Good day! Private equity’s involvement in the media industry has been a bone of contention for many in recent times, with new rules imposed at Deadspin provoking an editorial staff exodus last year and the hollowing out of newsrooms across the country over the past decade or so.

There’s no easy answer for an industry that has been clobbered by digital disruption, starting with the creation of Craigslist.org and the Google search engine to all manner of innovations since. But some investors seem to have the interests of a free and robust press in mind, as Apollo showed this week by returning three Ohio daily newspapers to former owner Cox Enterprises rather than cutting them back to publishing just three days a week.

Still, the economic drumbeat rolls on for advertiser-supported businesses. Now even new media entities like Vice and RentPath are teetering, as we note below. Please dive in...

The private-equity industry has leaned Republican with its donations for the past decade, but so far in the 2020 election cycle it is showing a preference for the Democratic Party, WSJ Pro's Chris Cumming reports. Democrats have received 56% of the campaign contributions from individuals working for private-equity and investment firms, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Its analysis covers Federal Election Commission data through Feb. 3.

One of the old guard in private markets investing, Boston-based Battery Ventures, is set to close two new funds worth a combined $2 billion, Marc Vartabedian reports for WSJ Pro Venture Capital. The most recent fund previously raised by the firm, which focuses on enterprise software startups, collected $1.25 billion in 2018. Started some 37 years ago, Battery Ventures is about to close on a $1.2 billion multistage investment fund and an $800 million fund dedicated to late-stage investments into more mature startups and buyouts, according to General Partner Neeraj Agrawal. 

Adams Street Partners has won over a new investor, with the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association set to allocate an initial $250 million to a master custody account Chicago-based Adams Street would invest over several years, WSJ Pro's Preeti Singh reports, citing a person familiar with the matter. The new relationship will give the San Bernardino pension system access to co-investments and direct investments in GPs that Adams Street backs.

Enhanced Healthcare Partners has sold West Dermatology Med Management Inc. to Sun Capital Partners, after leading the skin-care provider through dozens of acquisitions that helped more than triple its revenue, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia reports. West Dermatology provides medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology treatment through a network of 100 doctors working in 55 clinics across California, Arizona and Nevada. Enhanced initially invested in West Dermatology in late 2014.

RedBird Capital Partners is joining with the company that backed Oscar-winning film “Parasite” to invest $275 million in Skydance Media, the company responsible for Hollywood blockbusters “Mission Impossible” and “Terminator,” R.T. Watson reported for The Wall Street Journal. The investment by RedBird and CJ Group, the parent of Parasite’s South Korean production company, values Skydance at $2.3 billion and represents an aggressive move into U.S. filmmakers for CJ

CoStar Group Inc., backed by TPG Capital and Providence Equity Partners, has agreed to buy RentPath Inc. for $588 million, as the real-estate data giant pushes deeper into the fast-growing business of helping renters find apartments online, Peter Grant reported for The Wall Street Journal. The all-cash deal was announced by the companies Tuesday as RentPath, which has been struggling financially, said it would seek chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

Trilantic North America has acquired a substantial interest in Gorilla Commerce, an online retailer that develops and sells home and pet products. Westport, Conn.-based Gorilla Commerce’s brands include Gorilla Grip, Kangaroo and Sofa Shield, among others. Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executives Jennifer Bernstein and Marissa Saporta continue to own an equity stake.

Astra Capital Management has invested in local wireless infrastructure services provider Communication Technology Services. The firm backed the Marlborough, Mass.-based company through its flagship Astra Partners I fund. The company specializes in wireless networks set up inside buildings.

Midmarket firm ACON Investments has recapitalized extreme discount retailer Bargain Holdings LLC, which also does business as Bargain Hunt. Based in La Vergne, Tenn., Bargain Hunt operates 90 locations across the U.S.

Monogram Capital Partners has invested an additional $12 million in Country Archer Jerky Co., a San Bernardino, Calif.-based maker of meat snacks. The Series C investment is financing the company’s expansion into a new 72,000-square-foot plant that will double its production capacity. Monogram first invested in the company in March 2016.

Ares Management Corp, has set up a $450 million revolving credit facility for agricultural finance and insurance company Ag Resource Management. The lending vehicle is secured by the Fort Worth, Texas-based company’s agricultural production loans to farmers, whose crops are covered by insurance and may be supported by government financing.

Gryphon Investors has agreed to back specialty plastic packaging maker Pacur LLC, according to a news release from the San Francisco-based firm. The Oshkosh, Wis.-based company focuses on serving makers of medical devices.

Andrés Rubio’s Iman Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Crealsa Investments, a digital banking specialist based in Valencia, Spain, Elisângela Mendonça reported for sister publication Private Equity News in London. Mr. Rubio, a former partner with Apollo Global Management Inc., started Iman in 2018.

