Good morning and welcome to the WSJ Pro Private Equity newsletter.

Today Rod James has a scoop on Macquarie Asset Management's $8 billion fundraising haul to invest in infrastructure, a strategy that could benefit from being seen as a safe option amid market volatility.

Next, the Journal's Ben Glickman and Alana Pipe make the case that the mergers and acquisitions market is not as bad as most private-equity dealmakers think, with more megadeals pushing up the transaction volume this year.

Now onto the news ...

Macquarie Asset Management closed its latest fund dedicated to investing in infrastructure assets in the Americas, Rod James reports for WSJ Pro. The investment arm of Australian giant Macquarie Group collected a little over $6.8 billion for Macquarie Infrastructure Partners VI, plus $1.3 billion of co-investment capital to be deployed alongside the fund.

The U.S. mergers-and-acquisition market may be better than dealmakers think, with more large deals this year despite fewer deals overall, the Journal’s Ben Glickman and Alana Pipe report. While the number of deals is down, their total value so far this year is up 3.8% from last year, to $750 billion, led by huge recent transactions such as Google’s $32 billion agreement to purchase cybersecurity startup Wiz, and Charter Communications’s $22 billion deal for Cox Communications.

WSJ Pro Private Equity is embarking on its latest Survey of Secondary Market Buyers, which we use as the basis for compiling our annual special report on the latest trends shaping the secondary market. Secondary buyers can complete the survey by June 20 through the following link.

Carlyle Group joined Abu Dhabi National Oil unit XRG and Abu Dhabi Development Holding in a takeover offer worth some $18.72 billion for Santos, Australia’s second-largest producer of oil and natural gas, David Winning reports for the Journal.  The group is offering 8.89 Australian dollars a share, equivalent to $5.76, following two proposals made in March worth A$8.00 a share and A$8.60 a share, respectively. Santos indicated that it looks favorably on the proposal.

Buyout firm KKR & Co. is acquiring independent power producer Zenith Energy from a group that includes private-equity firm Pacific Equity Partners, Foresight Group and the pension trust established by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union in Toronto, known as OPTrust. The company specializes in renewable and hybrid power systems used in both remote locations and within urban centers. KKR won an auction that also drew interest from EQT AB and CVC Capital Partners, according to the Australia's Financial Review newspaper. The Australian newspaper said the KKR deal values the company at more than 2 billion Australian dollars, or about $1.3 billion.

Waterous Energy Fund-backed Strathcona Resources got a cold-shoulder reception from Canadian oil company MEG Energy, which said a takeover offer equivalent to about 23.27 Canadian dollars per share, or roughly $17.13 each, was inadequate, Adriano Marchese reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Strathcona, which already owns 9.2% of MEG, made the proposal on May 15. Reuters said the cash and stock bid values the oil-sands producer at nearly C$6 billion, or $4.42 billion.

AE Industrial Partners bought Air Transport Components, which repairs and maintains aircraft components, and intends to use the company as the basis for a new platform focused on the sector.

Summit Partners invested in RIS Rx, a company founded in 2020 that offers software for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Growth-equity firm PSG Equity invested in Button, which makes mobile technology for retailers and is backed by Redpoint Ventures, Norwest Ventures and Icon Ventures.

The alternatives arm of Goldman Sachs has joined Hg in backing Danish construction-industry analytics provider Trackunit. Hg reinvested in the business alongside Goldman's private-equity strategy.

Providence Equity Partners-backed 365 Retail Markets is taking private self-service technology provider Cantaloupe for $11.20 per share, giving the company an equity value of about $848 million, Chris Wack reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The Malvern, Pa.-based company provides software and other technology to support self-service payment stations at retail stores and other venues.

Ribbit Capital led a $130 million growth investment in private-markets software supplier Juniper Square, joined by Fifth Wall, Blue Owl Capital and others in a transaction that values the agentic artificial intelligence company at $1.1 billion. The San Francisco-based company is developing its agentic AI programs to meet the needs of private fund managers.

Fortress Investment Group and private-credit specialist Edge Focus agreed to buy up to $500 million in loans from consumer-finance company Happy Money, allowing it to expand its personal-lending business.

Paine Schwartz Partners, a firm focused on the food chain, invested in Chex Finer Foods, a specialty food distributor headquartered in Mansfield, Mass.

Ardian in Paris refinanced investment-advisory firm Cyrus Group's debt and is providing additional credit to the firm for expansion. Ardian previously backed the French firm's purchase of a minority interest in its operations from BlackFin Capital Partners in 2018, when Cyrus had €3.4 billion in assets under management. Cyrus now manages about €19 billion.

