Welcome back. I usually have a decent track record with resolutions. Last year's goal to use the public library much more was a success. I saved more than $200 on books I otherwise would have bought. This year, I pledged to drink only water for the full 365 days. It's not going well.

However, Monroe Capital is starting the new year with a goal already accomplished. The firm just raked in a fresh $6.1 billion for lower middle-market bets, as I report below.  

Also in today's news, our own Luis Garcia writes about buyout firm TPG's deal with Jackson Financial to manage at least $12 billion of the annuities provider’s capital.

Now onto the news...

Monroe Capital has entered the new year with $6.1 billion amassed for its newest lower middle-market direct lending strategy, WSJ Pro's Isaac Taylor reports. Monroe Capital Private Credit Fund V and its related parallel funds have a total of around 27% more investible capital than a previous pool that closed with $4.8 billion in 2022. Chicago-based Monroe collected $2.8 billion for the latest fund itself along with $1.5 billion in fund-level leverage and $1.8 billion in separately managed accounts, the firm said, adding that the fund garnered capital from over 90 institutional investors.

Buyout firm TPG has struck a deal with Jackson Financial to manage at least $12 billion of the annuities provider’s capital, as private-equity firms and insurers increasingly rely on each other to expand, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia writes. Jackson will make its initial commitments to TPG over five years with a long-term goal of raising the amount to $20 billion over the next decade. TPG initially will put the capital in investment-grade asset-based finance vehicles and direct lending strategies. As part of the deal, TPG is also investing $500 million in Jackson shares to acquire a roughly 6.5% stake, while the insurer will receive $150 million worth of TPG’s stock, priced at the market.

Software and services investor Hg in London is acquiring a majority interest in enterprise finance management-focused OneStream in an all-cash deal that values the company at about $6.4 billion, giving backer KKR & Co. an exit while General Atlantic and growth investor Tidemark remain minority investors in the Nasdaq-listed applications developer. Hg has agreed to pay $24 a share for its majority stake, representing a 31% premium to Monday's closing price. The firm is investing from its Saturn fund. KKR took the Birmingham, Mich.-based company public in 2024 at a market value of over $4 billion.

Private-equity firms KKR & Co. and Warburg Pincus are among the bidders vying to acquire TPG’s Southeast Asia school business, which could be valued at up to $2 billion, P.R. Venkat writes for the Journal citing people familiar with the process. Another private-equity firm, EQT AB, has also moved to the second round of the bidding process, the people said.

Advent International is reportedly leading a group that has offered to take Polish parcel locker company InPost private at a likely valuation of over €6 billion, or $7.03 billion, according to Dow Jones Newswires, which cited Sky News. The Amsterdam-listed company said it had received a buyout proposal without naming the suitor or a price. InPost shares jumped 28% on the news, closing at €14.89 each. Czech investment group PPF is currently the largest shareholder in InPost, holding nearly 29% of the company's shares, according to InPost.

Buyout firm TPG has purchased a majority stake in multifamily residential developer Quarterra from homebuilder Lennar, which retained a minority interest. TPG has also committed $1 billion to the developer and expects to raise capital in the future to finance its expansion. Quarterra is currently focused on developing Emblem projects to produce rental housing, having constructed over 43,000 units with an additional 13,000 in its pipeline.

Main Capital Partners in The Hague has acquired a majority interest in alarm management software developer IQ Messenger, whose programs are used in healthcare as well as government and various industries. The Dordrecht, the Netherlands-based company's applications are designed to be device-neutral and are mainly used in hospitals, clinics and in-home care settings.

Riverside Co. has backed Certified Collision Group, a subscription-based services network for independent collision repair shops across the U.S. and Canada. Riverside is buying the company from fellow private-equity firm Incline Equity Partners, which initially backed the company in 2022.

Healthcare investor Grant Avenue Capital has acquired ambulance operator PatientCare EMS Solutions, which also provides emergency medical services education, according to an emailed news release. The Hudson, Fla., company runs ambulance services in states including New York and Florida.

Blackstone has acquired environmental testing and compliance services provider Alliance Technical Group from Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. The New York firm invested in the Decatur, Ala.-based business through its energy transition partners strategy and other funds. Alliance operates across the U.S. and Canada with over 2,200 employees working from more than 60 offices. Morgan Stanley first backed the business in 2021.

Midmarket-focused ATL Partners has acquired aircraft refueling equipment makers SkyMark in Kansas City, Mo., and Rampmaster in Coatesville, Pa., with plans to combine the businesses for the ground-support aerospace market, according to an emailed news release. ATL is investing from its third flagship fund.

Windjammer Capital in Newport Beach, Calif., has acquired specialty materials maker MFG Chemical in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Align Capital Partners has acquired commercial building construction and maintenance services provider Armko Industries.

Coalesce Capital is backing valuation advisory and litigation support services company Marshall & Stevens through a majority recapitalization, with management of the business investing alongside the firm.

Fusion Capital Partners in Los Angeles is backing engine testing and certification services provider Excel Engineering in Diagonal, Iowa, which remains under current management.

European buyout firm EQT AB has acquired a collection of 13 logistics properties in the U.S. totalling over 1.6 million square feet.

