Good Thursday morning! As the U.S. prepares for a holiday weekend, a senseless tragedy in a Texas classroom casts a pall over what is normally a celebration of summer. It certainly weighs on anyone with a pulse.

As for private-equity news, our Chris Cumming delves into the premise that private funds are attracting qualified individuals as a less cyclical investment alternative. Many of the biggest fund sponsors such as Apollo have been tailoring products for the retail market to bring them in.

Also, our Preeti Singh breaks news that Bain Capital will soon hit the fundraising trail pitching its latest Asia investment vehicle, citing people who know. The Boston firm is likely to at least match its most recent Asia buyout fund, which raked in $4.65 billion when it closed in 2018.

We have those and many more stories summarized and linked for you below, including progress for Todd Boehly’s Chelsea FC bid and Alec Gores’ huge SPAC deal for car maker Polestar, so please wade in…

Individual investors are increasing their bets on private-equity vehicles, hoping that these funds’ long-term horizon will offer a refuge from volatile public stock and fixed-income markets, Chris Cumming writes for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Private-fund managers say inflows of money from wealthy individual investors have increased this year, and asset managers expect the trend to continue as higher interest rates and inflation weigh on publicly traded assets.

Bain Capital is preparing to pitch its next Asia-focused buyout fund to institutional investors and is likely to raise at least $4.65 billion for the vehicle, Preeti Singh reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity, citing people familiar with the matter. The Boston-based firm plans to begin the formal fundraising for its fifth Asia fund this summer, the people said. Bain Capital hasn’t disclosed a target for the vehicle but it will likely at least match the $4.65 billion it collected for a predecessor fund, Bain Capital Asia Fund IV LP, which closed in 2018, the people said.

A group led by Eldridge Industries’ Todd Boehly has won approval from the U.K. government for its deal to buy the Chelsea FC soccer club for £4.25 billion, or around $5.3 billion, Max Colchester reports for The Wall Street Journal. The U.K. Premier League team previously belonged to Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch who was sanctioned in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. After Mr. Boehly’s group struck a deal with Mr. Abramovich, the U.K. government had to sign off on the transaction to ensure it complied with sanctions restrictions. But proceeds from the sale are earmarked for charity and will go into a U.K.-controlled account. The deal still needs European Union approval to close. Mr. Boehly’s group edged out others led by Bain Capital’s Stephen Pagliuca and private-equity veterans Josh Harris and David Blitzer.

Global Infrastructure Partners in New York is selling half of its interest in Clearway Energy Group, which holds a 42% economic interest in publicly traded Clearway Energy Inc., to TotalEnergies SE in France for $1.6 billion plus a roughly half interest in a TotalEnergies unit that owns 50.6% of publicly traded SunPower Corp., according to an emailed news release. Clearway’s renewable energy assets have a production capacity of up to 5.7 gigawatts and it owns projects in development with 22 gigawatts more. Sunpower develops residential solar-power systems.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice and the TPG Global arm of TPG Inc. agreed to take private pet and animal health company Covetrus Inc. at $21 per share, valuing the business at about $4 billion, according to news releases. The deal includes loans totaling $1.95 billion and a $300 million credit facility, a regulatory filing shows. Clayton Dubilier is investing through its Clayton Dubilier & Rice Fund XI LP and TPG through its TPG Partners VIII LP and TPG Healthcare Partners LP funds. Clayton Dubilier already owns about 24% of Covetrus stock.

Potential bids to take private retailer Kohl’s Corp., albeit at a lower value than previously indicated, prompted a nearly 12% gain in the company’s stock Wednesday, Dean Seal reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Sycamore Partners and Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co. have already made offers for the Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based chain. Reuters reported early Wednesday that firm offers are in the works from bidders that include Sycamore and Brookfield Asset Management Inc., an investment firm in Toronto with substantial commercial real estate holdings.

GTCR-backed aircraft internet services provider Gogo Inc. is reducing its pile of debt as interest rates rise, a move that comes after the company shed its commercial aviation unit to focus solely on corporate and private planes, Kristin Broughton reports for CFO Journal. Broomfield, Colo.-based Gogo anticipates its annual interest expenses going forward will be around $33 million, compared with $131 million three years earlier. GTCR in Chicago held a 29% stake in Gogo after converting company debt into shares in April 2021.

