Good morning. Today my colleague Isaac Taylor brings us the efforts Aperture Investors is making to bulk up its asset based-finance strategy, including the recent hiring of investment professionals from well-known peers. 

Also, lawmakers blamed private-equity-led consolidation for a shortage of firetrucks in the U.S., our Chris Cumming writes. The barbs from a Senate subcommittee add to the outcry over PE firms that invest in healthcare.

Finally, the Journal reports on the plans of General Atlantic-backed SMG Swiss Marketplace Group to go public with a valuation of up to $5.6 billion. That would make the ecommerce facilitator the highest-valued company to list on a European exchange this year.

Now onto the news ...

Aperture Investors is building out an asset-based finance team as it focuses on the private-credit bright spot, WSJ Pro's Isaac Taylor reports. The firm recently brought in investment professionals from credit-focused Blue Owl Capital, Fortress Investment Group and Antares Capital to work under Nick Turgeon, who was hired earlier this year to lead its nascent asset-based finance, or ABF, strategy. Fund managers pursuing such deals have financed assets ranging from aviation equipment and home mortgages to music royalties and point-of-purchase loans. According to finance provider KKR & Co., the market for secured nonbank loans picked up following dislocations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and then the 2023 failure of Silicon Valley Bank.

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday criticized private equity’s role in the continuing shortages of firetrucks and firefighting equipment, and called for federal antitrust authorities to investigate the matter, WSJ Pro's Chris Cumming reports. At a Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee meeting, Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) said that prices for firetrucks have doubled and delivery times more than quadrupled in some cases since 2020. He and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) pointed fingers at private equity and demanded a Federal Trade Commission investigation.

General Atlantic-backed SMG Swiss Marketplace Group is seeking a valuation of up to $5.6 billion through an initial public offering that would make it the highest-valued company to list on a European exchange this year, the Journal reports. The online marketplace provider aims to raise 971 million to 1.04 billion Swiss francs, or about $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion, and list on the Zurich exchange next week. SMG operates real estate, automotive and general e-commerce sites and expects to price its shares at 43 to 46 Swiss francs each. New York-based General Atlantic invested in the formation of the business in 2021.

Buyout firm TPG is acquiring GE Vernova’s Proficy manufacturing software business for $600 million. Upon closing of the deal, publicly traded GE Vernova will retain a position on Proficy's board of directors. Proficy has more than 20,000 customers. Cambridge, Mass.-based GE Vernova makes power-generating equipment including turbines and related gear.

Apollo Global Management is backing Tega Industries' acquisition of U.S. mining materials producer Molycop from American Industrial Partners at an enterprise value of roughly $1.5 billion. Combined, Kolkata, India-based Tega and Omaha, Neb.-based Molycop generated about $1.73 billion in annual revenue and adjusted pretax earnings of $217 million in their most recent fiscal years, according to Tega. Molycop supplies grinding media to mining and mineral-processing companies. Apollo is pairing equity and debt for the deal and will hold a significant minority stake in the combined enterprise. AIP acquired Molycop around the start of 2017 at an enterprise value of about $1.23 billion.

Buyout firm KKR & Co. has completed its roughly $2.43 billion tender offer for Tokyo-listed medical device company Topcon, which the New York firm began in March with a unit of government-backed Japan Investment Corp. Topcon's chief executive supported KKR's offer of ¥3,300 per share. KKR invested through its Asian Fund IV.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Pacific Equity Partners have refinanced "green" debt totaling about 3 billion Australian dollars, or roughly $1.98 billion, for smart metering company Intellihub Group, which the two investment firms jointly own. The deal drew support from local and global lenders as well.

Existing backers GIC in Singapore and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have committed $1.6 billion in additional investments in Vantage Data Centers to help the Denver company expand its Asia-Pacific operations. The fresh capital from the two sovereign wealth funds is also being used to acquire a 73-acre hyperscale data center from DigitalBridge Group-backed Yondr Group in Johor, Malaysia.

Blackstone is acquiring $869 million single-tenant lease financing loans from First Internet Bank, which remains the servicer of the credits. Investing through its real estate debt strategies, New York-based Blackstone is expected to pay about 95% of the unpaid principal balances of the loans, including transaction costs.

Credit and equity financing provider Mars Growth Capital and banking giant HSBC have refinanced education company Eruditus with as much as $150 million, including $130 million upfront, according to an emailed news release. Existing backers Mars, a joint venture between private-credit firm Liquidity and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's MUFG Bank, and HSBC are putting up to $100 million and $50 million into the deal, respectively. Eruditus, based in India, works with major universities to distribute professional education courses across more than 80 countries.

HealthQuest Capital led a $55 million growth investment in women's clinic operator Diana Health, joined by several existing backers. The New York-based company operates locations in Tennessee, Florida and Texas, with a particular focus on maternal care.

SilverTree Equity in London has acquired information technology services provider Mhance, which serves more than 500 customers in the U.K. and Ireland.

