Good day Pro readers! Over the weekend, Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine moved closer to the Polish border with the bombing of a Ukrainian military base in the town of Yavoriv. As criticism and sanctions mount against Russia, prosecutors in that country are threatening to arrest corporate leaders of Western companies that are based there, and seize assets of those that pull out of the country, our Wall Street Journal colleagues report. More updates on the financial implications of the Ukraine war are included in our special section below. In the private-equity world, we kick off another week with a couple of fundraising scoops. First, our own Preeti Singh has an update on the latest fundraising pitch from midmarket firm Kelso & Co, which has collected nearly $2 billion for its latest fund, while Luis Garcia reports on a final closing of a new fund from Lime Rock Management to back acquisitions of oil and gas assets.

Read on for more details…

Kelso & Co. has collected nearly $2 billion, almost two-thirds of the $3 billion it is seeking for its latest buyout fund, and aims to close the fund in the second half of the year, Preeti Singh reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity, citing people familiar with the matter. So far, the New York-based midmarket specialist has committed around $350 million of its latest fund, Kelso Investment Associates XI LP, which held an initial close last September, one of the people said.

Lime Rock Management has raised $538 million for a new fund focused on acquiring assets in America’s oil patch, Luis Garcia writes for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The Westport, Conn.-based firm wrapped up Lime Rock Resources V LP, including a co-investment pool, at a time when a shortage of capital in the sector coupled with rising oil prices is creating opportunities for buyers, said Eric Mullins, chairman and chief executive of the firm’s Lime Rock Resources operating unit, which manages the fund.

Textbook publisher Pearson PLC said it had rejected a takeover proposal valued at roughly £6.5 billion, equivalent to about $8.5 billion, from private-equity giant Apollo Global Management Inc, Kyle Morris reports for The Wall Street Journal. Pearson said Friday that the New York-based investment firm had made two unsolicited approaches—one in November and another this month—that both significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects. Pearson shares jumped as much as 28% in Friday trading on the London Stock Exchange after the filings became public.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in Toronto has sealed a deal to buy a majority stake in Australian lender La Trobe Financial Group from Blackstone Inc., according to news reports in Australia. The Hobart Mercury and the Australian reported the price was as much as 1.7 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to about $1.25 billion. The Australian Financial Review put the price at A$1.6 billion for Blackstone’s 80% interest, which the New York firm acquired in 2017, investing alongside La Trobe Chief Executive Greg O’Neill.

European private markets firm CVC said it has agreed to acquire insurance software provider RGI SPA from financial services-focused private-equity firm Corsair, which acquired the Milan, Italy-based company from Ardian back in 2017. RGI offers software that services property, casualty and life insurance clients across Europe, according to a press release.

A Warbug Pincus affiliate in Amsterdam, Stone Plant Investments BV, has acquired a majority interest in Imperial Auto Industries Ltd., India’s largest manufacturer of fluid transmission products for motor vehicles, according to a news 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.

Russian prosecutors have issued warnings to Western companies in Russia, threatening to arrest corporate leaders there who criticize the government or to seize assets of companies that withdraw from the country, Jennifer Maloney, Emily Glazer and Heather Haddon write for The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors delivered the warnings in the past week to companies including Coca-Cola Co., McDonald’s Corp., Procter & Gamble Co., International Business Machines Corp. and KFC owner Yum Brands Inc., the people said. The calls, letters and visits included threats to sue the companies and seize assets including trademarks, the people said.

Hedge funds that placed bullish bets on commodities are notching sizable returns from the biggest rally in decades following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Juliet Chung and Amrith Ramkumar report for the Journal. Soroban Capital Partners LP, Castle Hook Partners and Pilgrim Global are among those firms that have benefitted from rising commodity prices.

The Justice Department will focus on financial institutions and other entities that have helped Russian oligarchs move money and evade U.S. sanctions or continue to work with them, Aruna Viswanatha reported for the Journal, citing a senior Justice Department official. The official provided some details on the KleptoCapture task force the Biden administration announced last week. “We will be targeting the oligarchs who are now subject to U.S. economic sanctions, as well as those who would aid them in hiding and laundering those illegal assets,” the official said. “Individuals and entities that actively and knowingly assist a sanctioned person to move their assets, in violation of a sanction, are committing a federal crime.”

