares Management Corp. has pledged 5% of the profits from the $3.7 billion Ares Pathfinder Fund to the firm’s foundation, in an effort to make the financial-services sector more diverse. Next, Laura Kreutzer reports on Circulate Capital’s efforts to fund businesses that cut down on plastic waste, while Preeti Singh breaks the news that ABN Amro Bank NV is setting up a €425 million impact fund to invest in companies promoting environmental sustainability. Finally, Maria Armental reports that Pear Therapeutics, a medical-technology company, has agreed to go public through a $1.6 billion merger with a blank-check company backed by the Pritzker Vlock Family Office.

Now on to today's news...

Large corporations like Coca Cola Company and Unilever PLC are putting their financial weight behind private investment firms that back companies which aim to promote a circular economy, a model that seeks to eliminate waste that organizations produce, continuously reuse products and materials and regenerate natural systems. As Laura Kreutzer reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity, Singapore-based Circulate Capital and New York-based Closed Loop Partners are among a growing number of firms that have raised capital for funds focused on the circular economy.

Global asset management firm Ares Management Corp. plans to tap its gains from a $3.7 billion private-credit fund to help finance efforts to make the alternative markets industry more diverse, Ted Bunker writes for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Ares said it would use 5% of its net profits from investments made by its Ares Pathfinder Fund LP to build up the Ares Charitable Foundation with the Los Angeles firm donating a matching amount. Chief Executive Michael Arougheti said the foundation’s total capital is expected to reach a significant amount as the fund’s investments mature and as the program expands to other Ares funds.

Dutch bank ABN Amro Bank NV is setting up a €425 million fund, equivalent to $506 million, to back growth-equity and venture investments in companies across northwestern Europe that promote environmental sustainability and social impact, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Preeti Singh writes. The new ABN Amro Sustainable Impact Fund will target investments in companies engaged in energy transition; social impact, including accessibility; and the circular economy, which it describes as a business model focused on recycling and reusing products and reducing the use of virgin raw materials.

Petros, Brazil’s second largest pension fund, is selling off its private-equity investments so it can begin committing new capital to the asset class, Luis Garcia reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The pension plan recently sold stakes in seven private-equity funds to Spectra Investments, a private-market investment firm in São Paulo, for 86 Million reais (equivalent to about $17.1 million). The 116 billion real pension plan supports roughly 142,000 workers and retirees of Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-owned energy company, also known as Petrobras.

Pear Therapeutics Inc. has become the latest privately held company to announce plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company. This SPAC has ties to the Pritzker Vlock family office, as Maria Armental reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The proposed merger would give the combined company a pro-forma equity value of $1.6 billion.

Carlyle Group Inc. is backing Agilox, joining Raiffeisen Invest Private Equity as an investor in the robotics company, alongside its founders. Neukirchen bei Lambach, Austria-based Agilox develops autonomous, self-driving robots using artificial intelligence technology, with its products used in the logistics and industrial materials sectors. Carlyle is investing in the business through its lower middle market-focused Carlyle Europe Technology Partners IV fund.

KKR & Co. plans to acquire a controlling stake in Vini Cosmetics, a makeup and personal care products supplier in India, for $625 million, the latest in a series of investments in India made by the firm, P.R. Venkat reports for Dow Jones Newswires. KKR is investing in the company from its Asian Fund IV and is buying interests held by company founders and Sequoia Capital.

Warburg Pincus has led a $255 million investment in drug-discovery software maker Insilico Medicine, according to an emailed news release. The firm was joined by many existing and new investors in the Hong Kong-based company, whose products use artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop theoretical molecules targeted at specific diseases.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice had its offer of 230 pence per share to take private one of the largest grocery store chains in the U.K., Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, rejected by company directors as inadequate, according to a regulatory filing Monday. But the company’s shares surged almost 35% to close at 240.20 pence each on Monday despite the rejection. The potential offer valued the company at about £5.54 billion (or roughly $7.72 billion), Mark Latham reports for sister publication Private Equity News in London.

A Clearlake Capital Group portfolio company is offering $62.10 a share in cash to acquire specialty filtration materials maker Lydall Inc. in a deal that values the company at about $1.3 billion, Colin Kellaher reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The offer from Unifrax I LLC represents a roughly 86% premium to Manchester, Conn.-based Lydall’s closing share price on Friday. Clearlake first backed Tonawanda, N.Y.-based Unifrax, a maker of specialty materials for industrial uses, in 2018.

DCP Capital Partners is helping to take private Chinese human-resources services provider 51job Inc. in a $5.7 billion deal, Matt Grossman reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The firm is part of a group that also includes Ocean Link Partners and Recruit Holdings Co. ﹘ 51job’s largest shareholder ﹘ as well as the company’s chief executive, Rick Yan. The group is offering $79.05 a share, or a 29% premium to the closing price on May 3, the last trading day before the Shanghai-based company said it had received a go-private offer. The shares closed Friday at $74.65 each.

LLR Partners is investing $70 million in Vehicle Tracking Solutions LLC to finance growth of its telematics and safety-management systems for transportation fleet operations. The Commack, N.Y.-based company plans to use the investment to expand its IntelliShift unit, according to an emailed news release.

Lone Star has raised its offer to take private Senior PLC to 200 pence per share, valuing the U.K. engineering business at about £838.8 million (or about $1.16 billion), Adria Calatayud reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The company’s directors rejected a previous bid of 185 pence a share.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset management unit has acquired forest management and investment company Campbell Global LLC from BrightSphere Investment Group. Portland, Ore.-based Campbell invests in timberlands around the world and has about $5.3 billion in assets under management and oversees roughly 1.7 million acres globally.

