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Lincoln International's IPO on Wednesday valued the Chicago banking advisory firm at more than $2 billion, and its stock closed up nearly 13%. The successful market debut signals two things: Main Street investors' appetite for alternatives and Wall Street’s confidence that deal activity will continue to increase as private equity's investment backlog melts. Lincoln is one of the largest sell-side advisers to private-equity firms. The IPO provided Lincoln with a crucial cash cushion for acquisitions at a time of industry consolidation.

Also today, our Luis Garcia delivers a scoop with news that NGP Energy is seeking $2.5 billion to back oil-patch deals. The firm is citing average annual fund yields of 14% in recent years in its pitch to investors, a presentation showed.

Finally, the Journal's Jack Pitcher reports that Larry Fink’s big payday didn’t go over so well with BlackRock shareholders. Only about 65% of the votes cast approved 2025 compensation plans for Fink and other top BlackRock executives compared with the 90% average at S&P 500 companies.

Dive in for more… 

Specialist investor NGP Energy Capital Management is seeking $2.5 billion for a new fund to back oil-and-gas deals, as the private-equity firm looks to capitalize on the world’s increased difficulty to meet rising demand for fossil fuels, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia writes, citing an investor presentation. The Dallas-based firm began pitching its latest main fund, NGP Natural Resources XIV, this month with a goal of raising slightly more capital than the $2.3 billion it collected for a predecessor vehicle, which closed in 2024, the presentation shows. Investments from NGP’s three previous natural-resources funds generated gross proceeds totaling roughly $7.73 billion from asset sales in 2021 through last year, and with added dividends generated an average annual yield of 14%, according to the presentation.

BlackRock shareholders signaled they aren’t thrilled with the big pay raises that Chief Executive Larry Fink and his top lieutenants received for last year, Jack Pitcher reports for the Journal. About 65% of the votes cast by shareholders approved 2025 compensation for Fink and other top BlackRock executives, down slightly from a year earlier, the company said Wednesday. For other large U.S.-listed companies, pay plan support averages 90%. 

Arctos Partners, now part of KKR & Co., has been approved as a minority investor in the Cleveland Browns franchise of the National Football League. Arctos acquired a 10% stake in the NFL's Buffalo Bills in 2024, becoming one of the first private-equity firms to buy a piece of a league franchise. Last year, it became a minority owner of the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers.

Caffeinated Capital led a $300 million growth investment in Amca, joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners and existing backers such as Lux Capital.The deal valued the El Segundo, Calif.-based aerospace and defense component manufacturer legally named Advanced Manufacturing Company of America at over $1 billion.

Energy and infrastructure investor EIG Global Energy Partners is being joined by the Arab Energy Fund as a backer of liquefied natural gas company MidOcean Energy, which Washington-based EIG helped form several years ago. The fund is investing $125 million in MidOcean, which is seeking $2 billion in capital from investors and recently announced $1.2 billion in commitments.

Nuveen has agreed to buy up to $350 million of loans tied to outdoor power equipment from financial-technology company Octane Lending’s in-house lender, Roadrunner Financial. Nuveen and Octane worked together last year on a $150 million whole-loan sale.

Technology investor TCV in Menlo Park, Calif., led a $200 million growth investment in financial technology company Mercury Technologies, joined by existing backers including Coatue Management and Spark Capital, Christopher Kuo reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The deal valued the San Francisco company, which has received regulatory approval to form a bank and is developing artificial intelligence-based tools, at about $5.2 billion

Belgian investor Sofina led a $100 million growth investment in payments software company Primer API, joined by Peak XV Partners and existing backers such as Accel and Iconiq Capital. The London-based startup offers systems that merchants can use to process payments and analyze related data.

Private-equity firm Enduring Ventures in San Francisco is acquiring the Global Knowledge instructor-led training business of Skillsoft for about $18 million, including $10 million up front, Dean Seal reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Enduring Ventures managing partner Sieva Kozinsky called Global Knowledge the "gold standard in technology" workforce training.

