Welcome back. Today our Chris Cumming writes about recruiting firm Odyssey Search Partners’ latest survey that suggests more private-equity professionals are considering taking jobs outside the industry as a nearly four-year deal slump drags on. 

Also, Luis Garcia reports on private-equity-backed Alyeschem’s plans to build Alaska’s first methanol production plant. The roughly $150 million project is being built in the North Slope region, which holds the largest oilfield in North America.

We have these and more. Read on…

Private-equity employees are getting more dissatisfied with the industry almost four years into a slump, Chris Cumming reports for WSJ Pro. A new survey from Odyssey Search Partners shows 17% of private-equity professionals are likely or very likely to consider taking a job outside the industry, more than double the percentage of two years ago. The results reflect the challenges firms face retaining workers almost four years into a downturn, with compensation mostly flat in 2025.

Private-equity-backed chemical company Alyeschem plans to build Alaska’s first methanol production plant, a small project that state authorities expect will benefit both regional oil producers and the environment while taking advantage of abundant water and natural-gas supplies at the Arctic site, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia writes Backed by private-equity firms BP Energy Partners in Dallas and Anchorage-based McKinley Alaska Private Investment, Alyeschem is developing the roughly $150 million project on Alaska’s North Slope, home to Prudhoe Bay, the largest oil field in North America, to serve energy companies there.

WSJ Pro is extending the deadline for nominations to our next annual Women to Watch list by one week to Nov. 26. The list, now in its tenth year, highlights the accomplishments of outstanding women in the private-equity and private-credit fields. We're accepting nominations for the next class of senior deal professionals, rising star deal professionals, as well as limited-partner or fundraising professionals through Nov. 26. Submit your nominations here.

A takeover tussle for Australian travel services provider Webjet intensified after private-equity firm BGH Capital raised its offer to 357.2 million Australian dollars, equivalent to $230.1 million, David Winning reports for Dow Jones Newswires. BGH's new offer of A$0.91 a share is about 14% higher than its earlier bid which was rejected by Webjet directors. The move comes just days after Sydney-listed Helloworld offered A$0.90 per share in cash to take the company private. Helloworld held a stake of about 17% in Webjet prior to making the bid.

Multi-strategy asset manager TPG is investing the equivalent of about $1 billion in Tata Consultancy Services to support the expansion of the company’s artificial intelligence data-center business, HyperVault. TPG is investing in the transaction through strategies that include its TPG Rise Climate unit and its investment partnership with Altérra, a climate-focused investment firm backed by Abu Dhabi-based investor Lunate.

OrbiMed and Frazier Life Sciences co-led a $115 million growth investment in clinical-stage biotechnology company Aspen Neuroscience alongside other co-lead investors Revelation Partners and ARCH Venture Partners. Several existing investors participated along with new investors as well. The San Diego company is developing personalized regenerative therapies to treat Parkinson's disease.

Blackstone is increasing its investment in legal software developer Norm Ai with a $50 million commitment as the New York company, legally named Nomos AI, expands into the legal services market with agentic artificial intelligence technology. Blackstone is also working with the company as it develops Norm Law services. Investors backing the business also include Bain Capital and Coatue management.

Buyout firm TPG is backing education and training services provider Healthcademia with a minority investment through the firm's Rise impact strategy. The cash infusion is expected to aid the company's expansion to new geographies and through acquisitions. Backed by G Square Healthcare Private Equity in London since 2021, Healthcademia currently operates mainly in Spain, France, Italy, the U.K. and Latin America and counts about 50,000 students in its programs. G Square remains an investor in the business.

Blue Owl Capital has acquired 20 Asda supermarkets in the U.K. as well as a distribution depot in Lutterworth, England, and leased them back to the discount chain backed by TDR Capital. The British company said store sales including to Blue Owl and to DTZ Investors raised £568 million, or about ​​$741.8 million, and all the properties have been leased back.

Growth equity investor Springcoast Partners in New York led a $70 million commitment to experiential leisure company Peek Travel, joined by existing backers such as WestCap Management and the alternatives arm of Goldman Sachs. Peek uses artificial intelligence technology to help merchants and venue operators set prices as well as to detect fraud.

Caffeinated Capital led a $38 million growth investment in cyber warfare systems developer Twenty, joined by General Catalyst and In-Q-Tel. The Arlington, Va., company works with U.S. defense and intelligence agencies in building and deploying agentic systems designed to deter and defeat the nation's adversaries.

Jordanelle Capital, a Salt Lake City-based firm founded by former Peterson Partners senior dealmaker Matthew Day, has backed a $35 million investment in BioFiltro, a wastewater treatment company for customers in sectors that include food processing, sanitation and municipal services.

Agellus Capital acquired commercial landscaper HighGrove Partners, whose clients include the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Agellus intends to use the business as the foundation for a landscaping services platform across the Southeast.

Trive Capital in Dallas is backing business services provider Illumis Global, which focuses on contract compliance as well as recovery audits. The company is based in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

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

Semrush, a marketing technology company whose backers have included late-stage growth investor Greycroft and Siguler Guff & Co., has agreed to be acquired by strategic buyer Adobe in a $1.9 billion deal. Adobe is paying $12 a share, Lauren Thomas reports for The Journal. Siguler Guff held a nearly 13% stake in Semrush, and Greycroft had about 7.1% of the company's shares at the end of March, a securities filing showed.

