Happy Monday! As companies increase their use of artificial intelligence, their AI costs also rise. Accel has taken notice, leading a $60 million growth investment in PointFive, a software startup that helps businesses control AI-related expenses, our Maria Armental reports.

Next, Hunter Point Capital has amassed $4.3 billion to provide net asset value loans and other financing to private-equity general partners, my other colleague Isaac Taylor writes.

We have those stories and a lot more news below. Please, read on…

Early-stage investor Accel led a $60 million growth investment in PointFive, betting that the startup can help companies control the rising and often wasteful spending tied to the artificial intelligence boom, WSJ Pro's Maria Armental reports. The deal valued the two-year-old software company at $500 million. Other participants included Perpetual Investors, the investment office of Germany’s Wilsdorf family of Rolex fame. Existing backers Index Ventures and Salesforce’s venture-capital arm also joined the transaction.

Hunter Point Capital has raised $4.3 billion across multiple investment vehicles for its general partner financing solutions strategy, Isaac Taylor reports for WSJ Pro. The strategy focuses primarily on net asset value loans and preferred equity investments to asset managers. Hunter Point has already backed 13 deals so far out of the pool.

WSJ Sports: The Next Sports Economy will bring together investors, team owners, executives and advisers at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York July 15-16 for conversations on the forces transforming the business of sports. Join leaders from across finance, media, ownership and operations as they sit down with WSJ reporters to explore the future of investment, governance and value creation across the global sports landscape

Apollo Global Management has dropped its pursuit of London-listed Bodycote, after proposing an offer of 885 pence in cash for each share on May 22, making the prospective bid worth £1.52 billion, or $2.04 billion, Nina Kienle reports for The Wall Street Journal. The New York firm didn't give a reason for calling off its approach. Bodycote shares fell 13% Friday, closing at 715.50 pence, after the move was disclosed.

Buyout firm TPG’s real-estate strategy has led a roughly $2 billion acquisition of Echo Realty alongside investors that include Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board, or PSP Investments, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, or La Caisse, as well as Norges Bank Investment Management. Echo Realty owns and operates approximately 230 retail centers across the U.S. Southeast and Midwest.

Coatue Management in New York and Hillhouse Investment in Singapore led a $4.5 billion growth investment in digital infrastructure startup DayOne Data Centers, joined by Achi Capital Partners and the Indonesia Investment Authority. The fresh capital is expected to fuel the Singapore-based company's expansion into markets including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Finland and Spain.

Smash Capital led a $200 million growth investment in defense technology company Allen Control Systems, joined by existing backers including Inspired Capital. The deal values the Austin, Texas-based maker of robotic combat systems at $2.2 billion.

Eight Sports Capital is acquiring a nearly 25% interest in the holding company that controls English soccer team Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from trusts tied to Daniel Levy and Larkin Ltd., according to a statement posted on X.com. Levy stepped down from the position of executive chairman of the club in September. Eight Sports is owned by American entertainment and technology company Triller, according to a report from Britain's Press Association.

Blackstone is providing a $244 million loan to outdoor storage investor Alterra IOS, a unit of Philadelphia-based Alterra Property Group, investing through its Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies. The credit is secured by 37 industrial storage sites in 27 markets.

Singapore sovereign fund manager GIC led a $500 million growth investment in software business Supabase, joined by existing backers including Accel and Coatue Management. The deal valued the developer of tools used by artificial-intelligence applications at about $10.5 billion.

Mill Point Capital has agreed to acquire Total Safety Supplies & Solutions, a division of Total Safety U.S. that distributes industrial maintenance, repair and operations, or MRO, products including safety and personal protective equipment.

AllianceBernstein's AB CarVal unit has provided a $150 million senior-secured finance facility to Pathway Power, a San Diego-based company that develops utility-scale hybrid solar and energy storage systems.

Paris-based PAI Partners is acquiring a majority stake in Arlettie, which combines physical showrooms and online sales to help luxury brands manage inventory through private sales, staff sales and inventory-clearance events. PAI is backing the deal through PAI Mid-Market Fund II and expects to close the transaction in July.

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

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan could reap an $11 billion windfall from its 2019 growth investment in Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, when the company goes public, the Globe and Mail in Toronto reports. The public retirement system joined a $314 million investment round in June 2019, through its direct-investing Teachers' Venture Growth arm, kicking in about $220 million, the newspaper said, citing two unnamed sources. At the time, SpaceX had a valuation of around $34 billion, the paper said. A pension spokeswoman said it subsequently added to its stake. The expected IPO values SpaceX at $1.75 trillion.

Oaktree Capital Management-backed data-center services provider ITG has registered for an initial public offering of shares, without saying how many it expects to sell or at what price. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company lists Oaktree as holding more than 5% of its shares but doesn't specify its holdings beyond that. Brookfield Asset Management-controlled Oaktree acquired ITG Communications, which then focused on broadband services providers, alongside company managers in 2021, according to the Los Angeles firm's website.

