Coronavirus cases continued to surge across many states that had reopened their economies and begun to relax restrictions on businesses and public gatherings, prompting Texas to hit the pause button on its reopening process. As the pandemic has put pressure on private-equity portfolio companies, one U.S. senator will be monitoring how their private-equity backers behave. As Chris Cumming reports, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to one of the industry’s top lobbying groups, the American Investment Council, demanding records of the industry’s efforts to unlock government stimulus funds. The AIC is preparing its response, so stay tuned.

In other news, Preeti Singh writes that the Orange County Employees Retirement System is ramping up its commitment to private-equity, while Luis Garcia has a story on how Brazilian investment firm TreeCorp rushed to shore up a burger chain it owned as the pandemic shut down stores. Finally, grocery chain Albertson’s priced its initial public offering, though the IPO didn't make quite the splash expected.

Have a safe and socially distant weekend. Now, on to the news..

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) is demanding the private-equity industry’s top Washington lobbying group disclose records of its attempts to unlock coronavirus relief funds, saying buyout firms may be trying to take advantage of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Chris Cumming reports. 

The Orange County Employees Retirement System has approved a plan that would increase its private-equity commitment pace in the coming years, WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Preeti Singh writes. The pension system is budgeting $550 million for private-equity commitments in the fiscal year starting July 1 as it works to reach its 13% target allocation to the asset class by 2027.

U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital agreed to buy insolvent airline Virgin Australia, charting a future involving fewer and smaller planes. Bain fended off competition from private-equity rival Cyrus Capital Partners for Virgin, which had about 35% of Australia’s domestic travel market before the grounding of aircraft due to the coronavirus pandemic. The contest illustrates how cashed-up investors are ready to bet on the aviation industry’s recovery, even as consumers remain wary of flying and many national borders stay closed.

Brazilian middle-market investor TreeCorp Investimentos acquired a controlling stake in Cabana Burger as the coronavirus pandemic hit the chain, but cost cuts and a shift to delivery helped restore revenue and profit, Luis Garcia writes for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Soon after the deal closed in March, São Paulo-based Cabana Burger Restaurante e Lanchonete SA had to shut its stores to comply with lockdown orders. That prompted the private-equity firm to launch a crisis response that included closely tracking the company’s performance and communicating daily with its management, said Danilo Soares, a TreeCorp partner.

Cerberus Capital-backed Albertsons Cos. generated significantly less cash for investors at its initial public offering than expected, Corrie Driebusch reports for The Wall Street Journal, as investors sold fewer shares than anticipated. A person familiar with the matter said the deal priced at $16 a share, about 11% below the minimum in a range Albertsons projected in a regulatory filing last week. In the filing, Albertsons had said the deal would include about 65.8 million shares being sold by current investors, including at least 24.5 million by Cerberus. 

Akouos Inc., an RA Capital-backed developer of gene therapies to treat certain types of hearing loss, plans to raise as much as $244.4 million through an initial public offering of about 12.5 million shares at an expected price of $17 each, a regulatory filing shows. RA Capital holds a roughly 7.3% stake in the Boston-based company, which would decline to about 4.5% after the IPO. Other backers include 5AM Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Pivotal bioVenture Partners and Sofinnova Investments. Akouos said it has raised about $162.7 million since 2016. 

Thomas H. Lee Partners-backed Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. aims to raise as much as $1.38 billion through an initial public offering, a regulatory filing shows. T.H. Lee doesn’t plan to sell any of its more than 104.3 million common shares in the IPO, though its stake in the provider of business information would decline to about 25% from over 33% currently, the filing indicates. T.H. Lee initially backed the Short Hills, N.J.-based company last year, according to the firm’s website.  Dun & Bradstreet plans to sell more than 65.7 million shares in a price range of $19 to $21 each and list them on the New York Stock Exchange, according to the filing. 

Great Hill Partners has agreed to acquire Storyblocks, a subscription-based stock media company that is backed by Updata Partners, QED Investors and North Atlantic Capital. The Arlington, Va.-based company, which offers video, images and other digital content, said it has seen downloads of digital content more than double since the start of 2020.

Publicly listed Chinese biotech company Hutchison China MediTech Limited has agreed to sell $100 million in shares to private-equity firm General Atlantic for $25 per American Depository Share. In a statement, the company said the deal includes a warrant with an 18-month term to purchase an additional $100 million in shares at a price of $32 each. 