Brookfield Asset Management Inc.’s reinsurance affiliate has closed its acquisition of publicly traded multi-line insurer American National Group Inc. for $190 per share in an all-cash deal valued at $5.1 billion, according to a news release. Toronto-based Brookfield plans to keep the company’s headquarters in Galveston, Texas. American National provides life, property and casualty and annuity lines and reported holding $30.87 billion in total assets at the end of March. The insurer reported a 3% year-on-year gain in first-quarter operating income to $79.6 million or $2.97 per share earlier this month, and said it ended the quarter with $138.4 billion of in-force life insurance.

TPG Inc.’s TPG Rise Climate fund is investing $300 million in Summit Carbon Solutions joining Tiger Infrastructure Partners in backing the carbon storage business, according to a news release. The Rise Climate fund investment is part of a $1 billion transaction that includes Tiger Infrastructure and several strategic investors.

Healthcare-focused investment firm OrbiMed and venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures co-led a Series A $75 million investment in Terremoto Biosciences, a biotechnology company co-founded by Dr. Peter Thompson, an OrbiMed partner and Terremoto Biosciences chief executive.

Fortress Investment Group LLC and Westlake Financial have invested another $8 million in Covered Holdings, adding to the $200 million that the firms have already put into the company, a news release stated. Covered Holdings is a credit platform focused on providing financing for healthcare patients.

Kelso & Co. portfolio company Eagle Family Foods Group is buying General Mills Inc.’s Helper main meals and Suddenly Salad side dish businesses in a roughly $610 million cash deal. Kelso initially acquired Eagle Foods in a corporate carveout transaction from J.M. Smucker Co. in 2015.

Boston-based midmarket firm Westview Capital Partners is backing Huntsville, Ala.-based Summit7 Systems, a provider of cybersecurity and compliance technology and services for the aerospace and defense industry.

Mountain Group Partners and NovaQuest Capital Management led a $35 million investment in Targan Inc., joined by existing backers including Oval Park Capital, according to a news release. The Morrisville, N.C. company is developing animal health products for use in the poultry, aquaculture and swine industries.

Aareal Bank AG shareholders approved a bid to take the German lender private from Advent International, Centerbridge Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s CPP Investment Board Europe, according to a news release. The Wiesbaden, Germany-based real estate finance provider received support from more than 60% of shareholder votes, the threshold that needed to be met for the deal to move forward. The buyers are offering €33, or $35.25, per share to acquire the lender in a transaction that remains subject to regulatory approval.

Shadowbriar Capital Partners has acquired a controlling stake in Benada Aluminum Products LLC from Big Shoulders Capital and ABGB Capital, which remain investors in the aluminum building products producer. The Sanford, Fla.-based company serves customers across the Southeastern U.S.

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

A blank check company led by Gores Group founder Alec Gores is moving forward with a deal to acquire and bring public Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar Performance AB in a deal that reportedly values the Volvo sibling at $21 billion, according to regulatory filings and news releases. Polestar, like the Volvo Car Group, is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., which is controlled by its billionaire founder, Li Shufu. Polestar was expected to receive an additional $250 million investment when the deal closes, The Wall Street Journal reported in September, when people said that special-purpose acquisition company Gores Guggenheim Inc. was in talks to combine with Polestar. The company said it produced 29,000 vehicles last year and recently agreed to provide car-rental company Hertz Global Holdings Inc. with as many as 65,000 vehicles over five years.

Carlyle Group has sold business process and information technology outsourcing company VXI Global Solutions LLC to fellow private-equity firm Bain Capital, according to a news release. The Los Angeles-based company has more than 35,000 employees working from 42 locations across regions including North America, Asia and Europe and was previously a Bain Capital portfolio company from 2012 to 2016, when Carlyle acquired a 70% stake, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

First Reserve has agreed to sell its half interest in Crestwood Permian Basin Holdings LLC for $320 million worth of units of Crestwood Equity Partners LP, a publicly traded master limited partnership, plus the assumption of asset-level debt, according to a news release. Stamford, Conn.-based First Reserve initially invested in the Houston-based joint-venture with Crestwood in November 2016, according to its website.

