Good day. We have a lot of news for you jammed into this package, which fortunately doesn't have the space limitations of printed pages. Personally, I prefer newsprint as a vehicle to convey headlines and news.

Nevertheless, our digital format has its advantages. One of them is that when we have 15 deals to summarize, we don't risk running out of room to include a half-dozen fundraising items and almost as many that fall under the Industry News heading. 

We lead off today with Maria Armental's look into the details of some lucrative exit deals engineered by Warburg Pincus, including the recent agreement to sell Polyplus with co-investor ArchiMed. 

And our Rod James reports that Morgan Stanley has a $2 billion target for its latest debt-focused fund, North Haven Credit Partners IV. 

We have many, many more stories condensed and linked for you below, so please jump in...

Warburg Pincus notched a hefty gain on its 2020 investment in gene-therapy technology company Polyplus-transfection SA, the latest in a string of healthcare transactions with big payoffs for the private-equity firm, Maria Armental reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Warburg stands to make a more-than fourfold return on its initial investment through a roughly $2.62 billion sale to Sartorius AG, according to people familiar with the deal announced last week. Polyplus co-owner ArchiMed could reap a much greater gain as it first backed the company in 2016 at a valuation of less than €10 million, according to a person familiar with the deal. The sale comes as the window for private-equity exits remains narrow after cheap deal financing largely dried up late last year and the market for initial public offerings mostly froze.

Morgan Stanley’s investment-management arm is raising its fourth fund dedicated to investing in lower-ranking, higher-returning debt, Rod James reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity, citing documents prepared for the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana. The New York-based investment manager is targeting $2 billion for North Haven Credit Partners IV, primarily to make junior debt investments in companies with "defensible market positions, substantial barriers to entry, low technology or market risk and a diversified product offering, customer and supplier base,” according to the documents prepared for the state pension manager by investment consultant Hamilton Lane. The Louisiana pension manager approved a commitment of up to $125 million to the fund, a pension spokeswoman confirmed.

Buyout firm TPG Inc. has agreed to acquire a majority of the Elite business-management-software operations of Thomson Reuters Corp. in a carveout transaction that values the unit at around $500 million, Adriano Marchese reports for Dow Jones Newswires, citing a joint statement from TPG and Reuters. Elite provides financial  and practice management programs that automate and streamline finance and accounting workflows for law firms and is part of the company’s legal technology group, according to the Thomson Reuters website. TPG is investing in the business through its TPG Capital strategy, according to the statement.

General Atlantic said it has acquired credit investment manager Iron Park Capital Partners, completing a deal disclosed in October, and named Iron Park founder Tripp Smith as head of GA Credit and Mike Whitman as president. Both previously held leadership roles with GSO Capital Partners, now part of Blackstone Inc.’s credit arm.

Apollo Global Management Inc. said U.K. oilfield services company John Wood Group PLC rejected its all-cash offer of 237 pence per share so it is proposing a final cash offer of 240 pence, a regulatory filing shows. That price would give the company an equity value of about £1.66 billion, equivalent to about $2.08 billion. The New York buyout firm said it has made several earlier offers as well, starting at 200 pence per share. Wood, as the company is known, said it would continue to engage with shareholders and that there was no certainty that a firm offer would be made.

Growth investor PSG Equity in Boston said it is backing merchandising software company Buxton Enterprises and installed new management in the Fort Worth, Texas-based company. Buxton uses data analytics to assess retail customer behavior and works with customers across a range of industries, including Red Wing Shoes and OrangeTheory. Taking over as chief executive is Jim Swift, a PSG senior adviser.

Investec PLC has agreed to sell its wealth-management arm to asset manager Rathbones Group PLC in an all-stock transaction that gives the Investec unit a value of about £839 million, equivalent to about $1.05 billion, according to a regulatory filing in London. The result of the deal will give Investec a more than 41% interest in Rathbones equity, but its voting rights will be limited to 29.9%, according to the filing. The deal will leave the enlarged Rathbones with about £100 billion of funds under management and administration, the filing indicates.

Morgan Stanley’s investment-management arm said it is backing Everstream Analytics, investing through its 1GT climate private-equity strategy in a $50 million round that also included existing investors StepStone Group and Columbia Capital. Legally named resilience360 inc., Everstream uses artificial-intelligence technology to analyze procurement and logistics methods to ensure accurate forecasts and adherence to sustainability goals, according to a news release.

