Good morning! I’ve just found out that today is U.S. storytelling day. Well, that’s one more reason for us to bring you a trio of top news reports.

The first, from my colleague Maria Armental, covers German turnaround specialist Mutares Group’s efforts to expand in the U.S.

Next, our Chris Cumming reports that U.S. Anesthesia Partners settled allegations by the Federal Trade Commission that the firm illegally acquired competitors in Texas. Details are still being worked out between the company, whose backers include Berkshire Partners and Welsh Carson, and the agency.

Finally, in a sign of new trouble in private-credit markets, two private equity-backed companies are defaulting on loans they took from firms like Apollo, Blackstone and KKR, the Journal reports.

Please read on ...

German turnaround specialist Mutares Group is broadening its reach in the U.S., with plans for two new offices and several deals to capitalize on disruption. Market uncertainty creates ideal investment conditions for firms like Mutares, said Johannes Laumann, Mutares’ chief investment officer, adding that the firm’s U.S. business will continue to be led by Fabio Picconeri. Laumann spoke to WSJ Pro’s Maria Armental about the firm’s U.S. plans and market outlook.

The U.S. government is wrapping up a novel legal challenge to a private equity-backed company involving alleged illegal market consolidation, Chris Cumming writes for WSJ Pro. The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it reached an agreement with private-equity backed U.S. Anesthesia Partners to settle charges that the Dallas company had engaged in a decadelong scheme to illegally roll up businesses in the Texas market for anesthesia services. The FTC said the terms of the settlement remain confidential as details are worked out, but the agreement will “restore a competitive market structure” to the Texas anesthesia market. Scott Holliday, chairman of U.S. Anesthesia Partners, said the agreement lets the company focus on serving patients and said the settlement won’t include any admission of guilt.

Two big loans made during the postpandemic buyout boom are defaulting, whacking some private-credit funds and ratcheting up losses in the already troubled corner of Wall Street, the Journal reports. User experience software maker Medallia, backed by Thoma Bravo, can no longer repay about $3 billion of loans from firms including Blackstone and Apollo Global Management. The lenders are negotiating to take control from Thoma Bravo, which will likely lose $5.1 billion it invested in the company in 2021, people familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, Blackstone, KKR & Co. and others are restructuring a $1.4 billion loan they made to help Harvest Partners and other private-equity backers pay for a 2021 buyout of dental-services company Affordable Care, the people said.

Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital is taking a stake in the San Francisco Giants through a new venture, a major bet on a sports business by a firm known for high-tech investments, the Journal reports. It’s the first investment from the firm’s newest strategy, called Thrive Eternal, a permanent capital vehicle focused on making a small number of long-term investments in franchises and cultural institutions that can’t be replicated by artificial intelligence.

Buyout group EQT AB in Stockholm had its sweetened offer for London-listed Intertek Group rejected Friday, Mauro Orru reports for Dow Jones Newswires, adding that the proposal valued the business at about £8.31 billion, or roughly $11.22 billion. The provider of supply chain testing, inspection and certification services said EQT increased its offer to £54 a share in cash, up from the £51.50 that the company's directors rejected earlier as undervaluing the business and its future prospects. Intertek said the new proposal is being evaluated.

Multi-strategy investment firm HOF Capital led a group buying a 45% stake in the Bugatti hypercar brand from Porsche as well as its stake in electric-vehicle maker Rimac Group, Dominic Chopping reports for the Journal. The German sports car maker and Rimac Group formed Bugatti Rimac for the brand in 2021, holding a 55% interest. Porsche is also selling its nearly 21% stake in Rimac Group through the transaction. New York-based HOF manages over $7.25 billion and was joined in the deal by BlueFive Capital in London.

Warburg Pincus led a group that acquired credit-focused business services provider ECN Capital through a deal that gave the Toronto-listed business an enterprise value of about 1.9 billion Canadian dollars, or roughly $1.39 billion. The group, which includes Goodview Capital, paid ECN investors C$3.10 a common share. Shareholders voted for the court-approved take-private deal in January. Goodview founder Lawrence Krimker has been named chief executive, replacing Steven Hudson, among other senior management changes. A provider of mobile home, manufactured housing and marine financing, ECN ended last year with $7.3 billion in managed assets.

