Good day! This morning's news kicks off with two stories from the world of limited partners. The first, from our newest reporter Preeti Singh, outlines the 2020 pacing plans and challenges facing one Los Angeles public pension while the other one comes from yours truly about the newest, and so far largest, small buyout fund of funds from Siguler Guff.

On the deal-front, Pro-deal-maven-turned-food-reporter Jaewon Kang and the WSJ's Sharon Terlap report that private-equity-backed grocery chain Albertsons may once again become a public company.

Dive in for these and other news items of the day...

The Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System plans to pledge more money to private-equity this year, as older funds continue to weigh on the performance of its private-equity portfolio, Preeti Singh writes for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The pension fund, which had $17.7 billion in assets under management as of fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, is also fine-tuning plans to back co-investments and secondary deals to boost both its exposure to private equity and portfolio performance.

New York-based Siguler Guff & Co. has raised $1.58 billion for its fourth fund-of-funds focused on backing small buyout funds and the companies they back, WSJ Pro's Laura Kreutzer writes. The final tally for Siguler Guff Small Buyout Opportunities Fund IV exceeded the fund's $1.25 billion.

Cerberus Capital-backed supermarket chain Albertsons Cos. is preparing to go public again, as the company’s owners look to tap into a strong stock market to cash out of an investment that dates back nearly 15 years, The Wall Street Journal’s Jaewon Kang and Sharon Terlep reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, which also owns the Safeway and Jewel-Osco chains, expects to decide in coming weeks whether to proceed with an initial public offering that could value it around $19 billion, one of the people said. Albertsons operates stores in 34 states and had sales of about $61 billion for the 12 months that ended in February 2019.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice gave up on its effort to buy Anixter International Inc. after Wesco International Inc. offered roughly $3.38 billion for the network and security solutions distributor, Colin Kellaher reported in The Wall Street Journal. Wesco offered about $100 a share for Anixter, including $70 in cash and roughly $30 in a mix of common shares and new series of preferred stock. New York-based Clayton Dubilier had bid $93.50 a share in cash for the Glenview, Ill. software maker.

Brookfield Renewable Partners is offering to acquire shares in TerraForm Power Inc. that it doesn’t already control through an all-stock transaction that provides an 11% premium to TerraForm shareholders as of the close of trading Friday, the Brookfield Asset Management affiliate said Monday. The deal offers investors $17.31 for their shares in the New York-based operator of wind- and solar-power projects in the U.S. and Europe, giving the company an equity value of $3.93 billion. Brookfield and affiliates already own about 61.5% of TerraForm shares, a regulatory filing shows. TerraForm said it is studying the offer.

Luckin Coffee Inc. has boosted a planned secondary offering by 9 million American depositary shares and priced the deal at $42 per ADS to raise $378 million for the Xiamen, China-based company, while backer Centurium Capital Partners plans to sell 4.8 million shares, worth about $201.6 million at $42 each, reducing its stake to about 12% from nearly 15%, a regulatory filing last week indicated. 

Montagu Private Equity has agreed to buy the original equipment manufacturing business of RTI Surgical Holdings Inc., including its sports and reconstructive surgery implants divisions, for $480 million in cash and $10 million in other consideration, Deerfield, Ill.-based RTI said. The deal with London-based Montagu is expected to close in the first half of this year, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Eastside Partners has led a more-than $30 million investment into Meazure Learning, a new enterprise formed by the combination of portfolio company ProctorU with Yardstick Assessment Strategies, according to a news release. Meazure offers testing, identity management and other education-related online services. Eastside first backed ProctorU in 2014.

Red Arts Capital has acquired South Dakota transportation company MME Inc., which operates through subsidiaries Midwest Motor Express Inc. and Midnite Express Inc. and generates more than $120 million in annual revenue. The Chicago-based private investment firm focuses on  investing in the supply-chain sector.

Apollo Global Management has provided $800 million in term loan commitments to New Fortress Energy LLC as the company builds out energy infrastructure projects world-wide. The loans will carry an interest rate of Libor plus 6.25 percentage points, with a 1.5% floor on the Libor rate. In addition to funding project development, New Fortress plans to pay off its current $500 million loan facility.