Sheryl Sandberg, the former Meta Platforms Inc. chief operating officer, is part of the investor group awarded a franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League on Tuesday, Jon Swartz reports for sister publication MarketWatch. Private-equity firm Sixth Street Partners, an investor in Spanish teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, led an overall investment of $125 million, $53 million of which went to a record expansion fee.

Vance Street Capital said it is investing in aircraft component brands company Aero Group Holdings LLC. The Burlington, N.C., company’s products include fuel systems, instrumentation and ignition systems for piston-engine planes.

Five Arrows, the alternative investment arm of Rothschild & Co., has agreed to acquire n2y, a special-education technology company, according to a press release. The firm is investing in the company out of its long-term fund as well as its Europe-focused principal investments vehicle, the release stated.

Novacap Partners is backing Static Media, an Indianapolis-based company that owns and operates a portfolio of digital-media brands providing content in food, lifestyle, media and entertainment, according to a release. The company is the third platform investment out of Novacap TMT VI LP, a $1.86 billion fund closed in 2021, the release stated.

Arkview Capital, a private-equity firm that backs businesses founded or run by minorities, is investing in Icon Parking alongside its president and chief executive John D. Smith, according to a press release. Icon Parking offers parking and mobility services in New York City, the release stated.

Mexico Infrastructure Partners has agreed to acquire power generating assets with nearly 8.54 gigawatts of capacity, including 103 megawatts from wind energy projects, from Spanish utility Iberdrola SA for about $6 billion, according to a news release. Most of the generating assets are fired by combined cycle gas.

Eir Partners in Miami is backing prescription software company Gifthealth Inc. with a growth investment that gives the firm majority control, according to a news release. The Columbus, Ohio-based company’s software is used by physicians, drug manufacturers and patients to manage their prescriptions, according to the company’s website.

The TCW Group has entered into a partnership with global private credit investor Lakemore Partners Ltd. to support the growth of TCW’s collateralized loan obligation platform by investing in super-majority CLO equity, according to a press release.

Investment firm Genesis Park in Houston said it is backing commercial groundskeeper Westco Grounds Maintenance through its GP Capital Partners LP small business investment company. Joining in the investment are Evolution Strategy Partners and Gemini Investors, among others, according to a news release. The Houston company is acquiring Champions Hydro-Lawn, according to the release.

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

Chicago-based lower midmarket firm Shore Capital Partners is selling Innovia Medical, a surgical and medical instrument protection products company, to fellow private-equity firm Inverness Graham, according to a press release. Shore formed Innovia Medical through the initial acquisitions of Summit Medical Inc. in February 2015 and Shippert Medical Enterprises LLC in October of 2015, according to a press release.

Buyout firm RLH Equity Partners said it has sold marketing company Shift7 Digital to Dentsu Group Inc. company Merkle Inc. RLH first invested in the company in December 2012, according to Pitchbook Data Inc. data.

Azalea Capital has sold litigation technology company Modus eDiscovery Inc. to Repario, a portfolio company of JLL Partners, according to a press release. Azalea initially backed the Cary, N.C.-based company in 2012, according to the firm’s website.

KKR & Co. said it has closed its sixth buyout fund focused on European deals with commitments of about $8 billion, or about 21% more than a predecessor vehicle that collected about $6.6 billion before wrapping up fundraising in 2019. New York-based KKR said it will mainly invest in western Europe with the new pool, led by Philipp Freise and Mattia Caprioli, the co-heads of KKR European private equity. Investors in the latest fund include the Washington State Investment Board, which committed as much as $300 million and the Minnesota State Board of Investment, which committed up to $100 million, according to the WSJ Pro Private Equity LP Commitments database.

Seidler Equity Partners has closed its eighth flagship fund with $1.25 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The vehicle reached its hard cap less than three months after the firm commenced fundraising, the person said. Seidler Equity, a midmarket firm based in Marina del Rey, Calif., closed its prior fund in 2020 at $800 million.

RCP Advisors, a Chicago-based fund of funds manager focused on the midmarket, has raised $328 million for RCP Fund XVII LP, exceeding a $300 million target, according to a press release. The fund of funds targets commitments to buyout funds targeting less than $1 billion in commitments, the release stated.

