Good morning. Today our Isaac Taylor reports that Arctos has set up a new operation focused on connecting high-net-worth individuals with sports teams and other businesses that are looking for capital 

The Journal details the biggest leveraged buyout ever with Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's PIF agreeing to take videogame maker Electronic Arts private in a $55 billion deal that also includes Affinity Partners.

And WSJ Pro's Marc Vartabedian reports on the use of artificial intelligence to scout out investment opportunities by recently formed Touring Capital. It wasn't all smooth sailing.

Now onto the news...

Sports investment specialist Arctos Partners has set up a new business line dedicated to connecting qualified high-net-worth investors with professional sports ownership opportunities, WSJ Pro's Isaac Taylor reports. The new group, Arctos Capital Markets, is offering investors a direct path to obtaining a piece of a sports franchise. Based in Dallas, Arctos has been among the earliest private-equity investors in pro sports. The firm owns stakes in 25 teams. Earlier this year, Arctos acquired a 10% interest in the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, making it one of the first fund sponsors to invest in an NFL team.

Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners have agreed to take videogame maker Electronic Arts private in a $55 billion deal, the Journal reports. The maker of The Sims and Madden NFL said shareholders would get $210 a share in cash, representing a 25% premium to its last close Thursday, before news of the pending deal. The transaction gives EA an enterprise value of approximately $55 billion and is the largest leveraged buyout of all time.

Touring Capital began using a new artificial-intelligence investment algorithm—informally dubbed “R2-D2” by a Star Wars-loving partner—but getting used to the changes in operations wasn't always smooth sailing, WSJ Pro's Marc Vartabedian reports. The system spotted an investment opportunity for the firm and expanded its market coverage, but it also spawned disagreements.

Buyout firm KKR & Co. agreed to make a growth investment in Infobric, a maker of software for the construction industry whose majority owner is Stirling Square Capital Partners.

Ares Management has acquired Meade Pipeline from XPLR Infrastructure for about $1.1 billion, Connor Hart reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The deal advances Ares' strategy to invest in energy infrastructure and further diversify its portfolio of energy assets, according to the firm. Meade owns approximately 40% of the Central Penn Line, which transports natural gas from production zones in northeast Pennsylvania to East Coast hubs.

KKR and insurance vehicles are acquiring stakes in North American solar energy installations from TotalEnergies for $950 million.

The Qatar Investment Authority has acquired more than 57.5 million shares of Ivanhoe Mines at 12 Canadian dollars per share, amounting to the equivalent of about $495.8 million. The Canadian company has three mining projects in Africa.

Brookfield-controlled Oaktree Capital Management has acquired Ambac Financial Group's legacy financial guarantee businesses for $420 million in cash after Wisconsin's insurance regulator approved the deal. The units include Ambac Assurance and Ambac Assurance UK.

Lower-midmarket investor Signal Rock Capital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is backing subscription-based spa operator Thermae Retreat, also in Fort Lauderdale.

Eagle Merchant Partners in Atlanta is investing in industrial services provider ES Integrated. The Charleston, S.C.-based company offers cleaning, environmental and waste management to manufacturers and government agencies, operating from eight locations in the southeastern U.S.

Owner Resource Group in Austin, Texas, is backing manufacturer Bear Paper Tube, a Dalton, Ga.-based maker of packaging products.

Technology-focused growth investor Trajectory Capital Management is backing software maker Legal Decoder, a Falls Church, Va.-based company that makes corporate software used to analyze and manage spending on legal services.

Northrim Horizon in Arizona bought ACG Systems, a Maryland service provider for wireless communication systems.

U.K. firm Njord Partners bought Red Funnel, a ferry operator serving the Isle of Wight.

Hughes & Co. is backing the combination of Guideboat Capital Partners-backed healthcare data and analytics company Broadjump with clinical spending management software provider Curvo. Guideboat backed Dallas-based Broadjump with a minority investment last year, according to market researcher PitchBook Data.

Mason Wells in Milwaukee acquired specialty chemical manufacturer Calvary Industries, according to an emailed news release. The family-run business based in Fairfield, Ohio, operates a factory there and another in Louisiana.

Lovell Minnick Partners bought Merchant Industry, a financial-technology company that makes payments software for small and mid-sized businesses in the U.S.

Modella Capital has agreed to acquire 156 Claire's Accessories U.K. stores out of bankruptcy,  the company's administrator said Monday. Interpath took charge of the operations in August, when its parent sought chapter 11 court protection. Private-equity firm Ames Watson agreed to buy about 1,000 of the North American stores for $140 million.