The European Union detailed Friday afternoon some of the new sanctions it will impose on Russia in coming days, following an agreement by Group of Seven industrialized nations to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin, Laurence Norman writes for The Wall Street Journal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that in addition to revoking Russia’s benefits as a World Trade Organization member and fresh measures against Russian elites close to the Kremlin, the EU will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, U.S. officials drew up a list of Russian banks as potential sanctions targets. Gazprombank was among the candidates, Patricia Kowsmann and Alexander Osipovich report for The Wall Street Journal. In the end, Russia’s third-largest bank remained largely untouched. The largest, Sberbank, has been cut out of U.S. dollar access. U.S. banks and companies are forbidden from doing any business with the second biggest, VTB, and another large lender, VEB. All four are state-controlled.

A blank-check company led by two fund sponsor executives, Rosecliff Acquisition Corp I, has dropped its plan to combine with transportation technology company GT Gettaxi (UK) Ltd. in London, which operates as Gett, citing market conditions. The special-purpose acquisition company said in November that it would merge with Gett in a deal that valued the business at about $1 billion. The SPAC raised $253 million about a year ago to finance taking public a private company and is led by Rosecliff Venture Management founder Michael Murphy as chief executive and Panning Capital Management founder Kieran Goodwin as chief financial officer, regulatory filings show. Gett specializes in facilitating corporate ground transport services. New York-based Rosecliff said it had about $787.4 million in regulatory assets under management at the end of 2020 in a March 2021 regulatory filing.

A special-purpose acquisition company led by the founder of a Chinese private-equity firm raised $69 million in an initial public offering of shares at $10 each and began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the LBBBU ticker. Lakeshore Acquisition II Corp. plans to pursue a combination with a business outside of China. The SPAC is led by Bill Chen, the founder of Shanghai Renaissance Investment Management, a private-equity firm in Shanghai. He also leads Lakeshore Acquisition I Corp., which raised about $50 million through an IPO last June and is also in the hunt for an acquisition and trades under the LAAA ticker, SPAC Research data show.

Battery Ventures has rounded up at least $3.5 billion so far across two new funds, regulatory filings indicate. The firm has collected at least $3.04 billion so far for Battery Ventures XIV LP, which has a $3.5 billion offering amount, according to one filing. It has rounded up at least another $530 million for Battery Ventures Select Fund II LP, which has a $600 million offering amount, a separate filing shows.

Stockholm-based EQT AB has appointed Christina Drews as chief operating officer to lead the asset manager's strategic development and replacing Caspar Callerström in that role, Dominic Chopping reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Based in London, Ms. Drews has worked for nearly 30 years in the global financial industry, most recently as COO with Helios Investment Partners and previously with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. She joins EQT in June. Mr. Callerström, who is also deputy chief executive of the firm, retains that role and will focus on strategy development, the firm said.

Alternative asset management expanded at a double-digit rate over the past decade, a pace that is expected to be maintained, Dominic Chopping reports for Dow Jones Newswires, citing a Deutsche Bank report. Private equity, private debt and private infrastructure–the segments that represent a large majority of Partners Group Holding AG's and EQT AB's assets under management–are expected to grow even faster, according to the report, though EQT doesn't have private-debt exposure.

The Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong-listed shares fell to its lowest close since 2016 on Friday, Reuters reported, adding that the Hang Seng Tech Index slid to a record low at the closing bell. The slump was aggravated as the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission named Chinese companies it plans to delist unless they provide audited data, Dave Sebastian reports for The Wall Street Journal. On Thursday, the SEC provisionally named five companies, including the biotechnology group BeiGene Ltd. and Yum China Holdings Inc., the operator of KFC restaurants in China, as among those whose audit working papers couldn't be inspected by U.S. regulators.

Nearly three out of five U.S. homes that went under contract during the month ended March 6 found a buyer within two weeks, an all-time high that comes at the same time that supply shrank to a low, Chris Wack reports for Dow Jones Newswires, citing property data provider and brokerage Redfin Corp. in Seattle. Buyers have been paying over the asking price as well, a sign of a frenzied market, Redfin said. The median home sale price shot up 16% year over year to a high of $369,125. But rising mortgage rates and economic ripples from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could cool the market, Redfin said.

Voya Financial Inc.’s asset management unit said it is partnering with financial technology platform iCapital to distribute Voya’s alternative and private fund offerings to financial advisers and their high-net-worth clients, starting with Pomona Investment Fund, a registered investment vehicle, according to a press release.

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Ted Bunker; Laura Cooper; Chris Cumming; Luis Garcia; Laura Kreutzer; Preeti Singh; Chitra Vemuri.

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