Temasek Holdings-backed 65 Equity Partners is investing in doctor-led management services organization Allied OMS, acquiring a minority stake in the Southlake, Texas-based business. Allied OMS focuses its services on the oral and maxillofacial surgery practices, with more than 50 client organizations across the U.S.

Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe invested in Constitution Surgery Alliance, a developer and operator of ambulatory surgery centers, currently managing 16 sites in five states.

Bain Capital intends to offer up to $500 million in senior secured notes to restaurant-franchisee company Sizzling Platter.

Financial-services investor J.C. Flowers bought insurance company Wefox Italia.

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

Aethon Energy Management, whose co-investors include RedBird Capital Partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is in talks with Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi to sell certain assets for about $8 billion, Benoît Morenne reports for the Journal. An agreement would see Mitsubishi acquire natural-gas fields, pipelines and other assets that Aethon owns in the Haynesville Shale, a giant natural-gas field straddling east Texas and northwest Louisiana. RedBird has invested alongside Aethon since at least 2015 while the Canadian pension joined both the following year.

Advent International is selling the Ultra PCS unit of defense-technology company Cobham Ultra Group to strategic buyer Eaton for $1.55 billion. Advent acquired a majority interest in Cobham through a buyout alongside minority backer Blackstone in January 2020, according to research provider PitchBook Data. The Boston buyout firm has been selling pieces of the company recently, including a roughly $2 billion sale of an advanced electronics unit to Honeywell International about a year ago.

Summit Partners is selling secure-access technology manufacturer Elatec to strategic buyer Allegion for €330 million, or roughly $381.2 million. Allegion said it expects Elatec to generate 2026 sales of €60 million to €65 million. Summit first backed the German company in 2018, according to the firm's website. 

Caris Life Sciences, a cancer-focused diagnostics company whose backers include Sixth Street Partners and J.H. Whitney Capital Partners, has raised its expected price range for an initial public offering to $19 to $20 per share, up from $16 to $18 previously. Sixth Street in Dallas holds about 11% of the company’s shares while J.H. Whitney in New Canaan, Conn., has about 9%, a regulatory filing shows.

Technology-focused PSG Equity sold its minority interest in hospitality-software maker SevenRooms to DoorDash, which is acquiring the whole New York company for $1.2 billion. Boston-based PSG first backed SevenRooms in 2020.

OpenGate Capital is selling display maker ScioTeq to Tikehau Capital. OpenGate acquired the aviation and defense supplier through a carveout from TransDigm Group in 2021.

Avenue Capital Group closed the sale of energy transition-focused assets to Partners Group at an enterprise value of around $2.2 billion. Avenue sold the assets, which include 11 natural gas-fired power plants in California that the firm first acquired in 2016, from its Avenue Golden Continuation Fund. 

Trivest Partners sold delivery company Unosquare to Ridgemont Equity Partners.

Tikehau Capital set up a new private-equity fund focused on the European defense sector with backing from insurers Société Générale Assurances, CNP Assurances and Carac Group, which collectively committed an initial €150 million, or $174 million, sister publication Private Equity News reports. 

Blackstone hired Joseph Cassanelli, former co-head of Lazard’s U.S. financial-institutions group, as a senior managing director in the tactical opportunities group, where he will focus on the financial-services sector.

Turning Rock Partners hired Shahid Khoja as head of credit. Khoja previously held the same role at Z Capital Group.

Hellman & Friedman-backed home-décor retailer At Home Group filed for bankruptcy on Monday, after struggling to stay afloat through recent trade tensions and U.S. tariffs, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reports. The Coppell, Texas-based retail chain, bought by the firm in 2021, said it needed to reduce its nearly $2 billion debt load after facing declining demand and an uncertain outlook following the imposition of tariffs on imports from China, where the company sources most of its merchandise. 

S&P Global Ratings wants more regulatory scrutiny of private markets, saying in a report published Sunday that greater transparency in the industry could strengthen investor confidence and help prevent potential problems. S&P noted regulatory inquiries and actions in the U.S., the European Union, the U.K., Singapore, Australia and Canada, including with a focus on growing participation by retail investors.

Hunter Point Capital is acquiring a roughly 16% interest in the Equitix fund-management arm of Tetragon Financial Group at an implied enterprise value of about £1.3 billion, or roughly $1.76 billion. U.K.-based TFG Asset Management is selling a stake of about 14% while the rest is coming from Equitix management and two individual investors. Tetragon acquired a controlling interest in Equitix, which now manages £11.7 billion, in 2015 and will remain its majority owner. 

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