Good day. By one recently created measure, the value of private company shares kept falling last month, even as the Nasdaq Composite Index began to rebound from its most vicious slump in years. And that continuing decline might portend further weakening in assets held by private equity as they are marked to market. So results for the current quarter could get ugly absent a big recovery.

In the news today, our Luis Garcia joins me in reporting on Apollo’s second-straight quarterly loss, this time more than $2 billion, as rising rates create a flood of red ink tied to its recently acquired retirement-services units.

Meanwhile, our Maria Armental writes about a big exit for Vista Equity, which still has a stake in an identity management software company being taken private by rival technology investor Thoma Bravo for about $2.8 billion. And finally, our WSJ Pro Venture Capital colleague Brian Gormley offers a look at investing in biotech startups over the first half and heading into the rest of the year.

We have these stories and much more summarized and linked for you below, so please dive in…

Apollo Global Management Inc. reported its second-straight quarterly loss with a $2 billion deficit stemming largely from rising interest rates that drove down the value of assets held by the firm’s retirement services operations, Luis Garcia and Ted Bunker report for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Apollo’s net loss of $2.05 billion, or $3.53 a share, for the second quarter came as its Athene Holding Ltd. retirement services subsidiary bolstered Apollo’s total revenue, which surged 64% in the period to $2.27 billion from $1.38 billion in the year-earlier quarter. By one widely watched measure, adjusted net income—which Apollo previously called distributable earnings—the firm posted a nearly 13% gain to $566 million, or 94 cents a share for the just-ended quarter.

Vista Equity Partners is cashing out on its remaining investment in identity technology company Ping Identity Holding Corp. as part of the public company’s sale to private-equity firm Thoma Bravo, Maria Armental reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. The deal, which values Ping at about $2.8 billion and comes against the backdrop of heightened identity security, will mark Vista’s full exit from the first portfolio company that the firm took public. Austin, Texas-based Vista acquired Ping in 2016 for around $600 million and took the company public in 2019 in an initial public offering that valued the business at about $1.16 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

Venture-capital funding and valuations for biotechnology startups remain high despite economic turmoil and this year’s sputtering initial public offerings market, Brian Gormley writes for WSJ Pro Venture Capital, citing industry data. Biotech venture investment has climbed recently, spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, new approaches to treating cancer, inflammatory diseases and other conditions, a favorable regulatory climate and repeat entrepreneurs launching companies. Venture investment in U.S. and European biotechs set records last year, rising to $36.83 billion from $25.8 billion in 2020, according to Silicon Valley Bank. Valuations also rose in 2021 as biotech IPOs sizzled.

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A Bain Capital-led acquisition of aircraft engine and components maker ITP Aero in Zamudio, Spain, from Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC has received the final regulatory approval needed to close the deal, the seller said in a securities filing in London. The transaction values the business at about €1.8 billion, equivalent to roughly $1.83 billion. ITP Aero is expected to remain a supplier to the U.K. aerospace company after the deal closes.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s asset management arm and Thoma Bravo led a $90 million growth investment in user experience software company Aisera Inc., according to a news release. They were joined by a handful of venture investment firms and Silicon Valley Bank. The Palo Alto, Calif., company uses artificial intelligence technology to develop its customer service desk and related programs.

Trilantic North America said it has made a substantial growth investment in commercial on-demand printing company TSC Miami, investing alongside the company’s founders. The Miami Gardens, Fla.-based company produces promotional and retail products such as shirts using a digital printing process.

Canadian investment firm Birch Hill Equity Partners Management has agreed to acquire more than 14 million units of midstream natural gas company Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Ltd. for $17 million, according to a press release. Birch Hill, which already owns or controls 23.8% of the company’s issued or outstanding common shares, will own or control 24.4% of the issued and outstanding common shares on a partially diluted basis, the release stated. In addition, Birch Hill has agreed to provide the company with an option to draw down up to $15 million of second lien debt before Nov. 30.

The direct investment arm of family office investor Pittco Management LLC has taken a minority stake in Arrow Inc., a provider of waste hauling services in the greater Atlanta area, according to a press release. Pittco is partnering on the deal with lower midmarket private-equity firm Carr's Hill Capital Partners Management.

Mill Point Capital in New York has acquired the CrashPlan Group data backup and recovery business of cybersecurity company Code42 Software Inc. in Minneapolis through a carveout, according to a news release. CrashPlan’s cloud-based software and services are used by more than 900 enterprises and 120,000 small businesses.

Lower midmarket firm Thompson Street Capital Partners has backed Benefit Recovery Group, a Memphis, Tenn.-based company that offers subrogation and compensation recovery services, which are services that help companies legally pursue parties that caused insurance loss to an employer.

Healthcare-focused WindRose Health Investors has made a strategic investment in BPD LLC, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of marketing services and software for hospitals and healthcare systems, according to a press release.

TRM Equity, a lower midmarket firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., has acquired WDC Acquisition LLC, an aerospace parts supplier that operates under the trade name Wellman Dynamics.

Correction: Varsity Healthcare Partners directly invested in Aspirion. Wednesday's newsletter incorrectly stated that the firm backed Aspirion through Ventra Health. Here is a corrected version of the brief:

Healthcare-focused Linden Capital Partners said it has completed its acquisition of revenue cycle management software provider Aspirion from fellow private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners. Varsity Healthcare Partners, another healthcare-focused private-equity firm, joined the investor group as a minority shareholder, according to a press release.

