Happy Friday! What a week! Today, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, draws to a close. Hopefully, those of you who aren’t there in person (and maybe even some who are) have been following the great coverage from some of our Wall Street Journal colleagues, including WSJ Pro Bankruptcy alum Alexander Saeedy!

Meanwhile, back here in the U.S., it’s been a busy week in the world of private equity as well. In today’s newsletter, we bring you news from our own Luis Garcia, who reports that energy investment firm NGP Energy Capital Management has revamped its fee and profit sharing relationship with Carlyle Group. And Isaac Taylor has yet another fund closing, this time from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, which wrapped up a $2.8 billion co-investment pool. Finally, WSJ Pro’s Chris Cumming digs into private equity’s interest in backing law firms and why most of the deals getting done involve small, consumer-facing practices.

Finally, there’s still time to sign up for next week’s webinar, where my WSJ colleague Walden Siew and I will talk about the outlook for 2026 and some of the themes that stand to shape the corporate and investing world in the year ahead. You’ll find registration details below.

Now onto the news…

Private-equity firm NGP Energy Capital Management aims to expand its investments after wrapping up a new fund and returning $2.58 billion before fees to its fund investors last year while restructuring its nearly 14-year partnership with Carlyle Group, Luis Garcia writes for WSJ Pro, citing an NGP letter recently sent to fund investors. Carlyle, a global asset manager, last year agreed to substantially reduce its cut of management and performance fees from future NGP funds, according to the Jan. 12 letter, which was viewed by WSJ Pro.

Goldman Sachs has collected $2.8 billion for its fourth vehicle dedicated to co-investing alongside other private-equity funds, raising the capital through its alternative investments group, WSJ Pro’s Isaac Taylor reports. The asset manager has already deployed more than 30% of the new fund across 13 deals, Michael Brandmeyer, the global head of the external investing group within Goldman Sachs Alternatives, told WSJ Pro.

On Thursday, Uplift Investors, a new private-equity firm based in Darien, Conn., announced its first deal: an investment in Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers, a well-known regional firm with offices in Louisiana. The deal is among the first signed transactions in the field to be publicly announced following nearly a year of buzz in the press that the private equity industry is poised to snap up law firms and reshape the profession. So far, however, most of the deals getting done have involved small, consumer-facing law firms. Read more in the Take.

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Buyout firm EQT AB has agreed to acquire secondaries-focused Coller Capital for up to $3.7 billion, Dominic Chopping reports for The Wall Street Journal. The Swedish buyout group said Thursday it would pay a base consideration of $3.2 billion, funded through newly issued EQT ordinary shares, and up to $500 million contingent on certain performance milestones to be funded in cash. London-based Coller manages nearly $50 billion. EQT said it ended last June with assets of about €270 billion, or  $315.51 billion.

Private-equity firm ICG is backing utility-scale battery systems developer Ray8 Energy, investing in the Japanese company through the firm's Asia infrastructure strategy. The company aims to install capacity to store over 1.1 gigawatts of power.

New investors including RA Capital Management and Adage Capital Management participated in a financing round of up to $287 million backing clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Corxel Pharmaceuticals, which is developing therapies for certain cardiometabolic conditions.

The alternatives arm of Goldman Sachs led a $63 million growth investment in self-storage property-management-technology company Cubby Enterprises, investing through its growth equity strategy and joined by existing backers of the business. The New York-based company's systems are used to manage rentals, collect and process revenue, and guide customer contacts.

Audax Group and Golub Capital are backing Princeton Equity Group portfolio company Strickland Brothers, an operator of automotive maintenance shops. Audax is investing in the business through the firm's strategic capital strategy and its $1.3 billion debut fund. In all, the fresh financing totals $360 million, according to the Winston-Salem, N.C., company, which operates almost 300 locations across 27 states. Princeton first invested in the business in 2021.

Los Angeles-based Transom Capital Group has closed its acquisition of WellBiz Brands, a beauty and wellness franchisor with more than 700 locations across North America, Europe and the Middle East. The Denver-based company’s five beauty and wellness brands include Drybar, Elements Massage, Amazing Lash Studio, Fitness Together and Radiant Waxing.

Consumer-focused Humble Growth is backing snack brand SimplyFuel, whose protein balls are sold by major retailers including Walmart and Target.

OrbiMed joined several other firms in leading an $82 million growth investment in biopharmaceutical company Mendra, which is developing ways to use artificial intelligence to modernize the development of promising treatments for rare diseases.

Accel-KKR in Menlo Park, Calif., is backing healthcare education technology provider Exxat with a minority growth investment. The Warren, N.J., company's systems support academic and clinical programs serving more than 400,000 professionals including in nursing, behavioral and public health.

Cohere Capital in Boston is investing in financial software company FlexTecs, backing the company with a strategic growth commitment. The Atlanta-based company has more than 600 employees.

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

Multistrategy investor Deck2 Capital in Sydney and other investors, such as Mubadala, in financial software developer Brex may be in line to cash out as credit-card giant Capital One Financial has agreed to buy the Salt Lake City-based fintech for $5.15 billion in cash and stock, the Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Brex specializes in technology used by companies to administer corporate credit cards, expenses and rewards. Deck2 and Mubadala were among the participants in a growth investment backing the company in August, according to industry researcher PitchBook.

Midmarket buyout firm GHK Capital Partners has agreed to sell ITS Logistics to strategic acquirer Echo Global Logistics in a deal that will create a logistics company with around $5.4 billion of combined pro forma 2025 revenue. Greenwich, Conn.-based GHK initially acquired ITS back in 2021.

