Good morning and TGIF! Today our Chris Cumming and Rod James parse President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill and detail how the private equity industry dodged one bullet after another.

Next, Rod has a scoop on Brian Sheth's Haveli Investments, which closed on $4.5 billion for its debut flagship fund—the most any firm has raised for such a vehicle, according to PitchBook Data research.

Also, our Maria Armental reports on surging exit deal activity in Europe in the just-ended quarter. 

Finally, the Journal offers a peek into the tension-filled world of private-equity recruiting among young bankers. Speed dating-style interviews into the wee hours is just one feature of the frenzied search for people to fill PE jobs—two or three years down the road.

We have these and many more great reads, deals and other news condensed and linked for you below, so please slide on down ...

The Republicans’ huge tax-and-policy bill mostly left private equity alone, and the industry is just fine with that, WSJ Pro's Chris Cumming and Rod James write. Private-equity lobbyists spent more than a year in behind-the-scenes negotiations for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Trump signed into law July 4. The industry mobilized to defend its most valuable tax provision—the controversial carried-interest rate on capital gains—from Trump’s threats to eliminate it, and to make sure it didn’t suffer unexpected losses in the Republicans’ sweeping overhaul of the tax code. In the end, none of the industry’s fears came to pass.

Haveli Investments, a private-equity shop set up in 2021 by former Vista Equity Partners dealmaker Brian Sheth, raked in $4.5 billion for its first main buyout fund before closing the vehicle, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm’s new Haveli Investments Software Fund I is the largest debut flagship private-equity fund ever raised, exceeding the $3.9 billion collected by Patient Square Capital, a healthcare-focused investment formed in 2020 by KKR & Co. veteran Jim Momtazee, according to industry researcher PitchBook Data.

Private-equity firms are flocking to Europe, making it the most active exit market by number of transactions this year and the only region that saw deal activity rise in the second quarter, WSJ Pro's Maria Armental reports, citing preliminary data. Overall European deal activity rose 3% in the period from the previous three months, according to research provider PitchBook Data. In this year's first half, the number of private-equity exit deals reached 515 in Europe and 494 in North America, the data show.

Speed dating-style interviews that can drag on until 3 a.m. Job offers that require a response within a day. A fear that your current boss might find out what you’re doing. All for positions that won’t even start for two to three years. The Journal offers a look at the frenzied world of private-equity recruiting, where recent college graduates who have barely started their first gigs as analysts at big banks vie to secure coveted positions at buyout firms.

A failed GOP effort to block a jumble of state AI privacy and security laws has developers calling for “consistent standards.”

It’s never been easier to create your own app with “vibe coding.” Now, professional software engineers are bringing it into the enterprise.

Some creators say their work has been wrongly tagged as AI on tech platforms, hurting their reputation, while some AI-generated ads get through undisclosed.

Technology-investment firm SurgoCap Partners and asset manager T. Rowe Price led a more than $820 million investment in private-markets financial technology company iCapital, Miriam Gottfried reports for the Journal. The deal values the company legally named Institutional Capital Network at over $7.5 billion.

Blackstone raised its bid for London-listed Warehouse REIT to 113.4 pence per share in an offer that values the property holding company at about £489 million, or roughly $664.4 million, Maitane Sardon reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The increase puts Blackstone's bid above a competing 109.5 pence offer from peer company Tritax Big Box REIT. Both offers would also include an expected 1.6 pence dividend to be paid later this month, putting Blackstone's offer at 115 pence and Tritax at 110.9 pence. Warehouse shares rose 2.7% to close at 115.4 pence in London following the new Blackstone offer.

Partners Group in Switzerland is acquiring a majority stake in non-bank lender Infinity Fincorp Solutions in India for the equivalent of about $230 million through an investment that includes certain existing shareholders in the business, Adam Whittaker reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Based in Mumbai, Infinity focuses on lending to small and micro businesses. The transaction included a primary issuance of $70 million and a secondary purchase from Indium IV Holdings.

Buyout firm CVC Capital Partners led a $220 million growth investment in mobile app maker Airalo in a deal that values the travel technology company at more than $1 billion. CVC, which contributed $185 million from its CVC Asia Fund VI, was joined by existing backers Peak XV and Antler Elevate. The company, legally named Airgsm, provides phone technology that enables connectivity across more than 200 countries.

Investment firm Eldridge is providing $250 million in financing for property developer Vanbarton Group's purchase and conversion of a 20-story office building in Manhattan into a 420-unit residential site. The building at 1011 First Ave. was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which received $103 million in the sale. Eldridge provided a loan for the deal and redevelopment through its real estate credit strategy.