KKR & Co. said it has closed on $1.1 billion for its inaugural KKR Asia Credit Opportunities Fund, which it began raising in late 2020 and for which it had collected more than $579.1 million from eight investors by last June, regulatory filings indicate. The New York-based firm said it contributed more than $100 million to the fund from its balance sheet and employees. KKR said it plans to use the fund for private credit investment in the Asia-Pacific region, which is led by Ming Lu in Hong Kong. The newly closed fund marks another move by KKR to expand in the region over the past few years, Yifan Wang reports for Dow Jones Newswires. In 2021, the firm closed a $15 billion Asia private-equity fund and a $3.9 billion Asia infrastructure fund, among others.

Midmarket private-equity firm Quad C Management has raised around $1.7 billion for Quad-C Partners X LP to back companies with enterprise values ranging from $100 million to $500 million, according to a press release. The latest fund surpassed the $1.1 billion that the Charlottesville, Va.-based firm raised for its prior fund and also included more than $115 million in commitments from individual investors, the release stated. Quad-C has already invested nearly 21% of the new fund.

Correction: Angelo Gordon & Co. manages about $36 billion of credit assets. Wednesday’s newsletter incorrectly said Angelo Gordon manages about $36 billion of assets, leaving out the word “credit.”

Pantheon has named Eimear Palmer as a partner and global head of ESG, a new position at the London firm that oversees its environmental, social and governance investment strategy, according to an emailed news release. She was most recently a managing director and head of responsible investment at Intermediate Capital Group and is a founder of the U.K. network of Initiative Climat International, which works with investment firms on climate-change issues.

Sustainable infrastructure firm Green Rock Energy Partners said it has named Christine Gabbianelli as principal and head of investor relations at the firm. Ms. Gabbianelli previously worked at secondary advisory firm Fairview Capital Group, where she was head of investor relations, according to a press release.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to propose expansive new requirements Wednesday for investment funds that try to appeal to public concerns about climate change or social justice, Paul Kiernan reports for The Wall Street Journal. SEC commissioners are set to vote on two proposals that aim to give investors more information about mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and similar vehicles that take into account so-called ESG factors—meaning environmental, social and corporate-governance—when building their portfolios.

Silver Lake co-Chief Executive Egon Durban failed to win a majority of votes from Twitter Inc. shareholders in his bid for a new term as a director of the social media giant, which is subject to a $44 billion takeover offer from Elon Musk, Meghan Bobrowsky reports for The Wall Street Journal, citing a preliminary tally from Twitter’s annual meeting Wednesday. Under an investor agreement with the company, Silver Lake is entitled to a board seat. However, Mr. Durban has offered to resign from the board. The firm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russian oligarchs and elites might look to use investment advisers such as private-equity firms as a low-risk way to evade U.S. sanctions because of the industry’s vulnerability to illicit finance, a top U.S. Treasury Department official said. Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Wednesday at a conference hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association that his agency is scrutinizing the illicit finance risks facing the investment adviser industry and wants to engage with it to determine whether additional rules are needed to help prevent the sector from being used for nefarious purposes, Mengqi Sun reports for Risk & Compliance Journal.

Bahraini private-equity firm Investcorp, which recently bid to buy soccer club AC Milan from hedge fund Elliott Management in West Palm Beach, Fla., is determined to bulk up in sports, whether or not it wins the famous Italian club, Alex Frangos reports for Dow Jones Newswires, citing Hazem Ben-Gacem, Investcorp co-chief executive. Investcorp may look to buy other soccer clubs or even smaller sport franchises or Chinese badminton, he said. Asked about having to compete against those who bid for prestige or non-economic reasons, Investcorp’s executive chairman, Mohammed Alardhi, said “they can be your exit strategy.” The executives spoke on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Moelis & Co. founder Ken Moelis views current macroeconomic conditions as a “revision economy” rather than a recession, Charley Grant reports from Davos, Switzerland for Dow Jones Newswires. “To me, a recession means you go backwards,” the investment banker said in an interview Wednesday at the World Economic Forum. “Lots of things are going to change, but we’re not going backwards.” He said capital remains available for companies despite rising interest rates.

Send us your tips, suggestions and feedback. Write to:

Maria Armental; Ted Bunker; Chris Cumming; Luis Garcia; Laura Kreutzer; Preeti Singh; Chitra Vemuri.

Follow us on Twitter:@wsjpe, @LHVGarcia, @LauraKreutzer