Level Equity is backing banking software maker ActiveComply with a growth investment. The Orlando, Fla.-based company provides software used to manage communications compliance by banks, mortgage brokers and insurers.

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

Ronin Equity Partners in New York is selling a majority interest in refrigerated display case provider Minus Forty QBD, which operates as Due North, to strategic buyer AeriTek Global Holdings and at the same time bringing additional investors to the business through a continuation vehicle. The general partner-led CV lets Ronin's fund investors cash out or remain invested in the Toronto-based business, which the firm set up in 2021 after acquiring QBD and Minus Forty in simultaneous transactions.

Investment firm BDT & MSD Partners in Chicago plans to sell roughly 6% of its stake in laundromat equipment supplier Alliance Laundry Systems through the Ripon, Wis., company's initial public offering of about 34.1 million shares. The IPO is expected to price from $19 to $22 per share, giving the company an equity value of as much as $4.34 billion. BDT & MSD plans to sell about 9.8 million of its shares, reducing its holdings to as low as about 73% from over 92% before the offering. The firm first backed the company in 2015 through a predecessor. 

A company backed by TPG's Rise Climate strategy has registered for an initial public offering without saying how many shares it plans to sell or at what expected price. Beta Technologies in South Burlington, Vt., make electric airplanes, including a model capable of vertical takeoffs and landings, as well as battery recharging systems.

Midmarket healthcare firm Amulet Capital Partners is selling SSI Strategy, a Morristown, N.J., consulting firm for biotech investors, to pharmaceutical company Clinigen.

Gemspring Capital Management in Westport, Conn., has closed Gemspring Growth Solutions Fund II with $1.1 billion, according to an emailed news release. The firm reached its hard cap for the vehicle in just about three months of fundraising. The new fund is almost triple the size of its predecessor, which closed on $400 million in 2022.

Avenue Capital Group raised more than $1 billion for its first Avenue Sports Opportunities Fund, which invests in sports franchises and leagues in North America and Europe. The New York firm has been raising the fund since late 2023, securities filings indicate.

Saudi Arabia's Cultural Assets Group has set up a private, closed-end investment fund with about 850 million riyals, or about $226.6 million, to back cultural deals in the country, according to an emailed news release. Participants in the new vehicle include the kingdom's Cultural Development Fund, which contributed 200 million riyals.

Merak Capital in Riyadh and the Cultural Development Fund of Saudi Arabia have established a 300 million riyal, or $80 million, vehicle to invest in the fashion sector, according to an emailed news release. Merak is the fund's manager and the CDF is its anchor investor.

Sagard added Dan Johnson as director of business development, according to an emailed news release. He was previously with Antares Capital.

Multistrategy investment manager Pathway Capital Management has moved Jérôme Simon, a firm vice president, to Munich to lead its new German office.

Branford Castle Partners hired Colton Bucey and Kian Paymayesh as associates.

Turnspire Capital Partners promoted Ahdiv Nathan to principal. He joined the firm in 2023 after co-founding DestinHaus Capital.

Education finance startup Frank founder Charlie Javice got more than seven years in prison for defrauding JPMorgan Chase when she sold the business to the bank for $175 million and provided bogus evidence that it had millions of customers when it didn't, the Journal's Alexander Saeedy reports. In federal court Monday, Prosecutor Micah Fergenson said, “JPMorgan Chase didn’t acquire a company. They acquired a crime scene.” While Apollo Global Management Co-founder Marc Rowan was among Frank's investors, he testified in her favor during the trial.

Jefferies Financial Group's fiscal third quarter results show that Wall Street dealmakers and trading desks are on the rise, Telis Demos reports for the Journal. Revenue from mergers and acquisition advisory services hit a quarterly record, at nearly $656 million, up 11% from the same period a year ago. “Based on our dialogue and our backlog, we believe that private-equity activity is strengthening,” Jefferies President Brian Friedman said in an interview.

Apollo Global Management has established credit-focused Apollo Sports Capital to back sports organizations and companies in the sector. The New York firm named Al Tylis as chief executive of the new unit and tapped firm partners Rob Givone and Lee Solomon to serve as portfolio managers, while appointing Sam Porter as chief strategy officer.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the firm's investment-management arm, set up a new platform for financial advisers called the Alternatives Investing Center, which includes a continuing-education component about alternative investments.

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