Tritium Partners has invested $33 million in online private tour marketplace ToursByLocals, based in Vancouver, the firm said in a news release. Tritium, located in Austin, Texas, has backed several online markets, including the vacation rentals specialist site HomeAway.

DalFort Capital Partners has purchased Key Polymer Corp., a Lawrence, Mass.-based maker of specialty adhesives and chemical compounds. The Dallas-based firm focuses on investment opportunities with revenue of $15 million to $100 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $3 million to $15 million, according to its website.

Värde Partners has offered 25 cents a share to take Lilis Energy Inc. private, Josh Beckerman reported on Dow Jones Newswires. Varde already owns about 23.6 million Lilis common shares as well as its Series E preferred stock. Lilis said a special board committee is reviewing the Varde offer as it explores other strategic alternatives.

Cobepa SA has made a growth investment in Precision Orthopedics, a provider of orthopedic surgical care services in Maryland. The Laurel, Md.-based company has 10 clinics and an ambulatory surgery center in the Free State.

KPS Capital Partners has agreed to buy Harsco Corp.’s IKG business for $85 million through its KPS Special Situations Mid-Cap Fund. Houston-based IKG manufactures steel and aluminum bar grating and fencing products for industrial applications such as flooring and security.

Arcapita Investment Management has acquired a controlling stake in Waste Harmonics LLC. The company based near Rochester in Victor, N.Y. provides technology-enabled waste pickup and hauling services across the U.S. Arcapita is a Shari’ah-compliant alternative investment manager based in Manama, Bahrain

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

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire retailing software maker Aptos Inc. from Apax Partners, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Atlanta-based Aptos has more than doubled its customer base since it was spun out from Apax portfolio company Epicor in 2015 and plans to use the fresh capital for product development.

Jordan Co. has agreed to sell specialty coatings maker Borchers Group Ltd. to manufacturer Milliken & Co. in Spartanburg, S.C., which plans to add the Westlake, Ohio-based company to its collection of growth units. Jordan Co. initially invested in the maker of paint additives and other specialty chemicals in 2017.

WindRose Health Investors has sold Trust Healthcare Consulting Services LLC to a joint venture established by Carlyle Group Inc. and Cannae Holdings, according to a news release. The Springfield, Mo.-based company specializes in health-care documentation and payments processes.

Littlejohn Capital has sold Hospitality Staffing Solutions LLC to Cerberus Capital portfolio company Kellermeyer Bergensons Services LLC. Littlejohn acquired the business in 2014 with Caymus Equity Partners and the company has grown to supply staff to more than 1,000 hotels and resorts in 38 states and Puerto Rico, according to a news release.

Lion Equity Partners in Denver has sold NorthPoint Technical Services ULC to Wajax Corp. The Calgary, Alberta-based company provides services to industrial electromechanical equipment.

AMP Capital has wrapped up fundraising for its Global Infrastructure Fund II after collecting $3.4 billion along with significant co-investment commitments, according to a news release. The Australian firm had targeted $3 billion for its newest infrastructure fund, which is focused on the transportation, communications, health and energy sectors. It has already invested in the London Luton Airport and specialist care provider Achieve Together, both based in the U.K., as well as fiber-optic communications network provider Everstream, gas-fired generator operator Invenergy AMPCI Thermal Power and data services provider Expedient, all in the U.S.

H.I.G. Capital has brought on Jack Macfarlane and Anila Thompson as principals in its capital formation group, focusing on real assets strategies as they raise funds and handle investor relations. Mr. Macfarlane joins in New York from Lazard Ltd., where he focused on fundraising for real-estate strategies. Based in London, Ms. Thompson came from Jones Lang LaSalle, where she led fundraising for real-estate investments.

Palladium Equity Partners has promoted six managing directors to partner and expanded its management committee to 11 members as the new partners joined the group. The six are Chris Allen, Leon Brujis, Caleb Clark, Justin Green, Daniel Ilundain and Adam Shebitz. All were elevated from managing director. They join Eugenie Cesar-Fabian, Susan Lyons, Kevin Reymond and Suzanne Wong on the management committee, along with Palladium founder Marcos A. Rodriguez, who remains chairman and chief executive.