German buyout firm Mutares said it has received an irrevocable offer to sell Walor Precision Turning to lower midmarket peer Reed Capital. Walor produces high-precision turned metal components for automotive safety systems and operates sites in France, Romania and Mexico. Munich-based Mutares initially backed the unit’s parent, Walor Group, in 2023.

Nordics-focused Norvestor has closed on €2 billion, or roughly $2.32 billion, for its 10th flagship fund, surpassing the firm's €1.8 billion target in about three months of fundraising. Asante Capital Group provided fund placement services to the Oslo firm. The new fund’s final tally came in above the size of its predecessor, which closed at its €1.5 billion upper limit in 2023.

Midmarket-focused H.I.G. Capital has amassed at least $1.23 billion so far for H.I.G. Small-Cap & Growth Buyout Fund IV, according to a regulatory filing. Investors that have disclosed commitments to the fund include public pensions Orange County Employees Retirement System and Texas County & District Retirement System, as well as StepStone Group. H.I.G. previously raised $970 million in 2018 for a predecessor fund, H.I.G. Growth Buyout Equity Fund III.

Community bank investor Castle Creek Capital has collected nearly $127 million so far for Castle Creek Capital Partners IX, a regulatory filing shows. The San Diego firm listed 84 investors in the vehicle, with the first commitment received about a year ago. The firm has invested from the fund in Nasdaq-listed banking company FirstSun Capital Bancorp in Denver and in University Bancorp in Ann Arbor, Mich., according to regulatory filings and a Crain's Detroit Business report.

Eurazeo in Paris has wrapped up its seventh private-credit flagship vehicle with €3.9 billion, or about $4.53 billion. The firm had a €3 billion target for the direct-lending fund, Eurazeo Private Debt VII, and brings total commitments for the firm's seventh private-credit strategy to about €5.5 billion.

Motive Partners has added Ulrich Körner as an industry partner at the firm to focus on financial technology and tech-enabled business services. Körner most recently served as group chief executive officer at Credit Suisse, where he led the bank through a restructuring period that led to its ultimate combination with fellow bank UBS.

The era of anything goes in private-credit underwriting is coming to an end, AnnaMaria Andriotis writes for the Journal. Private-credit firms are tightening their lending standards, increasing interest rates and other fees they charge on new loans, restraining how much debt they give borrowers and closing loopholes that allow financing to be taken out against borrowers’ assets. Jittery individual investors have pulled billions of dollars out of private-credit funds in recent quarters. Executives in the industry say that is an overreaction, and have sought to calm investors by sharing more information. But Blackstone's $79 billion BCRED fund on Thursday said investors asked to withdraw about 10% of the assets.

Private-equity deal activity is expected to remain relatively flat for the remainder of this year although high quality, performing assets continue to command strong investor interest, according to consulting firm Bain & Co’s midyear private-equity report. The continued lackluster pace of recovery in deal and exit activity has kept the pace of buyout distributions in recent years well below the average of 25% of portfolio net asset value seen from 2010 to 2021, implying an average seven-year hold cycle for investments, the report showed.

Credit-focused Monroe Capital is sticking to a 5% cap on quarterly redemptions from its $2.78 billion Monroe Capital Income Plus business-development company. The Chicago firm told investors Friday that it will pro rate withdrawals to give back about $139 million in exchange for about 14.2 million shares priced at $9.77 each after receiving requests to tender nearly 24.3 million shares, worth about $247 million.

Franklin Templeton’s Western Asset Management agreed to pay $100 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the trading practices of Stephen "Ken" Leech, the company’s former co-chief investment officer. The SEC alleged that from 2021 to 2023, Leech ran a “cherry-picking” scheme in which he favored certain clients’ portfolios with hundreds of million dollars in gains and saddled other portfolios with losses, and that Western Asset failed to prevent this conduct. Western Asset, which manages approximately $179 billion in the U.S., didn't admit to or deny the charges under the settlement, and in a regulatory filing called the settlement a business decision that would allow it to focus on its clients and end probes by the SEC and the Justice Department.

Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are backing Sydney-based data-center developer AirTrunk's plans to invest 3 trillion Indian rupees, equivalent to about $31.35 billion, in digital infrastructure in India. The plan follows AirTrunk's acquisition of Lumina CloudInfra in April to enter the region. Blackstone and CPP Investments agreed to acquire AirTrunk in September 2024 at an enterprise value of over 24 billion Australian dollars, or $17.12 billion.

Private credit's rapid expansion is losing momentum, with U.S.-focused direct lending dropping sharply in recent months while fundraising by sponsors remains below its recent peak, Reuters reports, citing industry data. Loans to private equity-backed borrowers fell nearly 37% to $28.5 billion in the three months ended May 2026 compared with the first quarter, while direct lending volume tied to leveraged buyouts declined about 34% to $15.15 billion, Reuters said, citing PitchBook's Leveraged Commentary and Data unit.

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

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