Happy Friday! There’s been plenty of optimism about a deal and exit recovery this year in the private-equity industry and fourth-quarter data seem to suggest that at least some of that optimism is warranted. However, as our own Chris Cumming writes this morning, industry participants are less enthusiastic about a similar recovery in private-equity fundraising this year.

Meanwhile, our Wall Street Journal colleague Lauren Thomas has news of a merger of two fitness technology companies backed by Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners. 

Finally, on Jan. 29, I will be teaming up with my Wall Street Journal colleague Walden Siew for another webinar, this time to discuss some of the forces that stand to shape the business outlok for 2026. More information is included below along with link to register, so be sure to sign up. All the cool kids will be there. 

One final note: We won't publish a newsletter Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday, but will return to your inbox Tuesday.

In some parts of the private-equity landscape, there are stirrings of optimism that the slump that started in 2022 may at last be running its course. Firms are starting to make more new investments, and asset sales are at their fastest pace in four years. But, as WSJ Pro’s Chris Cumming writes, there is less optimism about the industry’s fundraising prospects.

Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners private-equity firm led the merger of fitness-tech company EGYM and Playlist, owner of workout booking app ClassPass, to create an industry leader in the fitness space, Lauren Thomas reports for the Journal.  The deal includes $785 million in new equity investments and values the combined entity at $7.5 billion, including debt, according to executives. Other participants in the transaction include Playlist owner Vista Equity Partners and existing investors Temasek, Mayfair Equity Partners and L Catterton.

The Wall Street Journal helps your employees connect what’s happening in the world to your company goals. The Journal’s award-winning journalists interpret news and data to tell unbiased stories to help your employees stay informed and make confident decisions.

Join us on Jan. 29 for a discussion will bring together two senior Wall Street Journal editors—Laura Kreutzer and Walden Siew—to unpack the biggest financial developments shaping corporate decision-making, from policy shifts to emerging trends in private equity, credit and retail and what to expect in 2026

Register here

BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners is providing $240 million in financing to digital infrastructure provider DC Blox, supplying growth capital as the company expands its pipeline of hyperscale data center projects. The Atlanta-based developer focuses on the southeastern U.S.

Some of the world's largest private equity firms are mulling bids for Canaccord Genuity's UK wealth management business, sister publication Private Equity News in London reports, citing people familiar with the situation. Interested firms include Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Bain Capital and Centerbridge Partners, as well as Advent International and CVC Capital Partners. Bankers close to the process expect to reach a deal in the coming months.

Altimeter Capital, Durable Capital Partners and EQT AB joined a $350 million growth investment in artificial intelligence technology company Parloa, in a General Catalyst-led deal that values the business at $3 billion. The Berlin-based company is expanding into the U.S. with its agentic AI management system for large businesses.

Rothschild & Co's Five Arrows alternative assets arm is investing in Vista Equity Partners-backed housing software supplier StarRez. Vista, which first backed the business in 2022, remains an investor. The Greenwood Village, Colo.-based company's software is used to manage student housing in both on- and off-campus settings.

Avenir Growth led a $120 million investment for software developer Mytra, joined by new investors that included D. E. Shaw & Co. The Brisbane, Calif., company builds software-defined industrial robotics systems used in grocery supply-chain logistics.

Gaw Capital Partners in Hong Kong has acquired South Korean waste management company Korea Environmental Technology for about $500 million from E&F Private Equity and IS Dongseo, marking Gaw’s first investment in the waste management infrastructure sector.

Private equity firm GTCR in Chicago has acquired Toronto-listed Dentalcorp Holdings through a buyout offer that valued the enterprise at about 3.3 billion Canadian dollars, or roughly $2.4 billion. GTCR paid C$11 a share for the operator of dentistry practices across Canada.

Accel-KKR is acquiring a majority stake in Denver-based software maker Nutrislice, whose programs are used by non-commercial food services providers such as schools and hospitals for online menus, ordering and other functions. 

Accel and AI Capital Partners joined other investors in an $80 million growth investment backing video startup Higgsfield, valuing the nine-month old business at over $1.3 billion. San Francisco-based Higgsfield provides automated creative generation of marketing videos targeting social media, using generative artificial intelligence technology.

Industry specialist Lime Rock Partners is backing Athena Energy Partners, a Houston company that buys and develops oil and gas assets in Texas.

Platinum Equity is backing contract manufacturer Tongrun International. The Bonham, Texas, company supplies fabricated sheet-metal products to a variety of end-markets.

Los Angeles-based Butterfly Equity has completed its acquisition of flexible packaging company ePac Holdings from an investor group that includes Amcor and Indevco North America.