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A Ribbit Capital-backed special-purpose acquisition company, Ribbit Leap Ltd., is refunding investors’ cash because it doesn’t expect to find a suitable target to combine with and bring public, nearly two years after raising more than $400 million through an initial public offering of shares, a securities filing shows. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Ribbit Capital is a venture investment fund manager. The Ribbit SPAC was one of hundreds to raise capital in the U.S. for prospective mergers between 2020 and last year, and at least a quarter of those with 2020 IPOs are expected to miss the two-year deadline they typically have to complete a transaction, according to a PitchBook Data Inc. estimate.

A blank-check company led by a former Carlyle Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Robert Mancini has filed to withdraw its planned initial public offering of shares, a securities filing shows. The special-purpose acquisition company, RMG Acquisition Corp. IV, had planned to raise about $200 million through an IPO. Mr. Mancini, the SPAC’s executive chairman, is the founder of sponsor Riverside Management Group LLC, a merchant bank in Westport, Conn. Three other RMG Acquisition companies withdrew their IPO plans in January, earlier filings show.

A blank-check company backed by Beijing-based private-equity firm Primavera Capital Group has refiled its application for an initial public offering of shares in Hong Kong, Claire Lim reports for Dow Jones Newswires. Also known as a special-purpose acquisition company, Interra Acquisition Corp. first registered for the offering in January, but the application lapsed before regulators acted on it. Interra is also backed by the ABCI Asset Management unit of the Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

Tailwind Capital has sold ArrowStream, a supply-chain management software provider focused on the food services industry, to Buyers Edge Platform, according to a news release. Tailwind acquired the company in 2020.

Financial services-focused J.C. Flowers & Co. has raised more than $1.1 billion for its fifth main private-equity fund, J.C. Flowers V LP, and related parallel vehicles, according to a press release. So far the firm has invested around 40% of the money raised in companies that include Ariel Re, Inigo Insurance, iLendingDirect, Insigneo Financial Group, LMAX Group, Tricor Insurance and Solomon Wealth, according to the release.

HighPost Capital, a consumer-focused lower midmarket private-equity firm co-founded by David Moross and Mark Bezos, has amassed a total of $535 million to back companies in sectors spanning sports, media, wellness, leisure and lifestyle brands. The capital raised includes $420 million for the firm’s debut fund, HighPost Capital Fund I, and another $115 million across co-investment vehicles, according to a press release. The firm has already invested the fund in companies that include digital health and fitness company Centr, fitness equipment provider Inspire Fitness and direct-to-consumer cereal brand Magic Spoon, the release stated.

New York-based Turning Rock Partners has raised around $475 million for its second fund, according to a news release. Eaton Partners placed the fund, which targets debt and equity investments in underserved or capital-constrained lower midmarket businesses in North America.

L’Attitude Ventures in San Diego, which backs Latino-owned businesses, has closed on more than $100 million for its first institutional fund, according to a news release. The firm backs seed- to Series A-stage investments.

Investment adviser Rockefeller Capital Management in New York said it has hired Stephen Valentino, Scott Spieth and William Drewry as managing directors and Eric Mun as a senior vice president on its strategic advisory team. Mr. Valentino joins as head of financial institutions from Deutsche Bank AG, where he held a similar role. Mr. Spieth is now head of strategic shareholder advisory, joining from Evercore Inc. Mr. Drewry is coming aboard next month as head of internet, media and entertainment and Mr. Mun will also focus on technology. Messrs. Drewry and Mun join from Truist Securities.

Supply chain-focused Red Arts Capital in Chicago has promoted Chris Hull to vice president and hired two senior associates, Mia Cleary and Charlotte Cusan, according to an emailed news release. Mr. Hull joined the firm in 2020. Ms. Cleary previously worked for Deloitte while Ms. Cusan was previously with Magnetar Capital.

Conterra Ag Capital has hired Jake Espenmiller as chief lending officer, according to a news release. He was most recently the Midwest president of Oak River Farms, which manages a portfolio of farmland.

Chinese investors have shied away from buying U.S. companies following changes to U.S. foreign investment law, according to a report from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., Richard Vanderford reports for The Wall Street Journal. Requests from China-based acquirers for clearance to buy U.S. companies in 2021 remained down from 2018, when the U.S. passed the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, according to Cfius, which released its 2021 annual report on Tuesday.

As sellers outnumbered buyers of shares in private companies last month, a recently created index from ApeVue Inc. shows that it fell in July as the Nasdaq composite began to recover from lows reached in June. The New York firm said its ApeVue50 index, which it launched in January and describes as an equally weighted total return benchmark of the 50 most active private stocks it observes, had dropped more than 28% this year through July while the Nasdaq was down around 21%. The Nasdaq index has rebounded from a roughly 33% year-to-date decline, reached June 16.

The number of privately held, venture-backed companies to reach unicorn status, where they have a post-investment value of more than $1 billion, fell to the lowest monthly total since June 2020 in July, with eight companies entering the once-rarified range, according to research provider PitchBook Data Inc. The July entrants had an aggregate value of $9.8 billion, the lowest total since March 2017. Once uncommon, the number of unicorns has ballooned in recent years and exceeded 1,200 by mid-June, PitchBook said, noting that 580 reached that status last year alone.

Private-markets investment firm Stack Capital Group Inc. in Toronto posted a 1.3 million Canadian dollar loss, or about $1 million, or C15 cents a share, for the second quarter as unrealized losses of more than C$1.9 million more than offset gains during the period, according to a securities filing in Toronto. The investment company raised almost C$110 million through an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange in June 2021 plus a related private placement and invests in private equity and debt of growth-stage businesses.

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

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