The strategic investment arm of Allianz Group, Allianz X, is backing Coterie Insurance, a tech-enabled managing general agent focused on commercial property and casualty insurance. Investors in the MGA include family-owned Weatherford Capital in Tampa, Fla.

Partners Group in Switzerland is investing in software supplier Omie, acquiring a significant minority stake in the business, according to an emailed news release. The Brazilian company provides enterprise resource planning programs to around 180,000 clients in midsize and smaller businesses.

Carlyle Group is backing cybersecurity and intelligence contractor Quantum Leap, joined by other investors including Razor’s Edge. The Leesburg, Va.-based company provides services to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies.

Lower midmarket-focused Graycliff Partners is backing vinyl window and door manufacturer Vytex. The Laurel, Md.-based company makes custom patio doors as well as windows, supplying customers across the eastern U.S. and the Midwest.

Interlock Equity in Los Angeles has backed healthcare staffing company VeloSource with a growth investment. The St. Louis-based company helps hospitals, clinic operators and schools find doctors and professional staff as needed.

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

Buyout firms GTCR in Chicago and Charlesbank Capital Partners in Boston are selling a majority interest in data-center services provider Park Place Technologies to Warburg Pincus and Temasek Holdings in a transaction valued at more than $3.5 billion, WSJ Pro's Ted Bunker reports, citing a person familiar with the matter. Warburg and Singapore's Temasek plan to combine the Cleveland-based business with Warburg-backed Service Express to form a company with more than 3,000 employees and 25,000 customers across four continents. GTCR has backed Park Place since 2015, with Charlesbank entering as a co-investor in 2019. Over the past decade, Park Place's adjusted pretax earnings have risen to about $240 million from $16 million, the person said.

Bain Capital in Boston is selling the China data center operations of portfolio company WinTrix DC Group to investors led by Shenzhen Dongyangguang Industry Co. in a $4 billion transaction. The operations include data center infrastructure around Beijing and two other major economic hubs. The buyout firm has backed the business for about seven years.

Advent International in Boston is selling generic drugmaker Zentiva to buyout firm GTCR in Chicago. The Financial Times said the deal is valued at €4.1 billion, or about $4.79 billion, including debt, citing people familiar with the matter. Advent acquired the Czech Republic business in 2018 through a carve-out from Sanofi in 2018.

Nordic Capital-backed specialist online lender Noba Bank Group plans an initial public offering priced at an implied equity value of 35 billion Swedish kronor, or about $3.74 billion, Elena Vardon reports for the Journal. The lender is also owned by Finnish insurer Sampo Oyj. Nordic Capital has backed Noba since 2017 through its eighth and ninth flagship funds, according to the firm's website.

Blackstone-owned building maintenance and mechanical equipment engineering services provider Legence priced its initial public offering of 26 million shares near the high end of the expected range at $28 each, giving the San Jose, Calif.-based company a market value of over $2 billion. Trading is expected to begin Friday on the Nasdaq stock market. Blackstone will continue to control the company following the IPO, with 71% of the voting rights expected to be retained.

Aurora Capital Partners has rounded up more than $2.1 billion for Aurora Equity Partners VII to back midmarket companies across sectors that include business services, industrial services and tech-enabled services. Investors that have disclosed commitments to the fund include the Employees Retirement System of Hawaii and the New York State Common Retirement Fund. The new fund closed above the $1.65 billion that Aurora raised for its prior fund in 2021. The firm has already backed at least one deal out of the new fund with its 2024 investment in GenServe, which provides standby power generators.

Netley Capital has raised $315 million for its Tertiaries strategy, which acquires stakes in secondary funds on the market. The firm expects to close its first deal in the coming weeks.

Multi-strategy asset manager KKR & Co. in New York has appointed Mikael Markman as a managing director to lead the firm's family capital efforts in France, based in Paris. He joins from securities firm Nomura.

Center Oak Partners in Dallas has added Rich Reuter as a managing director and Chris Golz as chief financial officer. Reuter was previously with Garnett Station Partners while Golz was with Latticework Capital Management.

Carlyle Group in Washington has signed up to sponsor a Formula One team, backing Oracle Red Bull Racing. The multi-year partnership gives Carlyle the right to put its logo on Red Bull's Honda cars and its drivers' racing suits.

Apollo Global Management is backing newly established European property credit provider TenFifty Capital, led by Hugh Fraser as chief executive, through the New York firm's large loan strategy. The startup aims to lend from $10 million to $50 million per deal, with a target of originating as much as $2 billion in credits in its first year. Fraser is a former M7 Real Estate executive who led its U.K. retail warehouse strategy when Apollo backed it with financing in 2017.

Growth investor Iconiq made its largest bet ever by leading Anthropic’s $13 billion funding round last month at a $183 billion valuation, WSJ Pro's Yuliya Chernova reports, citing Matt Jacobson, a partner at Iconiq. He declined to specify the amount Iconiq deployed, only saying it was historic for the firm. The Iconiq team initially had reservations about investing in large-language model-makers because of their capital-intensity, but eventually came around, Jacobson said. And he provided some insights in how the firm reached its commitment decision.

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

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