Raine Group led a $35 million growth investment in U.K. sportsbook and casino operator Midnite, investing through its fourth growth equity fund and joined by existing backers of the London-based business which is operated by Dribble Media.

Investcorp led a $20 million growth investment in Unifyr, a German company that uses artificial intelligence technology to provide analytics and automation services to clients.

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

Energy Capital Partners is selling a fleet of natural gas-fired generators to strategic buyer Talen Energy for $3.45 billion in cash and stock, equivalent to roughly 6.6 times the expected 2027 adjusted pre-tax earnings of the assets. The plants produce as much as 2.6 gigawatts from locations in Ohio and Indiana. Energy Capital Partners is getting about $900 million worth of Talen shares in the deal, making it a significant investor in the company.

Lone Star Funds has agreed to sell Senqcia in Japan to Noritsu Koki Co. at an enterprise value of around $519 million. Lone Star initially bought the Tokyo-based infrastructure-focused provider of building products and services in 2022 from fellow private-equity firm Carlyle Group. Lone Star initially financed the deal out of Lone Star Fund IX, which closed with more than $7 billion in 2014.

Growth equity firm ClearSky, along with McNally Capital, is selling national security contractor Altamira Technologies to strategic buyer Parsons in a deal valued at as much as $375 million. ClearSky and McNally have backed the McLean, Va.-based company since investing in 2019.

Consumer and services-focused SBJ Capital has sold Ally Pediatric Therapy to strategic buyer Aces. SBJ first invested in Phoenix-based Ally in 2022, according to the firm's website.

Littlejohn & Co. in Greenwich, Conn., is selling fire and life safety services provider Hiller Cos. to Wind Point Partners in Chicago. Littlejohn acquired the Mobile, Ala., company in September 2022.

TerraMar Capital, a Los Angeles-based firm that provides debt and equity capital to middle-market businesses at an inflection point, is seeking $200 million for TerraMar Capital Fund I, according to a regulatory filing. The firm targets companies with annual revenues of up to $750 million and enterprise values of up to $500 million, according to its website.

London-based Hg Capital announced the formation of a dedicated team focused on general partner-led secondary deals, led by partner and Head of Secondaries Dushy Sivanithy, who joined the firm last year from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, or CPP Investments. Hg has recently added Daniel Ward, another former CPP Investments alum, to the newly formed team.

Stellex Capital Management has promoted Jason Henderson to head of portfolio talent and Mariano Malvicino as director of portfolio talent to its newly-established Portfolio Talent Group. The new group’s objective is to build and scale processes to support the firm’s portfolio company leadership teams.

Digital infrastructure investor Grain Management has promoted Susannah Kennedy to managing director, one of a series of moves across the Washington-based firm. Kennedy joined Grain in 2020.

Insight Partners in New York has added Amir Malayery as a managing director to lead the firm's secondary strategy. He joins from Industry Ventures. Insight managed over $90 billion in regulatory assets at the end of June.

Pennsylvania-based firm Renovus Capital Partners announced a raft of promotions, including Pat Heath who has been elevated to principal as well as John Matthews and Adam Swack, both of whom have been promoted to vice president.

The executive who ran marketing operations for defunct private-equity firm GPB Capital Holdings, Jeffry Schneider, surrendered to federal prison authorities on Wednesday to begin serving a six-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy, a court filing shows. Convicted in 2024, he has been out on bail. Schneider has since asked the judge who presided over the case to reduce his sentence to time served—though he has served none—after co-conspirator and GPB founder David Gentile received a commutation from President Trump in November after serving less than two weeks of his seven-year sentence. The Justice Department has formally opposed a sentence reduction.

BlackRock reported $423.6 billion in alternative assets under management at the end of last year, up almost 46% from $290.6 billion at the end of 2024, Jack Pitcher reports for the Journal. That included results from HPS Investment Partners, the private-credit manager BlackRock acquired in July. The New York firm's overall asset total rose to over $14 trillion, however, as net inflows totaled $342 billion and the firm's adjusted fourth-quarter earnings surpassed average Wall Street estimates at $13.16 a share.

Northleaf Capital Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are expanding a longstanding partnership, with CPP Investments committing an additional 750 million Canadian dollars, or about $540.3 million, for Northleaf to back Canadian midmarket businesses.

Alterra, a climate-focused private investment vehicle backed by the United Arab Emirates, is forming a climate-focused co-investment fund anchored by a $250 million strategic commitment from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, more commonly known as BBVA. Once launched and approved, the fund will consolidate existing co-investments that Alterra has made out of its Alterra Acceleration strategy, which was formed to direct capital towards projects aimed at accelerating the global transition to a net-zero and climate-resilient economy.

Private-equity firm Dubin Clark & Co. in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., has renamed itself as Dynamic Core Capital Partners.

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

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