Insight Partners led a $200 million investment in a new online and retail store business, Saks Off 5th, being set up by the Hudson’s Bay Co., a retail holding business in a deal that values the new operation at about $1 billion. The new operation includes 105 locations in the U.S. and Canada that remain wholly owned by HBC, as the holding company is known.

One Equity Partners has acquired electric power generating equipment provider Brush Group in the U.K. The company offers generators, transformers and switching systems to utility companies as well as maritime and industrial businesses.

Godspeed Capital Management has purchased architectural engineering company Austin Brockenbrough & Associates LLC. The Richmond, Va.-based company works with government clients to provide site surveys, infrastructure planning and structural engineering, according to an emailed news release.

H.I.G. Capital is backing technology provider Enseo LLC. The Dallas-based company provides technology such as computer connectivity, entertainment and energy management systems used in hotel rooms, senior living centers, schools and hospitals.

Falfurrias Capital Partners has invested in financial education company Training the Street Inc. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company helps banks and other financial institutions and trading firms train financial professionals in accounting, financial modeling and other skills.

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

A blank-check company backed by Atalaya Capital Management has lowered the amount it aims to raise from an initial public offering of shares to $200 million from $250 million set in May, without stating a reason for the reduction. The special purpose acquisition company, Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp., is led by a former Nuveen Investments Inc. chairman and chief executive, John Amboian, and a former CEO of investment bank FBR & Co., Richard Hendrix.

A blank-check company led by an Atlantic-Pacific Capital partner has agreed to acquire Colombian healthcare and pharmaceutical company Procaps Group. The deal with Union Acquisition Corp., led by Kyle Bransfield, includes about $136.9 million in cash raised by the special purpose acquisition company in an initial public offering and a $100 million private placement, and gives the business an enterprise value of about $1.1 billion.

LegalZoom Inc., whose backers include Francisco Partners and GPI Capital, plans an initial public offering of shares priced at $24 to $27 a share, Matt Grossman reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The software company provides legal services systems to businesses and would have a market capitalization of as much as $4.63 billion following the IPO if it reaches the top of the price range. Francisco has a roughly 15% interest in the Glendale, Calif. company and GPI has a stake of about 4.9%, a regulatory filing shows. Neither plan to sell shares in the offering.

Accel-KKR has sold geological modeling software company Seequent to Bentley Systems Inc. for about $1.1 billion, including $900 million in cash and about 3.1 million Bentley shares, worth about $200 million. The private-equity firm initially backed the New Zealand company in September 2018.

Blend Labs Inc., a financial technology company whose backers include Coatue Management and General Atlantic, has registered for an initial public offering of shares without specifying how many shares it plans to sell or at what price.  The San Francisco company provides software used by lenders and mortgage companies and said its 291 clients include Wells Fargo & Co. and U.S. Bank. Coatue holds a roughly 5.8% stake in the company and General Atlantic owns about 5.4%.

SoftBank Group Corp. has sold Boston Dynamics Inc. to Hyundai Motor Group in a transaction that values the industrial robot maker at about $1.1 billion. SoftBank said it retained a 20% interest in the Waltham, Mass. company, which it initially backed in 2017.

Great Hill Partners- and Temasek Holdings-backed Intapp Inc. plans an initial public offering of 10.5 million shares at $25 to $28 each, Colin Kellaher reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The Palo Alto, Calif. provider of cloud-based software for the professional and financial-services industry aims to raise about $250.6 million in the IPO. Temasek owns about 42% of the company’s equity and Great Hill hold nearly 37%, and neither plans to sell shares in the offering, a regulatory filing shows.

Keymed Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company backed by Chinese private equity firms Hillhouse Capital and Boyu Capital, plans an initial public offering of shares to be listed in Hong Kong, Ben Otto reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Keymed specializes in autoimmune and oncology therapies, with five drug candidates currently in clinical stages.

GI Partners has closed its sixth private-equity fund with $3.9 billion in commitments, according to a news release. The firm had aimed to raise $3.25 billion for its GI Partners Fund VI. The total raised is nearly 29% more than the San Francisco firm raised for its predecessor vehicle in 2017. GI Partners focuses on backing companies in the healthcare, information technology infrastructure, services and software sectors.

KKR & Co. has hired Ajay Kavan as a senior advisor in Europe, based in London. Mr. Kavan, who is focused on the consumer internet sector, was most recently chief executive of Matches Fashion and was also an executive with Amazon.com Inc.

Palladium Equity Partners has hired Meahgan O'Grady as a director of business development, a new position, reporting to Leon Brujis, a firm partner. She joins from from KPS Capital Partners where she was a vice president and head of business development.

A burnout crisis in investment banking is giving an unexpected boost to private equity in the City of London ﹘ a flood of junior dealmakers vying to jump to the buyside, Paul Clarke reports for sister publication Financial News in London. That has led to a recruitment spree. Private equity firms in the City have seen a surge in interest, with applications up by 20% for associate level positions in the first three months of the year, said Gail McManus, founder of Private Equity Recruitment. These roles already attracted more than 300 candidates for each available position, she said.

Insight Partners has set up a $15 million fund to back early-stage investment firms with diverse leadership. The capital for the Vision Capital 2020 Limited Partner Fund was raised entirely from Insight’s senior partners who formed it to address a diversity gap in the venture capital industry, according to a news release. About 93% of VC assets are managed by white men, with just 3% overseen by women and less than 1% by more diverse leaders, Insight said.

Send us your tips, suggestions and feedback. Write to:

Ted Bunker; Laura Cooper; Chris Cumming; Luis Garcia; Laura Kreutzer; Preeti Singh; Chitra Vemuri.

Follow us on Twitter:@wsjpe, @LCooperReports, @LHVGarcia, @LauraKreutzer