Investment firm Hg Capital in London is selling medical imaging software developer Intelerad to strategic buyer GE HealthCare Technologies in a deal valued at about $2.3 billion. The exit also includes minority backers TA Associates in Boston and Ardan Equity. Hg has backed the business since early 2020.

Buyout firm Mutares in Munich has sold its remaining 23% stake in Austrian custom engine builder Steyr Motors through a private placement of about 1.2 million shares. Mutares acquired the business in a corporate carve-out from defense contractor Thales in 2022 and took it public in Frankfurt last year. 

Healthcare sector investor Archimed has sold orthopedic implants maker Citieffe to strategic buyer Poly Medicure in India for the equivalent of €31 million, or roughly $35.8 million, representing the firm's final exit deal involving assets held by its debut fund, according to an emailed news release and Poly Medicure. Archimed collected €150 million for the vehicle, which closed in 2014, and returned 7.2 times invested capital to its limited partners, according to a firm spokesman. That represents an annual return of 59% over 11 years, according to the firm. Archimed bought Italian manufacturer Citieffe in 2014.

European buyout firm EQT AB has sold a collection of 33 warehouses and other logistics assets in the U.S. through two separate deals with undisclosed buyers. The Stockholm-based firm had invested in the major-market properties through its EQT Real Estate Logistics Value Fund V.

Actis has exchanged its 51% equity stake in national power utility Eneo with the Cameroon government for the equivalent of $139 million, Reuters reports, citing the African nation's finance minister. The deal gives Cameroon control of 95% of the company's equity, Reuters reported. 

Sterling Investment Partners has closed its latest private-equity fund, Sterling Investment Partners V, at its $1.6 billion upper limit. The fund’s final tally exceeded the $934 million that the firm raised for a predecessor vehicle in 2023. One investor that disclosed a commitment to the new fund is the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, which pledged $200 million, according to the WSJ Pro Private Equity LP Commitments database.

Blackstone Group has raised at least $3.6 billion so far for Blackstone Life Sciences VI and related parallel vehicles, according to regulatory filings. Investors that have disclosed commitments to fund thus far include Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana and Teachers Retirement System of Texas, according to WSJ Pro’s LP Commitments database. Blackstone’s previous life sciences fund closed with $4.6 billion in 2020.

A new private-equity firm that set up shop in London has closed on £375 million, or about $491 million, for its debut fund, Goldenpeak Fund I. The new firm, Goldenpeak Private Equity Partners, aims to invest in business services providers in the U.K. and Ireland, according to a LinkedIn post by co-founder Mark William. He and Leon Gillespie raised the new fund in just over 12 weeks, Sebastian McCarthy reports for sister publication Private Equity News in London.

Mosaic Capital Partners has closed its second Small Business Investment Company fund to make control acquisitions of operations generating $5 million to $15 million in adjusted pre-tax earnings. The Charlotte, N.C.-based firm said it has amassed $205 million for the strategy through the new fund and anticipated leverage.

Marc Lipschultz, co-chief executive of Blue Owl Capital, recently spoke with Bill Alpert at sister publication Barron's about the outlook for the company and the private-credit industry. The New York firm has been a leader in backing development of data centers to run artificial intelligence technology, an area that has drawn recent scrutiny over spending levels. He also addressed concerns over the health of the private-credit industry in the wake of bankruptcies, including subprime auto lender Tricolor and automotive parts supplier First Brands. Lipschultz also talked about the abandoned plan to merge two BDCs, which mainly lend to sponsor-backed businesses, as well as the health of the private-equity industry.

Private-equity professionals tired of waiting for payouts and carry at major firms are leaving for jobs at smaller shops, Miriam Gottfried writes for the Journal. A key form of compensation is driving the moves, with midlevel employees at big prestigious firms leaving potential paydays worth millions of dollars on the table. They are worried about when and if their carried interest will materialize.

Returns on private-equity buyouts in the U.S. are expected to trail well behind the Nasdaq Composite Total Return index for this year's third quarter, according to HarbourVest Partners in Boston. The firm forecasts the return on its US Buyout Benchmark will be 3.5% for the period, compared with 11.4% for the Nasdaq index. US Buyout returns also trail the Nasdaq index over the previous 12-month, five-year and 10-year periods. The firm's benchmark indexes are developed based on data going back 45 years and reflect analysis of more than 64,000 deals.

Infrastructure investor Overwatch Capital in Phoenix and energy and industrial company Idemitsu Kosan in Japan have formed a partnership to develop natural gas supply systems to support data center development in 10 U.S. states, including Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. As part of the deal, Idemitsu is investing in Overwatch, which was formed in 2022. Investment bank Marathon Capital advised Overwatch on the transaction.

Law firms Ashurst and Perkins Coie have ruled out an investment from a private-equity firm after their transatlantic merger, Adam Mawardi reports for sister publication Financial News in London. Paul Jenkins, global chief executive of London-based Ashurst, and Bill Malley, managing partner of Seattle-based Perkins Coie, said neither firm plans to pursue a private equity deal. 

Lower midmarket investor HCI Equity Partners has closed a special-purpose vehicle focused on rolling up residential foundation repair and basement waterproofing businesses. The firm didn't specify any regional focus for the strategy.

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Maria Armental; Ted Bunker; Chris Cumming; Luis Garcia; Laura Kreutzer; Isaac Taylor; Chitra Vemuri.

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