Military technology investor ONE Bow River is backing drone aircraft developer PteroDynamics, investing from the ONE Bow River National Defense Fund, according to an emailed news release. The growth investment is expected to help the company accelerate work on its Transwing autonomous vertical takeoff and landing aircraft as well as expand production capacity. The investor is a partnership formed by Bow River Capital in Denver and ONE Funds, which is run from Colorado Springs, Colo.

Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital has set up power transmission-focused Cube Grid in India with the expectation of investing as much as $1 billion to acquire and build assets in the subcontinent. Cube Grid has already signed deals to acquire seed operations that it will develop alongside Dineshchandra Group.

Bregal Sagemount led a growth investment in Ennov, which makes software for healthcare and life-sciences companies. Ardian also invested. Bregal Sagemount and Ardian will receive seats on the Paris-based software company’s board.

Canadian pension investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is backing sustainability management company Novisto to accelerate its expansion. The company helps businesses improve their management of data related to sustainable operations and supply chains.

Investment firm NGP Energy Capital Management is backing the establishment of Actuate Energy to develop battery energy storage systems mainly in Europe. The company aims to acquire shovel-ready projects that it can build and operate.

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

Post Oak Energy Capital in Houston has sold assets of UpCurve Energy Partners I and II to Sev.en Global Investments in Prague, the family office of Czech billionaire Pavel Tykač. Post Oak has backed UpCurve since its formation in 2015.

Harrison Street Asset Management in Chicago is selling a collection of student-focused housing projects to a joint venture set up by Ares Management and Scion Group for about $910 million, Dean Seal reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Scion will manage the 12 properties involved, which have a total capacity of 7,578 beds and serve such schools as the University of Florida and Notre Dame. Ares is participating through its real estate strategy. Harrison brought together the holdings over the past decade.

Wynnchurch Capital in Rosemont, Ill., is selling metal fabricator Ironform Holdings to an unnamed strategic buyer. The Chicago-based company's operations include five plants across the U.S. Wynnchurch has backed the business since 2013, according to the firm's website.

Parabilis Medicines, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company whose backers include RA Capital Management and Cormorant Asset Management, has registered for an initial public offering of shares without saying how many it plans to sell or at what expected price. The healthcare-focused firms held almost 10% and about 5.6% of the shares in Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of cancer therapies, the filing shows. RA Capital co-led a roughly $305 million growth investment round backing the company in January. New investors in that round included Frazier Life Sciences and Soleus Capital.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has sold a collection of 33 limited partnership fund interests to Blackstone and Ardian, booking net proceeds of about 4 billion Canadian dollars, or roughly $2.91 billion. New York-based Blackstone invested through its secondaries strategy. Toronto-based CPP Investments acquired the interests over the past two decades.

Eurazeo in Paris has held a first close for Eurazeo PME V with around €1 billion, or about $1.16 billion. About 60% of the sum came from institutional investors. The sum matches the capital raised for the previous vintage in 2022. The new fund, which is targeting roughly 15 investments, has sealed its first two deals: European data-analytics and artificial-intelligence consultancy Ommax and German cybersecurity software company Nextron Systems.

Shamrock Capital in Los Angeles has closed on $813 million for Shamrock Capital Content Fund IV, surpassing a $700 million target in just over three months, according to the firm. Investors in the new vehicle included the public pension systems in California's Kern and Sacramento Counties, which both pitched in $50 million, and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which pledged $75 million, according to the WSJ Pro Private Equity LP Commitments database. The firm invests in content and media rights through the strategy, which now manages over $3.3 billion.

Blackstone bought in over $2 billion for its retail-oriented Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust fund to invest in data centers. The New York firm sold more than 13.1 million in additional shares to underwriters after the real estate investment trust's market debut last week, priced at $20 a share, adding almost $262.4 million to the vehicle.

Canadian asset manager Sagard has received $150 million from Power Corp. of Canada, Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial for a new closed-end vehicle, Sagard AI Fund, to invest in companies that advance the use of artificial intelligence technology. The fund's investments are expected to help the three contributors stay informed about practical developments in applied AI.