Pender Growth Fund-backed technology developer General Fusion has agreed to combine with a special-purpose acquisition company, Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, to be taken public at a pro forma value of about $1 billion. The deal includes about $105 million in committed financing and $230 million from Spring Valley's trust account, assuming no shareholder redemptions. The SPAC is led by Chris Sorrells, a former NGP Energy Technology Partners executive. The company is developing magnetized target fusion technology, including building a demonstration device called Lawson Machine 26. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based investment firm participated in a $22 million growth investment last year, backing the company alongside Segra Capital.

Lone Star Funds has agreed to acquire Alliance Ground International, a North American airport services provider, from fellow private-equity investors Greenbriar Equity Group and Audax Private Equity. Miami-based Alliance operates in 60 airports and employs 12,000 people. Greenbriar and Audax initially invested in the company back in 2021.

Growth investor FFL Partners has sold Anova to Aurora Capital Partners. FFL first backed the New Providence, N.J., provider of remote monitoring and management technology in 2017.

A recently formed growth investment firm that calls itself Waldo has collected $225 million so far for its debut fund, with 86 investors participating, a regulatory filing shows. The New York firm started by former Insight Partners executive Jon Rosenbaum and Elephant venture capital general partner Julie Effron focuses on founder-led software and technology-enabled businesses. Regulatory filings indicate that the firm secured commitments to the fund within a roughly two-month period starting near the end of November, with a $200 million initial target.

Secondary firm Banner Ridge Partners has amassed at least $102 million so far for Banner Ridge Energy Secondaries I, according to a regulatory filing. The firm joins a small but growing number of secondary buyers forming dedicated pools for energy assets. Westwood Holdings Group recently raised $300 million across a dedicated energy secondary fund and related co-investment vehicles, WSJ Pro recently reported. Early this year, Banner Ridge announced the closing of its latest main secondary fund, Banner Ridge Secondary Fund VI, with $4.2 billion in commitments.

Energy specialist firm Gore Street Capital in London has held a first close for GS EU Fund with commitments from the European Investment Fund and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund as well as institutional investors, family offices and strategic backers. Gore Street specializes in developing and managing battery energy storage projects serving European markets. The firm expects to reach its €500 million target for the fund by year-end, equivalent to $584.3 million.

Black Bay Partners in New Orleans has closed on $425 million for its third flagship fund, Black Bay III, reaching the upper limit for the pool. The 10-year-old firm specializes in energy and adjacent industries such as chemicals and industrial businesses. It has made one investment from the new fund so far.

Healthier Capital, a firm composed of investors with experience across healthcare, has beaten its fundraising goal to close a $220 million first fund despite limited partners' pullback from venture capital, Brian Gormley writes for WSJ Pro. U.S. venture firms raised $66 billion in 2025, a 35% drop from the prior year and a 70% decline from the record year in 2022, according to market tracker PitchBook Data. Much of the capital LPs committed went to established investors, not those raising first-time funds. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Healthier incorporated in late 2023 and in 2024 began raising a healthcare-technology venture fund.

Trivest Partners in Miami has made a series of promotions including elevating Stephen Koren to managing director and Neel Sheth and Yan Levinski to principal. Koren joined the firm in 2021 while Sheth and Levinski came along in 2022.

Excellere Partners has appointed Mark Sparrow as chief financial officer and named Jordan Day as office manager. Both joined the Denver buyout firm in 2024.

Insurer Prudential Financial's asset-management arm, PGIM, aims to invest as much as $1 billion in private-credit secondary deals over the coming two years, citing growing deal volume in the emerging asset class. The group already manages $265 billion in private credit and secondary assets, which gives it needed experience in pursuing deals in the market. PGIM tapped Alex Stuart and Maelle Reichenbach to lead the effort in a market where deals are expected to surpass $50 billion within three years.

Cornell University is getting $371.5 million from PeopleSoft founder David Duffield to endow the Ivy League school’s engineering college, which will be named after him, Douglas Belkin reports for the Journal. The gift adds to earlier donations, bringing the total to $550 million that Duffield has given to his alma mater.

The University of Utah is nearing a deal with private-equity firm Otro Capital that could inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the state school's athletics programs in return for a slice of media and other marketing rights, the Deseret News reports from Salt Lake City. New York-based Otro may face a legislative test, however, as a state representative filed a bill that would require approval by lawmakers of any private-equity investment into college athletics in Utah, the newspaper reported. University trustees who voted to authorize negotiations with Otro reportedly indicated that they didn't see the proposed measure as a hindrance.

Egan-Jones Ratings Co. has been omitted from accepted credit ratings providers for Bermuda insurers, documents from the Bermuda Monetary Authority show. The regulator's handbook for 2026 left out Egan-Jones, a New York company whose evaluations of credit risk have raised concerns, without any evident explanation. The Bermuda agency listed Egan-Jones with other accepted ratings providers in its insurance handbook previously. Bloomberg News said Egan-Jones indicated it was looking into the matter.

Private-equity firms that potentially seek to participate in the rebuilding of Venezuela's oil industry are likely to start in services and infrastructure sectors as opposed to exploration and production, Benny Wong, senior research analyst at PitchBook Data, says in a report. Just as private-equity firms expect large U.S. energy companies to lead the way in Venezuela, those companies "would very much welcome PE partnership to share the financial cost and risks," Wong said.

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

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