Whitehorse Liquidity Partners has promoted Leah Boyd, the firm’s general counsel, to partner and brought on Derek Miners as a senior principal and head of the newly formed active portfolio management unit for the Toronto-based investment manager. Ms. Boyd joined the firm about a year ago. Mr. Miner joined the firm after two decades in the private asset management industry, including 15 years with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Technology-focused True Wind Capital has promoted Sean Giese and Brandon Van Buren to partner and named Aaron Matto as a managing director. Mr. Giese joined True Wind in 2018 after more than a decade with Technology Crossover Ventures. Mr. Van Buren came aboard in 2017 after about five years with Google Capital. Mr. Matto joined the firm in 2015 from Spectrum Equity.

TSG Consumer Partners in San Francisco has promoted Alec Barnett, Sam Pritzker and James Zelnick to vice president. The three are based in New York, London and San Francisco respectively.

Great Hill Partners is facing a staff revolt of sorts at one of its portfolio companies. The editorial union for employees of G/O Media, which Great Hill acquired last year from Univision Communications Inc., urged the private-equity firm to dump Jim Spanfeller, the chief executive installed by Great Hill following the acquisition, the Journal reported. The union said replacing the CEO was required to improve performance for the company’s online publications, which include Jezebel, Gizmodo and Life Hacker. A Spanfeller spokesman said a decline in website traffic stemmed partly from a lack of new content on the company's Deadspin site, whose staff walked out in October to protest a new editorial policy.

Alta Mesa Resources Inc.'s oil and gas pipeline and storage subsidiary Kingfisher Midstream LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, joining its bankrupt parent, with the plan of pursuing a joint sale under court supervision, WSJ Pro’s Alexander Gladstone reported. Kingfisher, which transports and stores oil and natural gas for drillers in Oklahoma's Anadarko basin, and Alta Mesa had lined up a $310 million joint stalking horse bid from private-equity firm Bayou City Energy Management and oil and gas producer Mach Resources LLC, but a judge overseeing the Alta Mesa case rejected the deal last week.

The head of buyouts at one of Canada's largest pension funds says it plans to invest around 30 billion Canadian dollars ($23.1 billion) in private equity over the next 10 years, doubling its current commitment to the asset class, Lina Saigol and Selin Bucak report for sister publication Barron’s. The increase will accompany an expected doubling in the fund’s assets to C$200 billion over the same period, according to Mark Redman, global head of private equity at Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.

Private-equity firms accounted for more than 80 of the 203 transactions last year that involved wealth management firms, according to Echelon Partners, a specialty investment banking firm. The interest on the part of private equity largely stems from the recurring revenue streams investment advisers produce and helped drive a 12% overall increase in deal activity last year compared with 2018, the firm said in a report. Deals made either directly by private-equity firms or by companies backed by PE more than doubled last year from 34 in 2017, Echelon said.

S&P Global Ratings has published its methodology for rating private-equity funds and assessing their stand-alone creditworthiness. The revised methodology follows a Sept. 3 request for comment on the framework. Funds to be analyzed have creditworthiness that is tied to their investments, their trading strategies and their funding structures, the New York-based ratings company said in a news release. S&P’s “stand-alone credit profiles” help create the basis for credit ratings and include “transparency and complexity,” “stressed leverage,” “jurisdictional risk” and liquidity, among several other factors.

3i Group PLC has set up a single-use bioprocessing business for drug developers through the acquisitions of Luxembourg-based Cellon and TBL Performance Plastics in New Jersey and their combination with Silicone Altimex, an operation carved out of portfolio company Q Holding. The companies make single-use containers, tubing and other apparatus used in laboratory and clinical settings, according to a news release.

The southeast U.S. is expected to see a large increase in its solar power generating capacity in the coming decade, according to Fitch Solutions Macro Research, even as tax benefits expire. The expansion will be driven by businesses, including utilities, and state and local governments, Fitch said, adding that even with the increase in renewables, the region will remain heavily dependent on traditional sources of power, Dow Jones Newswires’ Stephen Nakrosis reports.

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

Ted Bunker, Laura Cooper, Chris Cumming, Luis Garcia, William Louch, Preeti Singh, Chitra Vemuri.

Follow us on Twitter: @LCooperReports, @LHVGarcia, @LauraKreutzer, @william_louch.