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

A group of investors led by Apollo Global Management has agreed to sell back a nearly 50% interest in a collection of U.S. metal container plants to beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev for around $3 billion as the brewer reacquires its share of the facilities to bolster supply security, Aimee Look reports for the Journal. The company sold the stake to the investor group through a roughly $3 billion deal announced in 2020.

Midmarket-focused H.I.G. Capital's growth investment arm and fellow investor Snowhawk are selling software developer ProsperOps to Thoma Bravo-backed Flexera. Austin, Texas-based ProsperOps specializes in cost optimization applications for use with cloud services such as Amazon Web Services. H.I.G. Growth Partners and Snowhawk first backed the business in 2022.

Incline Equity Partners has sold Therm-All, a fabricator and distributor of metal building insulation and related products, to Pacific Avenue Capital Partners and its portfolio company Cameron Ashley Building Products. Incline initially backed Westlake, Ohio-based Therm-All in 2022.

ORIX Capital Partners and minority investor Hastings Equity Partners are selling Specialty Welding and Turnarounds to strategic buyer Brown & Root Industrial Services, which is backed by One Equity Partners and KBR. Orix first backed the Gonzales, La.-based business in 2020.

Midmarket investor Heartwood Partners in Norwalk, Conn., has sold engineered sealing and custom materials provider Sur-Seal to Brodie Generational Capital Partners, marking the seller's fifth exit deal in a little over a year. Heartwood backed the Cincinnati company out of its third flagship fund.

Trivest Partners has sold food manufacturer IPMF, which operates as NaturPak, to family investment firm PPC. Trivest initially backed the Janesville, Wis., business with a growth investment in 2020.

Banner Ridge Partners in New York has closed on $4.2 billion for its Banner Ridge Secondary Fund VI, including $200 million from the firm itself. Founded by Anthony Cusano and C.J. Driessen, Banner had sought $3.2 billion for the vehicle.

Technology-enabled business services investor BV Investment Partners in Boston has closed on nearly $2.47 billion for its BVIP Fund XII, easily surpassing a $2 billion target after the firm began collecting commitments last fall. The new vehicle is also substantially larger than its predecessor, which wrapped up with $1.75 billion. Investors included the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System and the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System.

Springcoast Partners, a recently formed growth investor, has raised $525 million for its debut fund and including co-investment vehicles it amassed $750 million. The New York firm was set up in 2023 by Holger Staude and Grant Wentworth and now manages over $1.5 billion.

Greystone Industrial Partners, a Chicago-based firm that backs lower midmarket industrial businesses, has added Rich Copans as a partner and Mike Nettesheim as a principal at the firm. Copans previously served as a partner at Madison Dearborn Partners where he led the firm’s industrial investment team and worked with Greystone Partner Drew Macha, according to the firm’s website. Nettesheim also previously worked at Madison Dearborn. Greystone formed a $115 million debut fund earlier this year.

Yup Kim has stepped down from his role as chief investment officer at the Texas Municipal Retirement System, according to an announcement he posted on LinkedIn. Tom Masthay, who joined the Texas pension manager in 2015 as director of real assets, assumed the CIO role in December, according to the pension’s website.

Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management in London has appointed Anne-Laurence Roucher as group head of private markets, a new role. Based in Geneva, she joins from Natixis-backed impact asset manager Mirova, which she co-founded and helped it grow to €25 billion, or $29.22 billion, in assets by last year.

New York-based midmarket firm Gamut Capital Management has promoted Noah Leichtling to chief operating officer. Leichtling, who joined Gamut in 2017, also remains the firm’s general counsel and chief compliance officer. Gamut also elevated Michael Jordan and Drew Kobasa to principal roles, among other promotions.

Specialist firm TSG Consumer Partners has promoted Sam Pritzker and Alec Fogarty to managing director and Kelly Pease to principal. Pritzker joined the firm in 2016 while Fogarty joined in 2017 and Pease came on board in 2018.

Consumer focused firm North Castle Partners has promoted Roy Chin to partner at the firm while the firm’s founder, Charles Baird, will transition from managing partner to chairman. North Castle has also elevated John McMahon to principal and Bobby Hally to vice president.

Century Park Capital Partners in El Segundo, Calif., has elevated Matt Reilly and Mykel Kilgore to vice president. Reilly joined the firm in early 2021 and Kilgore came aboard about a year later.

Johannes Lien, one of five partners who founded Summa Equity in 2016, is planning to establish a Stockholm-based firm alongside Maria Ahr, a former senior figure at Swedish venture firm Alfvén & Didrikson, Sebastian McCarthy writes for sister publication Private Equity News in London. The potential new venture comes months after another co-founder of Summa, Tommi Unkuri, created a healthcare-focused private-equity firm called Lucerna.

A six-year high of 58% of midmarket business leaders and private-equity executives say the current market for mergers and acquisitions is strong, Citizens Financial Group reports, citing a survey of 276 companies and 124 smaller private-equity firms last November. Respondents cited expectations of lower interest rates and robust economic growth as supporting their outlook for M&A this year.

Private-equity holding company P10 in Dallas is establishing an office in Dubai after receiving a government license there. The firm holds a number of private-equity and venture-capital firms as well as other operations.

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