A €3 billion ($3.37 billion) buyout offer led by KKR & Co., Providence Equity Partners and Cinven Capital to acquire Spanish telecommunications company MásMóvil Group faces a challenge from hedge fund Polygon Global Partners, Reuters reported Thursday. Polygon asked regulators in Spain to examine terms of the deal, claiming the price was artificially depressed by the March plunge in markets as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. The company’s shares rose above the €22.50 a share bid when it was made public on June 1. Polygon complained that the deal’s terms make it impossible to offer a competing proposal, Reuters reported, citing a June 23 letter from the hedge fund.

Planful Inc., a financial planning and analysis software platform, said it has raised a new round of equity funding from technology-focused Vector Capital and existing investors StarVest Partners and Monroe Capital.

Resolute Capital Partners has agreed to invest $20 million in private equity firm Finance Technology Leverage LLC to fuel its investments in technological innovations in the energy, life science, industrial and aerospace sectors.

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

Carlyle Group Inc. has sold automated software testing tools provider Eggplant Ltd. to Keysight Technologies Inc. in a deal valued at $330 million, Colin Kellaher reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Keysight, a technology company based in  Santa Rosa, Calif., said Eggplant’s revenue reached $38 million last year. The London-based company uses artificial intelligence and analytics to automate the creation and execution of test programs. Carlyle acquired the company, then known as TestPlant Europe Ltd., in 2016, through its Carlyle Europe Technology Partners III fund.

Petra Capital Partners has sold portfolio company United States Appraisals to Stewart Information Services Corp. in Houston, adding to its digital real-estate services business. Petra initially backed the Overland Park, Kan., company in 2015. Earlier this month, the Nashville, Tenn.-based firm finished raising capital for its Petra Growth Fund IV, closing with $208 million in commitments.

Health-care focused Great Point Partners has agreed to sell its portfolio company Citra Health Solutions to Cedar Gate Technologies, which is a portfolio company of Chicago-based buyout firm GTCR. Raleigh, N.C.-based Citra Health offers a software platform for health-care payers and providers. Great Point backed the company out of Great Point Partners II LP, a $215 million fund closed in 2013.

Venture investment firm Material Impact in Boston said it has raised $200 million for its Material Impact Fund II to invest in companies focused on innovations in materials. Previous investments include materials used to create hand-like grippers for robots used in food processing and single-use soap slips.

Blackstone Group Inc. has added Alphabet Inc. and Google Inc. Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat to its board of directors. Ms. Porat joined Google in 2015 from Morgan Stanley, where she spent 27 years ending as an executive vice president and CFO of the investment bank.

Middle-market debt investor Orion Energy Partners has brought on several investment professionals, including Scott Weinstein, Zhao Yang and Jon Saelinger in New York and Varun Garg as an associate in Houston. Mr. Weinstein, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. veteran, was hired as managing director, technology and innovation. Ms. Yang is the firm’s vice president and senior counsel and joins from Nomura's infrastructure and power finance group. Mr. Saelinger, a senior associate, also came to the firm from Goldman Sachs while Mr. Garg came aboard from ArcLight Capital Partners. Orion provides capital to energy infrastructure companies primarily through senior secured loans.

Invest Europe, the private-equity trade body, has announced that Thierry Baudon will remain as chair of the organisation following the sudden and unexpected death of chair-elect Roderick “Rory” Macmillan, Selin Bucak writes for sister publication Private Equity News. Mr. Macmillan, who was managing director, global government affairs, at buyout group Carlyle Group, passed away last month. He was due to succeed Mr. Baudon this month.

Global alternative asset manager White Oak Global Advisors said it has hired Susan George as head of asset management for the firm. Ms. George most recently spent 12 years at private credit firm Garrison Investment, where she was head of corporate asset management and a member of the firm’s investment committee.

Federal regulators announced Thursday a rollback of the post-financial crisis restrictions on banks, including the Volcker Rule, which limits on investing in private-equity and venture-capital funds. That rule, adopted in 2013, spurred numerous banks to spin off their private-equity groups. Five federal regulatory agencies came together to loosen this rule, which could make it easier for banks to once again dip their feet into private-equity and venture investing. The Wall Street Journal’s Paul Kiernan reports on the slate of banking overhauls, including the changes to the Volcker Rule.

Private-equity-backed grocery chain Fresh Market posted first-quarter results this week that highlighted a sales boost due to the coronavirus pandemic, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy’s Alexander Gladstone writes, citing people familiar with the matter. The Apollo Global Management-owned company reported a 12% jump in sales in the period to $447 million, and a 60% year-over-year uptick in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to $53 million. The earnings growth was driven by consumers eating at home during the pandemic, as well as a 25% increase in average transaction size as shoppers consolidated their trips to the grocery store, the people said.

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