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

The Raine Group said it has exited its investment in Parchment, an education technology platform for receiving academic and professional credentials. The investment bank, which first backed Parchment in 2012, sold the company to Credentials Solutions.

Pioneer Landscape Centers, a portfolio company of midmarket firm JLL Partners, said it has sold its Civil Construction unit, a provider of general contracting services, to Wildcat Construction

Carnegie Learning, an educational technology company backed by New York-based CIP Capital, has agreed to sell Paradigm Education Solutions to Kendall Hunt Publishing Co. Carnegie is narrowing its focus to the K-12 market. Paradigm focuses on post-secondary education.

Blackstone Group Inc. has collected more than $4.16 billion so far for its Blackstone Energy Partners III LP fund, including general partner commitments and parallel funds, the New York firm reported in a regulatory filing Tuesday.

Jordan Co. is seeking $4 billion for Resolute Fund V LP, its latest midmarket fund, according to a regulatory filing. The offering amount is larger than the $3.6 billion that the firm raised for Resolute Fund IV LP in 2018.

Nova Infrastructure Management has raised more than $159.4 million so far for its NOVA Infrastructure Fund I LP, a regulatory filing on Tuesday shows. The New York-based firm said the first commitment to the fund was received in January. Managing Partner Chris Beall and Partner Allison Kingsley founded Nova in 2017.

AlpInvest Partners-backed EagleTree Capital has raised at least $537.9 million for its EagleTree Partners V buyout fund, which has a target level of $1.1 billion, regulatory filings on Tuesday show. The firm said in January that backing from AlpInvest and other investors would let the employee-owned firm become the largest investor in the new fund. In two additional filings, the firm indicated that it had raised $189.8 million and $388.0 million for vehicles with slightly different names, without indicating whether the amounts overlap.

Angelo Gordon wrapped up fundraising for a fund aimed at backing investments in distressed and corporate special situations with $1.8 billion in commitments, far surpassing its $1 billion target, the New York-based firm said Tuesday. AG Credit Solutions Fund LP provides financing to resolve idiosyncratic liquidity and capital structure situations, the firm said.

U.K.-based midmarket private-equity firm August Equity has closed its fifth flagship fund with £300 million ($388 million) and backed its first deal, sister publication Private Equity News reports.

Cambridge Associates has rehired David Eisenberg, who began his career at the firm, to serve as a managing director and “outsourced chief investment officer” for client pension plans, based in Boston. He reports to Sona Menon, head of the North American pension practice. He joined the firm from Meketa Investment Group, where he was director of consulting services, according to his LinkedIn page.

Sweden's EQT Partners is relocating Ken Wong, managing director and head of EQT Australia and New Zealand, to a new office in Sydney. He was previously based in Singapore.

TPG Capital-backed Vice Media faces a payback challenge as new management grapples with a difficult turnaround for the new media business, Benjamin Mullin, Keach Hagey and Lillian Rizzo report for The Wall Street Journal. TPG invested $450 million in Vice at a valuation of $5.7 billion, and the media company agreed to start paying back TPG starting this year, putting a strain on the money-losing enterprise.

GK Investment Holding Group, acting as an adviser to GKSD Investment Holding, has indicated it is in the early stages of considering an offer to acquire NMC Health PLC, the hospital operator focused on the Middle East, NMC said Tuesday in a regulatory filing. GKSD, which is backed by Italian hospital chain Gruppo San Donato, would make a cash bid, if it decides to pursue a buyout, the filing with the London Stock Exchange said. But KKR & Co. has ruled out making an offer for the troubled Abu Dhabi-based private-hospital operator just days after NMC disclosed KKR’s interest, Philip Waller reports for Dow Jones Newswires.

The Federal Trade Commission ordered five big tech companies to provide detailed information about their previous acquisitions of small companies, expanding the agency’s investigation into possible antitrust concerns in digital markets. The companies--Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google owner Alphabet Inc.--must deliver information and documents relating to the scope, structure and purpose of their takeovers of smaller companies between 2010 and 2019, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Publicly traded private-equity firm Aurelius Equity Opportunities has counterattacked against an organization that claimed it overstated the value of its investments and operating earnings while acknowledging that it held a short position in the firm’s shares. Short sellers stand to gain from a decline in a stock’s price. While denying the claims made by the organization, Ontake Research, Aurelius said it made a complaint to the public prosecutor in Frankfurt, Selin Bucak reported for sister publication Financial News in London.

A slowdown in oil and gas deals has left many private-equity firms faced with the necessity of holding such assets longer than expected, and some may be forced to operate the businesses to generate returns, Dan Molinski reports for Dow Jones Newswires, citing Deloitte's Melinda Yee. Her firm’s figures show oil patch M&A totaled $156 billion last year, with the number of transactions trailing the five-year average by 40%.

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