Good morning. With more cities and states nudging their economies toward what will likely be a new normal, private-equity players are wasting no time. William Louch and Preeti Singh report that Ares Management is chasing €9 billion for a new European credit fund, while Preeti also has scoops on K1 Investment Management’s latest exit and a new firm that has collected its debut fund. Meanwhile we have a report from Will regarding Forescout’s lawsuit against Advent over a buyout on the rocks. All this and much more awaits you, so please wade in...

Ares Management Corp. is back pitching an even bigger fund to investors less than two years after raising a record €6.5 billion ($7.1 billion) in 2018 for its fourth European credit vehicle, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s William Louch and Preeti Singh report, citing people familiar with the situation. Ares aims to collect €9 billion for its Ares Capital Europe V fund, the people said. Los Angeles-based Ares is the latest large investment firm to seek more money from backers to invest in markets hammered by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Rivals like Fortress Investment Group LLC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. are all raising cash to seize upon the upheaval.

Private-equity firm K1 Investment Management LLC has posted its second exit deal during the coronavirus pandemic, which has been throwing a wet blanket over many such transactions, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Preeti Singh reports. The investor in enterprise software businesses is selling its FMG Suite LLC portfolio company to Aurora Capital Partners, according to Taylor Beaupain, a K1 managing partner who led the deal. FMG develops cloud-based marketing software used by financial services professionals.

Rallyday Partners LLC, a new private-equity firm focused on lower midmarket deals, closed its debut fund slightly above a $150 million target, despite challenging conditions for first-time fund managers, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Preeti Singh reports. The Denver-based firm raised $153 million for Rallyday Partners Fund I LP by the time it closed the vehicle to new investors, ending a six-month fundraising process in late March, according to Casey Peters, founder and managing partner at Pacenote Capital LLC, a placement firm that marketed the fund. The fund’s first close was at $120 million in December, Mr. Peters said.

Apollo Global Management Inc. led a $1.75 billion investment in convertible preferred shares of grocery store chain Albertsons Cos., giving the firm the equivalent of a 17.5% equity stake in the company. Apollo made the deal through its Hybrid Value business, which makes debt, equity and real property investments, and was joined by its $210 billion credit platform, a person familiar with the matter said. The person said a small number of institutions that share Apollo’s investment thesis for Albertsons also participated. In early March, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Cerberus Capital-backed supermarket chain based in Boise, Idaho was preparing an IPO. But that was before shutdowns began to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Bain Capital Life Sciences led a $215 million investment round in drug developer Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc., joined by RA Capital Management, Perceptive Advisors, Rock Springs Capital and Adage Capital Management as well as others. Drugs the Boston-based company is researching include a therapy for hospitalized adults with moderate Covid-19 infections. The new funds will help support testing of the new drug, called AT-527, which is near a phase 2 clinical trial.

Warburg Pincus led a $75 million investment in software company BetterCloud Inc., bringing the software-as-a-service provider’s total external funding to $187 million so far. Existing investors Accel, Bain Capital Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, New Amsterdam Growth Capital, Greycroft and e.ventures also participated. The New York-based company said the coronavirus pandemic has boosted demand for its cloud-based office software services.

Streaming platform MasterClass, which offers classes taught by celebrities, on Wednesday said it raised $100 million in a Series E funding round amid a surge in demand sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, Colin Kelaher writes for Dow Jones Newswires. The San Francisco company, which operates under the legal name Yanka Industries Inc., said Fidelity Management & Research Co. led the round, with participation from new investors Owl Ventures and 01 Advisors and existing investors New Enterprise Associates, IVP, Atomico and NextEquity.

Bain Capital’s Double Impact fund has backed Broadstep Behavioral Health Inc., a provider of services to people with intellectual, developmental or behavioral disabilities. Formerly named Phoenix Care Systems Inc., Broadstep operates 86 facilities in five states and plans to expand to provide a national services platform, according to a news release from Bain Capital.

Growth investor Activant Capital led a $30 million investment in Zethos Inc., a San Francisco-based company doing business as Truework. Returning investors Sequoia Capital and Khosla Ventures also participated. The company provides employment-verification services to businesses.

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

Emerging-markets specialist Actis has sold its interest in GHL Bank to FirstRand Group’s First National Bank Ghana. Actis took over the GHL investment last year when it assumed management of the Abraaj Africa Fund III. The fund acquired mortgage lender GHL in 2016, according to a news release.