Private equity firm PX3 Partners aims to raise €850 million, or around $986.6 million, for its second fund, Sebastian McCarthy reports for sister publication Private Equity News in London, citing people familiar with the matter. Founded by a trio of dealmakers from Rhône Group, the firm closed on €500 million for its inaugural fund less than a year ago. 

Lincoln International Chief Executive Robert Brown says the banking advisory firm "saw a material increase in our signed engagement letters" in the first quarter, WSJ Pro's Maria Armental reports for Dow Jones Newswires. "If our clients are signing us up in 1Q, they're telling their investors, 'We expect to get this done by year end'," Brown said, adding that expectations are emboldened by the number of deals that are moving toward closing. "Obviously with the conflict in the Middle East, there was a little bit of a pause," Brown said, "but as we sit here now in mid-May," Lincoln is seeing growth in both business segments. Lincoln, which went public Wednesday, is one of the largest sell-side advisers to private equity firms. The shares priced at $20 and closed at $22.51 for a nearly 13% gain.

Healthcare and life-sciences growth firm Petrichor appointed Don Hardison an operating partner. His past roles include president and chief executive of Exact Sciences.

A formal review began Wednesday of a deal to sell rights to operate Chicago's parking meters to Stonepeak Partners, according to multiple local news outlets. The transaction requires the approval of the Chicago City Council. The sellers are a group led by Morgan Stanley that includes the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The January sale agreement under review involves a 75-year lease which brought the city over $1 billion when it was signed about 17 years ago. But the Chicago Tribune opined that the deal has been a disaster for Chicagoans as parking prices have more than doubled to $7 an hour over that time span while the investors have pocketed billions.

StepStone Group posted a 12% gain in fee-related earnings to $105.3 million for its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter while assets under management rose 23% to $233.3 billion at the end of March. The New York firm narrowed its net loss for the period to about $7.8 million, or 10 cents a share, from $18.5 million, or 24 cents, in the year-earlier period. Overall revenue rose 56% to almost $588.6 million. 

Data and regulatory concerns are the key obstacles to broad adoption of artificial intelligence across asset managers, according to a Mercer survey. Only 5% of respondents said they granted AI autonomous or semi-autonomous decision-making authority for investment recommendations or trades, said Mercer, a consulting unit of publicly traded Marsh & McLennan Cos. Most firms reported increased operational efficiency and faster or better insights as the biggest measurable AI gains. Mercer surveyed 131 asset managers in February.

Specialist investors Global Healthcare Opportunities in London and Asia-focused CBC Group in Singapore are combining to set up a dedicated healthcare investment manager with assets of over $21 billion. The arrangement doesn't change either parent firm's management or asset ownership, according to a statement from the firms.

Prediction markets company Polymarket, whose business methods have raised concerns, is setting up a way to wager on verifiable private company events, such as reaching valuation milestones, the timing of initial public offerings and secondary market activity, Katherine Hamilton reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Polymarket has enlisted Nasdaq Private Market to serve as the resolution data provider.

Sustainable economy investor Impax Asset Management Group reported a nearly 12% decline in assets to £22.3 billion, or roughly $29.87 billion, in the fiscal first half that ended in March, Justin Cash reports for sister publication Financial News in London. Operating earnings plunged 45% to £11.3 million for the period as revenue fell 23%, the London-listed firm reported.

Carlyle Group, Brookfield Asset Management and AllianceBernstein Holdings have joined forces to set up an investment option for defined contribution retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s. The option, called ABC [ONE], is designed to be used as part of a default alternative investment and to work like a target-date fund, adjusting its mix of private credit, real assets and equity assets based on the investor's age.

Vermont could become the third state in the past year to toughen rules against private equity and other corporate investors’ activities in the medical sector. The Vermont House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that would prohibit corporations from interfering in clinical decisionmaking at medical facilities they back and require owners of healthcare companies to make reports to the state. Having also passed the Senate this month, the bill can now be sent to Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican. Oregon and California last year passed similar measures.

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