Good morning! Today my colleague Rod James shows us how new entrants in the secondary market for private-fund stakes helped drive deal activity to new highs during this year's first half.

Also, Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence startup xAI is tapping the private-credit market to raise as much as $12 billion, just weeks after amassing $10 billion through sales of stock and debt, The Wall Street Journal reports.

We have those stories and many other news below. Please, read on...

New buyers of private-fund stakes—including interval funds dedicated to wealthy investors—helped drive the secondary market for such assets to new heights in the first half of 2025, according to data from two of the largest intermediaries in the market, WSJ Pro’s Rod James reports. Jefferies Financial Group tracked around $103 billion of secondary transactions in the first six months of 2025, a 51% increase on the previous first-half record, the bank said in its half-year secondary market review. Evercore, meanwhile, clocked $102 billion of secondary deals, a roughly 42% increase from the first six months of 2024.

Just weeks after Elon Musk’s xAI raised $10 billion through sales of stock and debt, the startup is working with a trusted financier to secure up to $12 billion more for its ambitious expansion plans, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the situation. Valor Equity Partners, an investment firm whose founder, Antonio Gracias, has close ties to Musk, is in talks with lenders to raise the capital. The money would be used to buy a massive supply of advanced Nvidia chips that would be leased to xAI for a new jumbo-sized data center meant to help train and power the AI chatbot Grok.

Butterfly Equity-backed Generous Brands is set to acquire Kombucha beverage brand Health-Ade from fellow private-equity investors First Bev and Manna Tree Partners, the Journal reports, citing people familiar with the deal. Both First Bev and Manna Tree are expected to retain minority stakes in the company. A deal could be announced as soon as Tuesday morning, according to the people.

Australian wealth manager Insignia Financial agreed to a $2.15 billion takeover by CC Capital Partners, more than four months after it first opened its books to the New York-based private-equity firm, the Journal reports. Insignia on Tuesday said its board would unanimously recommend a cash offer of 4.80 Australian dollars, equivalent to $3.13, a share. The announcement likely ends a contest for the ASX-listed company sparked in December by a A$4.00-a-share proposal from Bain Capital. Brookfield Asset Management had also shown interest in the company.

Blackstone’s growth investment strategy has agreed to an investment in NetBrain Technologies that values the artificial-intelligence and network automation company at $750 million. NetBrain said it is used by more than one-third of Fortune 500 companies.

Carlyle Group bought Adastra Group, a Prague-based consulting firm that specializes in artificial intelligence, data and cloud computing. Carlyle is making the investment from Carlyle Europe Technology Partners V and Carlyle Asia Partners Growth II, and will aim to expand Adastra’s international presence both organically and via acquisitions.

Redbird Capital Partners has backed a $77 million investment in private markets investment platform Yieldstreet that was led by Tarsadia Investments. Other investors in the deal include existing backers Mayfair Equity Partners, Edison Partners, Cordoba Advisory Partners (CAP) and Kingfisher Investment Advisors.

Spectrum Equity is investing $300 million in Quavo, which makes software for financial institutions to manage fraud claims and process disputes.

Consumer-focused TSG Consumer Partners has agreed to acquire fragrance brand Phlur in a deal that will allow existing backer Prelude Growth Partners to exit its stake. Chriselle Lim, creative director at the company, will continue in her role and retain a stake in the company along with the Center, a beauty brand accelerator that has backed the company since 2021.

Pamlico Capital, which invests in technology and services businesses, made a growth investment in goHappy, a maker of software that allows employers to engage with employees. The company is also backed by Growth Street Partners, which will remain an investor.

A group of investors that includes Kinderhook Industries, CVS Health Ventures, Pacific Life and Lexington Partners have made a $135 million investment in AbsoluteCare, a value-based healthcare company that serves Medicaid and Medicare patients.

The U.K. government approved the 38 billion-pound ($51.27 billion) Sizewell C nuclear power plant in southeast England, becoming the project’s biggest shareholder, the Journal reports. Canadian pension investor La Caisse, formerly known as CDPQ, committed to invest up to £1.7 billion, or about $2.3 billion, for a 20% stake in Sizewell C. Other investors backing the nuclear power deal include French operator EDF, British multinational energy and services company Centrica and infrastructure investment firm Amber Infrastructure Group.

Toronto-based lower midmarket firm Alphi Capital invested in RedBlue HeatPumps & Refrigeration, a Victoria, British Columbia-based company that provides heating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical services.

Spring Lane Capital will provide data-center developer Soluna Holdings $20 million to expand a Texas facility to accommodate more bitcoin mining rigs.

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

NIQ Global Intelligence's initial public offering was priced toward the lower end of expectations, raising more than $1 billion and giving the consumer-intelligence company provider a market capitalization topping $6 billion, Dow Jones Newswires' Colin Kellaher reports. NIQ, which is majority owned by private-equity firm Advent International, late Tuesday said it is selling 50 million shares at $21 apiece in the IPO, compared with an expected price range of $20 to $24 each. Advent will still own more than 52% of NIQ after the IPO, assuming the underwriters exercise an option to buy up to an additional 7.5 million shares from the private-equity firm, while minority investor KKR will own around 10%.

Lindsay Goldberg has sold portfolio company Liquid Tech Solutions to Velocity Rail Solutions, which is backed by fellow private-equity firm Wind Point Partners. New York-based Lindsay Goldberg initially invested in the Stoughton, Mass.-based provider of mobile refueling services back in 2020.

17Capital, a New York firm that specializes in net-asset-value lending, closed the 17Capital Strategic Lending Fund 6 with about $5.5 billion, including co-investments and related vehicles. The vehicle lends money to firm general partners to fund larger GP commitments, support succession plans or enable growth or consolidation. The predecessor vehicle closed with $2.9 billion in 2021.

Secondary firm Coller Capital has expanded its U.S. private wealth team with the addition of Burke Bradford and Kevin Peters as directors at the firm. Bradford will be based in Dallas, while Peters will be based in Boise, Idaho. Both men previously worked for Privacore Capital, an affiliate of Janus Henderson Investors.

Pantheon appointed Florence Dard as partner and chief client officer and a member of the firm’s executive committee. Formerly with AXA Investment Managers, Dard will be based in London and will begin the new role in October.

Sweetwater Investment Management has named Brent Alvord as managing director and head of research at the firm. Alvord previously held senior roles at JP Morgan and Wells Fargo Securities. He also once worked at Portfolio Advisors alongside Sweetwater founder James Gamett.

Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed promoted Mona Ashiya to general partner. Ashiya, who joined the firm in 2010, joins eight existing general partners as managers and owners of the firm, which manages a total of $17 billion.

The Texas attorney general is looking into a nonprofit foundation linked to bankrupt investment manager Highland Capital Management following a dispute over roughly $270 million in charitable assets involving former Highland Chief Executive James Dondero, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reports. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week sought to pause proceedings in Highland’s chapter 11 case as he investigates people and organizations involved in the case, court records show. Paxton is looking into the operations of Charitable DAF Holdings Corp., a U.S. affiliate of a Cayman Islands company set up in 2011 by Dondero to support several nonprofits, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter.

European asset manager Azimut Group has agreed to acquire North Square Investments as the European firm further expands its reach into the U.S. As part of the deal, Kennedy Capital Management, another Azimut Group-owned entity, will become part of North Square with the combined unit managing more than $20 billion in assets once the deal closes.

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

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