Good day! Today our Laura Kreutzer brings you five takeaways from a recent presentation by Blackstone's Vik Sawhney on his outlook for the markets this year and his insights on pitfalls to avoid when the good times sour.

Also, our Maria Armental offers a look inside a move by Alpine Investors to get into the water services industry by setting up a business and buying Madera Pumps. More growth acquisitions are in the cards as well.

Finally, our Journal colleage Joe Flint reports that RedBird Capital has formed a joint venture with the NFL to stream Sunday afternoon football games to bars, restaurants and other commercial venues. 

We have these and many more stories summarized and linked for you below, so please read on...

As the end of the first quarter draws near, private-markets investors must navigate an investment landscape that has changed dramatically over the past year. Higher interest rates, slower deal and exit activity, and the recent crisis in the banking world all have underscored the importance of risk management and liquidity for institutional investors. All of these issues were front and center at a recent Virginia Retirement System board of trustees retreat. As a speaker at the event, Vik Sawhney, Blackstone Inc.’s chief administrative officer and global head of institutional client solutions, shared his outlook for private markets. WSJ Pro Private Equity's Laura Kreutzer has five takeaways from his remarks.

Alpine Investors, which bills itself as a socially conscious private-equity firm, is getting into the water business, Maria Armental reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity. Alpine’s newly formed water-services business, Axia Water, made its first deal with the acquisition of Madera Pumps Inc., which serves California’s roughly 20,000-square-mile Central Valley agricultural region. The firm plans to acquire more water-related businesses in the region through Axia Water and eventually around the country.

Sports specialist RedBird Capital Partners has formed EverPass Media with the National Football League to stream NFL games and eventually other live sports and events to commercial establishments such as bars and restaurants, Joe Flint reports for The Wall Street Journal. Starting this year EverPass will be the commercial distributor for the NFL's Sunday Ticket, a subscription-only package popular with sports bars that gives access to all Sunday afternoon games for out-of-market teams, the NFL and RedBird said. The commercial service was handled by DirecTV until last year. RedBird Capital founder and managing partner Gerry Cardinale is betting that the Sunday Ticket deal will lead to agreements with other leagues and sports rights holders in need of commercial distribution partners, especially as more content migrates to streaming.

A bidding group led by Apollo Global Management Inc. co-founder Josh Harris has offered to buy the Washington Commanders football team from the Snyder family for the $6 billion asking price, the Associated Press reported, citing people familiar with the matter and cable-TV network ESPN. A sale at that price would make it the biggest team sale in sports history. The Harris group includes a Washington-area billionaire, Mitchell Rales, and former basketball star Ervin “Magic” Johnson. They are competing with bidders led by basketball's Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta and Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, the news service said. ESPN reported that the Fertitta-Apostolopoulos group had also submitted a fully financed $6 billion offer, citing sources. The biggest sports deal so far has been the $4.65 million sale of the Denver Broncos football team last year.

Buyout firm TPG Inc.’s $1.22 billion proposal to take private Australian funeral-services provider Invocare Ltd. drew a rejection from the company’s directors, who said it didn’t provide a compelling value for investors, a regulatory filing shows. But the directors said they were willing to provide TPG, which already controls a nearly 20% equity interest in the North Sydney, New South Wales-based business, with certain nonpublic financial information if the firm would sign a standstill agreement, the filing said. The proposal would have TPG paying 12.65 Australian dollars per share in cash, equivalent to about $8.41 each, subject to adjustments.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board said it is backing Sevana Bioenergy LLC, acquiring a majority stake in the business for $250 million. The Boise, Idaho, company uses anaerobic digestion techniques to convert organic waste into natural gas at projects in farming regions of Oregon, Idaho and South Dakota, according to a news release.

Firms including Bayern Kapital, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and UVC Partners participated in a $165 million investment in satellite-launching company Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH, according to a news release. The German company said nine investors contributed to the Series C round, with some of the money backed by the European Union and regional programs. The fresh capital is expected to help drive the company’s progress toward a first launch of its two-stage Spectrum rocket.

Oaktree Capital Management has agreed to back a $100 million secured credit facility for publicly traded eyecare pharmaceutical company Harrow Health Inc., according to a press release. The secured credit facility carries an interest rate equal to the three-month secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) plus 6.50%, includes flexible terms and covenants, and is expected to mature in approximately three years, according to Nashville, Tenn.-based Harrow.

Two Bear Capital led a $62 million growth investment in computer-network services company Graphiant, joined by Sequoia Capital, Atlantic Bridge and Harpoon Venture Capital Partners, among other investors, according to a news release. The San Jose, Calif.-based company said it provides cloud-based services over a high-performance private network.

Macquarie Group Ltd.'s asset-management arm has backed a preferred-equity investment in Pavlov Media Inc., a provider of fiber-based internet connectivity to off-campus student housing across the U.S., according to a press release.

Private investment firm Starwood Capital Group and Ferguson PLC’s venture investment arm are backing home-building technology company Higharc Inc., joining existing investors, including Spark Capital and Lux Capital, in backing the business. The Durham, N.C.-based software maker provides an all-in-one design, estimating and permitting system for builders, according to its website.

Boyne Capital is buying Ryan Construction Co. and Ryan Marine Inc., a company that provides marine and industrial contracting and maintenance services, according to a news release. The investment marks the latest platform deal out of BCM Fund II LP, the Miami-based lower-midmarket firm said. Although Boyne didn’t specify details about the fund, a regulatory filing from 2020 shows a $225 million offering amount for the vehicle.