General Catalyst and GID led a $250 million growth investment in financial rewards provider Bilt, which operates a payments and commerce network focused on rent and home-owners association fees. The deal valued the startup at $10.75 billion, according to founder and Chief Executive Ankur Jain.

Natural Capital and Shrug Capital led a $187 million investment round in Varda Space Industries, joined by several other firms and individual investors. The El Segundo, Calif.-based company is developing systems to support orbital manufacturing by commercial enterprises, including launch and re-entry vehicles.

Private-equity firm Axxeltrova is backing a £100 million, or roughly $135.9 million, special-purpose vehicle set up by Nasdaq-listed Blink Charging to support and expand electric vehicle charging development and infrastructure in the U.K. The agreement calls for the SPV to finance and own the charging equipment that Blink will install and operate. Axxeltrova is investing through its EV infrastructure fund.

Five Elms Capital led a $51 million growth investment in software developer Spacelift, joined by Endeavor Catalyst and Inovo VC. The company's programs are used to manage enterprise infrastructure and automate operations.

Aerospace and defense focused Liberty Hall Capital Partners has acquired software company Paxia, which provides technology that supports onboard services and catering management for the commercial aviation industry. Teleo Capital, which has backed the company since 2019, retained a minority stake.

Consumer-focused Main Post Partners is backing blended products chain Smoothie King Franchises with a minority investment. The Dallas-based company's more than 1,200 locations offer blended fruit, beverages and cereal-based food nationwide.

ArcLight Capital Partners in Boston is acquiring a 484-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Butler County, Ohio, known as Middletown Energy Center. The plant went into service in 2018.

Osceola Capital in Tampa, Fla., has recapitalized exterior structural restoration services provider GC Restoration in Miami and formed Fortify Restoration in partnership with the company and its founders.

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

NexPhase Capital is selling non-alcoholic drink mix supplier Zing Zang to strategic buyer Mizkan America. NexPhase first backed the Chicago-based company in 2016.

Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Co. in Indianapolis and Theatre Capital have sold energy industry software supplier Technical Toolboxes Powertools to Bessemer Venture Partners affiliate BVP Forge. HKW first backed the provider of analytics, compliance programs and other applications in December 2021.

OpenGate Capital has sold arcade games and services provider Player One Amusement Group to strategic buyer Genda in Japan. OpenGate acquired the Toronto company from entertainment business Cineplex through a carve-out deal last year.

BlueFive Capital has wrapped up a Gulf Cooperation Council-focused investment pool, BlueFive Reef Private Equity Fund I, with $2 billion. The Abu Dhabi-based fund backs majority and minority investments in the healthcare, technology, hospitality, aviation and industrial sectors in the United Arab Emirates and across the GCC region. Hazem Ben-Gacem, a former co-chief executive of Investcorp, founded the firm late last year in Abu Dhabi.

Healthcare investor Lorient Capital has closed on $500 million for its Lorient Healthcare Fund III, surpassing a $350 million target. The Miami firm makes control investments in mid-sized healthcare providers, services and technology companies led by their founders.

Valante Capital, the private-equity arm of multi-strategy asset manager IDC Network, has held a first close for its Ascend Fund II with $115 million, including a general partner commitment. The firm has a $250 million target for the vehicle, which it is using to invest in consumer businesses based in or with significant operations in Latin America.

Blackstone and Britain's Legal & General have agreed on a private-credit partnership that could be worth up to $20 billion, Elena Vardon reports for the Journal. The deal calls for the annuities business of the U.K. insurer and pension provider to have access to mostly U.S. investment-grade assets through Blackstone’s private-markets lending operations. The partnership’s value is expected to grow to as much as $20 billion in the next five years, according to Blackstone.

Surging defaults on loans used to buy residential solar-power panels are cascading through Wall Street, catching bond investors and private-credit funds in their wake, Matt Wirz writes for the Journal. Some bonds tied to GoodLeap, a financial-technology firm that lends money for solar installations, have stopped paying interest, people familiar with the matter said. The payments stopped because far more homeowners are defaulting on the loans than initially forecast, they said.

A disconcerting reality has emerged in the American baseball business. While professional sports teams in other leagues are selling for increasingly astronomical numbers, the game known as the national pastime has largely missed out on the bonanza, the Journal reports.

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Maria Armental; Ted Bunker; Chris Cumming; Luis Garcia; Rod James; Laura Kreutzer; Isaac Taylor; Chitra Vemuri.

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