Czech firm Benson Oak Capital has fully exited Klikpojisteni.cz AS, an online insurance brokerage and policy comparison service in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Elisângela Mendonça reports for sister publication Private Equity News. TA Associates-backed Netrisk Group acquired the Prague-based business. MCI EuroVentures has a minority stake in Netrisk. Benson Oak initially backed Klik as a startup in 2011.

Rallyday Partners LLC, a new private-equity firm focused on lower mid-market deals, closed its debut fund slightly above a $150 million target, despite challenging conditions for first-time fund managers, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Preeti Singh reports. Denver-based Rallyday Partners raised $153 million for Rallyday Partners Fund I LP by the time it closed the vehicle to new investors, ending a six-month fundraising process in late March, according to Casey Peters, founder and managing partner at Pacenote Capital LLC, a placement firm that marketed the fund. The fund’s first close was at $120 million in December, Mr. Peters said.

Vance Street Capital, a Los Angeles-based midmarket firm focused partly on aerospace and defense, is seeking $375 million for Vance Street Capital III LP, according to a regulatory filing. CSP Securities is placing the fund, the filing indicates. Vance Street targets investments in companies with between $30 million and $300 million in enterprise value and between $3 million and $30 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, according to the firm’s website. In addition to aerospace and defense the firm focuses on sectors that include medical components and equipment, as well as engineered industrial components and solutions.

Beijing-based Oceanpine Capital has collected at least $200 million for its second investment fund, Oceanpine Capital Fund II, according to a news release. The firm said it had held a first close on the fund. Oceanpine, founded by Dave Chenn, raised $400 million for its debut fund in 2016. The firm said it has done six deals from the new fund, committing about $100 million in early to late-stage growth companies in the technology sector.

Distressed situation investment firm Monarch Alternative Capital has collected more than $454.6 million so far for its Monarch Capital Partners V LP fund while also reporting nearly $474.9 million has been raised as of Tuesday for its Monarch Capital Partners Offshore V LP vehicle, regulatory filings show. The New York-based asset manager invests in debt through an opportunistic credit strategy, according to a separate regulatory filing. The firm had about $4.13 billion in assets under management at the end of last year.

Periscope Equity, a Chicago-based private-equity firm focused on lower midmarket technology-enabled service and software companies, is seeking $200 million for Periscope Equity II LP and a parallel fund, according to regulatory filings. Periscope typically targets companies with $10 million to $50 million in revenue and $2 million to $8 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, according to the firm’s website. M2O Private Fund Advisors LLC is placing the fund, the filings indicate. Periscope Equity was founded by Partner Steven Jarmel, who previously worked at Bridge Investments. The firm raised more than $104 million for its debut fund back in 2018, according to a press release issued at the time.

Advent International faces a lawsuit after stalling its $1.9 billion takeover of U.S. cybersecurity company Forescout Technologies Inc. Forescout sued the private-equity firm in Delaware's Chancery Court Wednesday, claiming that Advent had no justification for pulling out of the deal, and asking the court to compel Advent to close the transaction, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s William Louch writes. Advent agreed to buy the San Jose, Calif.-based security software provider to companies and government agencies on Feb. 6, before shutdowns to contain the coronavirus pandemic hammered the economy.

Blackstone Group Inc.’s proposed €1.36 billion ($1.47 billion) acquisition of Dutch banking company NIBC Holding NV remains in doubt even after concerns about the financing was eliminated by NIBC’s agreement on when to pay an expected stock dividend, the New York firm said. Blackstone said “substantial uncertainty remains” regarding whether the deal will pass muster with regulators in the Netherlands. The firm said the relevant regulators have offered no sign of their views regarding the proposed deal.

The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario has committed $250 million to Apollo Global Management Inc.’s new Apollo Accord Fund III B LP, which aims to take advantage of periods of dislocation and illiquidity. The Toronto-based organization invests pension funds from public-sector institutions and oversees about 70.3 billion Canadian dollars ($50.6 billion) in assets. The Apollo fund said it had yet to record a commitment in a U.S. regulatory filing dated April 21, while the Ontario manager said it agreed to put its money in the fund on April 23, marking its first investment with an Apollo fund.

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