Welcome back. A little over a month ago, I had my wisdom teeth removed, but the sharpest pain didn't come from the surgery itself. It came from the bill. Even after insurance, my out-of-pocket cost was $7,000.

The experience brought to mind the sobering statistic that most Americans can’t cover a $1,000 emergency expense without relying on debt, leaving their wallets on life support. My experience, unfortunately, isn't unique. Last year, a friend of mine faced a life-threatening heart complication that left him with a $15,000 bill, after insurance.

But life insurance is the focus of one of our top stories today, where the Journal's Heather Gillers shares news of how some carriers invest policyholder money in private-credit vehicles. 

Also in today's news, life sciences-focused impact investor Adjuvant Capital in New York has clinched exits from two of its holdings through a deal with drug giant Lilly.

Now on to the news...

Insurers are increasingly investing policyholder money in private credit sold by parent firms or affiliates, an approach critics say sets up potential conflicts of interest, Heather Gillers writes for The Wall Street Journal. Wall Street's biggest private-equity firms have flocked to life insurers over the past decade, viewing their huge portfolios as a perfect match for their investment products. Now insurer portfolios are filling up with assets created by related private-equity firms such as Apollo Global Management and Brookfield Asset Management. So-called affiliated assets grew 22% to a combined $127 billion over the past year for six private equity-linked life insurers tracked by the Journal.

Life sciences-focused impact investor Adjuvant Capital in New York has clinched exits from two of its holdings, Curevo and LimmaTech Biologics, through deals with strategic buyer Eli Lilly, Peter Loftus reports for the Journal. The Indianapolis-based drug giant is paying as much as $1.5 billion for Bothell, Wash.-based Curevo, which is developing a shingles vaccine and is also backed by OrbiMed and RA Capital Management, among others. Lilly is also paying up to $780 million for LimmaTech, a Swiss developer of vaccines targeting drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Other backers of the company include Novo Holdings.

Existing backers such as Strike Capital, Baillie Gifford, Bond Capital and Lux Capital joined others in a $250 million growth investment backing fulfillment services and software supplier Stord, valuing the Atlanta business at $3 billion. The deal coincided with the unveiling of Stord Labs, which is developing artificial-intelligence technology for advanced robotics and automation systems.

Private-equity firm Goldenpeak has inked its first deal, buying a data and analytics business in the media, games and sports sectors, Sebastian McCarthy reports for sister publication Private Equity News in London. The recently established buyout shop has taken a majority stake in Ampere Analysis. It marks the first institutional investment into Ampere, which sells subscription-based online services, market intelligence, audience insights and monetisation strategies.

Infrastructure-focused I Squared Capital is buying 10 data-center facilities from Cogent Communications Holdings for $225 million. The facilities are located in major markets such as Atlanta, Chicago and Houston.

The growth-investment arm of Google-owner Alphabet led a $113 million investment round backing OpenRouter, which offers a system to direct users to more than 400 artificial-intelligence models, including inference engines such as OpenAI, Claude and xAI. The New York company said that use of its large language model marketplace has increased fivefold in the past six months, with over 8 million users.

Littlejohn & Co. in Greenwich, Conn., has closed a continuation fund anchored by portfolio company Valcourt Group and with Carlyle AlpInvest serving as lead investor, according to an emailed news release. Littlejohn retained a stake in the building maintenance services business through the deal while providing a cash-out option for investors. The firm has backed Valcourt since 2021.

Achieve Partners is investing in information technology and compliance services provider Celito Tech, which specializes in working with biotechnology and life sciences companies, according to an emailed news release. Achieve is investing from its recently closed Workforce II fund.

Arsenal Capital Partners is acquiring a majority stake in Velcro Cos. from the Cripps Foundation, which is retaining a minority interest. The Manchester, N.H., textiles manufacturer has about 2,400 employees.

Israeli AI defense tech company Airis Labs is emerging from stealth with $60 million in total funding, including a $31 million growth investment led by PSG Equity.

Bregal Sagemount is backing supply-chain software company LSPedia with a strategic growth investment. The Farmington Hills, Mich.-based company's systems are used by drug makers and manufacturers as they make, move and track shipments of sterilized products.

Bow River Capital in Denver is investing in consulting firm SBI Growth Advisory. SBI’s team, including founder and Executive Chairman Matt Sharrers and Senior Partner Scott Gruher, will continue to lead the firm.

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

Greenbriar Equity Group portfolio company Applied Aerospace & Defense plans to sell 32.5 million shares at between $18 and $21 each in an initial public offering, Colin Kellaher reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The deal would give the Huntsville, Ala., company a market capitalization of around $3.59 billion, a regulatory filing shows. Greenwich, Conn.-based Greenbriar holds over 138.2 million shares of the provider of highly engineered components and doesn't plan to sell any of its shares in the IPO, the filing indicates. Greenbriar formed the business in December by combining Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems.

Permira in London is selling its stake in I-MED Radiology Network to strategic buyer Jardine Matheson Holdings. I-MED provides diagnostic imaging services in Australia. Jardine is acquiring the business at an enterprise value of about 3.4 billion Australian dollars, or roughly $2.44 billion.

Glade Brook Capital Partners-backed prescription delivery company Nimble RX is being acquired by strategic buyer Swoop. Greenwich, Conn.-based Glade Brook has backed the business since at least 2022, according to research provider PitchBook.

BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners is selling part of its stake in electric vehicle fast-charging installation operator Revel to EQT AB-backed Voltera, which plans to operate the combined business under the Voltera name, Dean Seal reports for Dow Jones Newswires. GIP plans to retain a minority stake in the business, whose charging station networks are designed for autonomous vehicles, electric fleets and ride-hail drivers in urban markets.

Advent International-controlled natural gas-fired generator maker Innio Holdings has detailed its plans for an initial public offering of 75 million shares expected to be priced from $24 to $27 each to raise as much as $2.03 billion. The business, which is aiming for a Nasdaq listing, specializes in providing power supply sources to data centers as well as other industrial users, according to the company's IPO registration filing. Boston-based Advent holds nearly 54% of the company's equity, while the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has about 45%, the filing shows.

Equip Capital in Oslo sold a majority of its stake in e-scooter rental company Ryde Technology into a single-asset continuation fund backed by the asset-management arm of Goldman Sachs, reportedly at an enterprise value of almost $370 million. Equip, which retained a minority interest, said in an emailed news release that the deal provided a return on its investment of about 9.1-times the capital committed by its first commingled fund. Equip first backed the company in 2021 and helped it expand into more than 50 urban markets, including in Sweden, Finland and Germany.

Family-run investment firm Cambridge Information Group has sold music school chain Bach to Rock to strategic acquirer Spark Harbor, according to an emailed news release. Bethesda, Md.-based Cambridge first backed the business in 2007 when it had one location. It now operates from 57 locations and has 10 more in development.

Bowmark Capital and Bridgepoint Group are selling political intelligence and public affairs monitoring services company Helio Intelligence to ECI Partners. Bridgepoint, which first invested in the artificial intelligence-enabled services provider in 2021, is reinvesting as a minority shareholder. Bowmark invested in 2023.

Arsenal Capital Partners is adding Bradley Brown as an investment partner, focusing on technology. He was formerly with KKR & Co.

Exit deals involving assets held in private-equity funds dropped 34% to $96 billion in this year's first quarter from the prior three-month period, according to data provider Preqin. That's the lowest level for a first quarter since 2024, Preqin said.

A European Central Bank study said it was unlikely that private credit alone would create systemic financial instability and that euro area financial institutions have limited risk from the market, Joe Wallace reports for the Journal.

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