Cure Ventures has raised $350 million for the firm’s first life-sciences fund, Brian Gormley reports for WSJ Pro Venture Capital. The Boston-based firm has closed Cure Ventures Fund I LP to invest mostly in startups it has backed with seed investments, according to Managing Partner Richard Lim.

Sponsor backer MPowered Capital in Minneapolis said it has closed on $110 million for its MPowered Capital Access Fund I LP, which the firm invests in investment managers with diverse leadership. The firm recorded its first commitment to the vehicle in October 2021 and by last October had 56 investors in the fund, a regulatory filing shows. So far, the firm has invested through the fund in or alongside 11 managers, including L2 Point Management, Sidereal Capital, Kinzie Capital and Collide Capital, according to a news release.

Tailwater Capital has raised more than $100 million for Tailwater Royalties Fund LP, which is focued on the acquisition of minerals and oil-and-gas royalties across multiple basins throughout North America, according to a press release. Tailwater concurrently announced the acquisition of 1,877 net royalty acres across Permian, Eagle Ford and Haynesville under high-quality operators, the release stated.

Warburg Pincus in New York has named David Gabriel as a senior adviser with the firm’s industrials group, according to a press release. Mr. Gabriel previously served as chief operating officer of Sonepar SAS, a business-to-business distributor of electrical, industrial and safety products and services, according to a press release.

Bertram Capital, a Foster City, Calif.-based midmarket firm, has added Matt Jones as a vice president to its originations and capital markets team, according to a press release. Before joining the firm, Mr. Jones spent nearly a decade in the consumer technology industry, including at Uber Technologies Inc.

Boutique investment bank William Blair has added three senior hires to its private capital advisory team, according to a press release. Jeff Hypes, Nick Ohler and Andrew Viehe have joined the firm as directors in New York, the release stated. Mr. Hypes and Mr. Viehe join from Credit Suisse Private Fund Group, while Mr. Ohler joins from Houlihan Lokey’s private fund group, according to the release.

Insiders at collapsed Signature Bank sold more than $100 million of shares in the years after the bank pivoted to attract cryptocurrency companies and became a stock-market darling, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. As Tom McGinty and Ben Foldy write for the Journal, sales over the past three years by the bank’s chairman, its former chief executive officer and his successor accounted for about half of the amount sold, according to the Journal’s analysis of company filings. All three served on the board committee tasked with overseeing the bank’s risk profile over the past year.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. is winding down its bankruptcy practice after numerous lawsuits and government investigations concerning the division’s work advising troubled borrowers, Alexander Gladstone reports for WSJ Pro Bankruptcy, citing people familiar with the matter. Some McKinsey partners who had previously focused on bankruptcy advisory work in the firm’s recovery and transformation services, or RTS, division have either been leaving the firm or pivoting to other kinds of work, the people said. 

Private-equity firms still hire more non-racially-diverse people than any other category of asset managers, with six in 10 new hires falling in that group, according to a Meketa Investment Group survey of 528 firms on their diversity, equity and inclusion practices. While women accounted for four in 10 new hires and promotions, barely more than one in five portfolio management jobs are done by women, while lower level jobs overall have the greatest diversity, Meketa said.

The founder of a student-loan company acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in 2021, which later sued the seller, now faces fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said Charlie Javice, the founder of the company known as Frank, “orchestrated a scheme to deceive” the bank before selling the business to it for $175 million. The agency alleges that Ms. Javice duped the bank into believing that Frank had data on 4.25 million students when it really had information on fewer than 300,000. JPMorgan in December sued Ms. Javice and another Frank leader, Olivier Amar, over the sale, after she had sued the bank seeking unpaid legal expenses as a former bank employee, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Investment firms that lend to healthcare companies are fielding increased interest from entrepreneurs as the banking crisis unfolds, Brian Gormley reports for WSJ Pro Venture Capital. Interest in debt was rising before Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. But uncertainty stemming from banking industry turmoil has sharpened startups' focus on boosting their balance sheets with less equity financing, which has grown more costly, investors said.

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

Maria Armental; Ted Bunker; Chris Cumming; Luis Garcia; Rod James; Laura Kreutzer; Chitra Vemuri.

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