Audax Group's private-equity strategy is investing in Mosaic Dental Collective LLC, a Vancouver, Wash.-based dental-services organization serving areas of California and Washington state, according to a press release. Audax said it is backing the deal through its Origins lower-midmarket buyout strategy, which targets companies with $5 million to $15 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to the firm’s website.

KKR & Co. has teamed up with private real-estate investor Gaw Capital Partners on an agreement to acquire the Hyatt Regency Tokyo from the Odakyu Electric Railway Co., according to a press release.

Superstep Capital is backing customer-experience management company Zaelab LLC through a strategic growth investment, according to a news release. The Westport, Conn.-based company works with brands such as General Electric, Titleist and Milwaukee Tools.

Trinity Hunt Partners said it has set up a commercial landscaping platform business with an investment in Riverside Services, a commercial landscaping company serving the Boston area. Mark Levine, president of Riverside Services, remains a shareholder in the company, according to a press release.

Buyout firm EQT AB said it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in photography-software developer GotPhoto Co. from its founders and current backers, all of whom will remain as minority investors in the business, Dominic Chopping reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The Berlin-based company provides photo editing and management software through its fotograf.de brand.

Multi-strategy investment firm KV Capital in Edmonton, Alberta said it has formed KV Private Equity Fund II LP and is acquiring Mountain Sports Distribution Inc. through the new buyout vehicle. The Golden, British Columbia-based company supplies apparel for a variety of powersports.

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

Power specialist Hull Street Energy in Bethesda, Md., said it has sold Foundation Solar Partners LLC to strategic buyer Birch Creek Energy LLC to add to its utility scale solar project holdings. Founded in 2019, Foundation was acquired by Hull Street in 2019, when the company was based in Washington.

Consumer-focused Monogram Capital Partners is selling meat snacks manufacturer Western Smokehouse Partners to fellow fund manager AUA Private Equity Partners, according to a press release from investment bank Harris Williams, which advised Western Smokehouse on the transaction.

Advent International said it has appointed James Mullen as an operating executive at the firm to help build out its pharmaceutical and pharma services operations. Mr. Mullen currently serves as the executive chairman of Editas Medicine, a gene-editing company, where he previously served as president and chief executive.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board-backed credit provider Antares Capital in Chicago said it has hired Andrew Stern as a managing director for the firm’s liquid credit strategy. He was most recently in a similar role with Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s Apex Credit Partners, according to a news release.

Utility and infrastructure services-focused IMB Partners, a midmarket firm that also invests in government contractors, said it has made two new hires. The firm has added Lenora Robinson Mills as chief operating officer and Allison Alexander as managing director and general counsel, according to an emailed press release. Ms. Mills previously served as chief operating officer for the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board, while Ms. Alexander most recently led a team of lawyers and legal support staff as senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Precision Medicine Group.

Wynnchurch Capital announced several promotions and one new hire. The firm has promoted Kevin Hanley to principal, Cole Pospesel to vice president and Mike Yerkes to accounting manager, according to a press release. It has also added Daniel Martis, a former investment manager on the value creation team at Viessmann Investment, to Wynnchurch’s portfolio operations team, the release stated.

Lower-middle-market-focused HCI Equity Partners said it has added Bob Currier as part of its HCI Executive Partner group to advise on personnel issues. He was previously a senior vice president of human resources with building services company Emcor Group Inc.

Investment firm Ladera Capital Partners in Austin, Texas, said it has hired Michael Kavanau as chief investment officer, working with Chief Executive Mike Hooks to oversee strategy for deploying the firm’s Ladera Multifamily Fund II. Mr. Kavanau was previously with commercial property developer Jones Lang LaSalle.

Hospitality investor Peachtree Group in Atlanta said it has named Adam Greene as executive vice president to oversee the private-equity firm’s program for EB-5 Immigrant Investor participants, who generally are individuals or families that are given permanent U.S. residence status in return for investing in a commercial enterprise and creating or preserving at least 10 jobs as a result. Peachtree indicated that program participants may provide financing for new hotel developments in areas favored by government managers of the EB-5 program. Mr. Greene was previously with Textron Financial’s hospitality finance group, according to a news release.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it plans to split itself into six independently run companies that could seek separate public listings, effectively dismantling a business empire built over two decades by charismatic entrepreneur Jack Ma just as the tycoon reappeared in China, Raffaele Huang and Clarence Leong report for The Wall Street Journal. The reorganization of one of China’s largest private-sector companies, once valued at more than $800 billion but now worth about a quarter of that, comes after Chinese authorities signaled in recent months they were winding down a sweeping regulatory clampdown aimed at reining in the country’s powerful tech sector.

Creative Realities Inc., a publicly traded digital signage and media company, said it has rejected an unsolicited buyout proposal from Pegasus Capital Advisors, as it deemed that the proposal undervalued the company, according to a press release.

The interest-rate increases and market volatility that hit risky investments last year have finally caught up with green startups, Amrith Ramkumar reports for The Wall Street Journal. The sector, which includes everything from renewable energy to speculative climate technology, had steadily drawn in cash through 2022 during a record-breaking streak of fundraising. In the first quarter, funding for these companies has fallen almost as much as total venture-equity funding. Clean-energy startups have privately raised about $8 billion in equity in the first quarter, a drop of nearly 40% from a year earlier and the lowest figure since 2020, PitchBook data show.

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

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