Sterling Group, a Dallas-based private-equity and -credit firm, is acquiring water infrastructure products and services company Scruggs Cos., through its Sterling Foundation Fund strategy. Founded in 2023, the Foundation Fund targets lower midmarket companies or deals that tend to be smaller than those the firm would back through its main private-equity funds.

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

Ares Management came out a huge winner in nuclear-power company X-Energy's initial public offering and the 27% jump in its trading debut Friday, Gregory Zuckerman reports for the Journal citing people familiar with the matter. The gain gave the company a market valuation of close to $12 billion. Ares was set to make more than four times the more than $160 million it invested in X-Energy, the people said. Other investors in the Amazon.com-backed company included the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and growth investor Corner Capital Management, according to research provider PitchBook.

Carlyle Group is selling U.K. wealth manager Hurst Point Group to Shackleton, a wealth adviser backed by Lee Equity Partners, sister publication Financial News reports from London. Carlyle initially backed Hurst Point in 2020, according to the Washington-based firm’s website. The business oversees about £10 billion, or roughly $13.47 billion.

Riverwood Capital has agreed to sell artificial intelligence-powered customer data and marketing automation company Fullpath to strategic buyer Cox Automotive. Riverwood’s investment in Fullpath dates back to 2022 when the firm led a $40 million growth investment in the company, which was then known as AutoLeadStar.

Waterland Private Equity Investments has closed on €4 billion, or about $4.67 billion, for its 10th flagship fund and €600 million for a second vehicle, Waterland Partnership Fund II. In 2022, the Netherlands-based private-equity firm sought nearly $500 million for Waterland Partnership Fund I CV to make follow-on investments backed by its main funds, according to a presentation to the New Mexico State Investment Council investment committee. The firm didn't detail the latest partnership fund's strategy in announcing its closing. The firm closed both its flagship Waterland Private Equity Fund X and the smaller vehicle at their upper limits after less than four months, Waterland said. The firm pursues buy-and-build opportunities with its flagship funds.

Not every private-credit investor pulling their money is doing so out of fear, Jack Pitcher writes for the Journal. Some are simply shifting cash from one kind of debt fund to another, a form of arbitrage to capitalize on the differences in how they are valued as some trade at a discount to asset value. Investors can get into some publicly traded vehicles at a substantially lower price than the stated net asset value, which may be prompting withdrawals from their nonpublic peers.

Software loans issued by banks are actively traded, providing a window into the credit worries of investors concerned about the effects of artificial intelligence advances, Sam Goldfarb writes for the Journal. Based on an analysis of first-lien software-company loans in the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index, which tracks loans that are originated by banks, the pricing declines differ by target market, with loans to those serving a particular industry suffering lower losses than others. Makers of programs used to help other businesses write code suffered the most since January.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged investment adviser Lucas Brand Equity and its owner, Jay Lucas, with fraudulently raising more than $50 million for three private-equity funds. The SEC said the firm and its owner misled hundreds of individual investors, telling them their money would be put into early-stage companies while instead spending it on personal expenses and other business interests. The civil complaint, brought in federal court in New York, followed a December indictment of Lucas on criminal fraud and money-laundering charges from the Justice Department.

Spanish financial services group Alantra Partners is leveraging roughly €270 million, or $316 million, to expand its asset management business, including through acquiring specialized European mid-market players, seeking to capitalize on funding pressures that are squeezing the region's boutique firms, Elena Vardon reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The Madrid-listed company intends to build primarily majority stakes in European independent investment managers, said Patricia Pascual Ramsay, chief executive of Alantra's asset management arm.

Initial public offerings haven't been a strong channel for investors to exit investments in Southeast Asian companies, Kimberley Kao reports for Dow Jones Newswires, citing Bain & Co.'s Tom Kidd. Big IPOs by local tech companies haven't fared very well over the past decade, making institutional investors hesitant about their performance outlook, according to Suvir Varma, an advisory partner with the industry consulting firm.

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

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