It’s Friday and another week is done and dusted! This morning’s newsletter kicks off with news that regulators have unveiled a proposal that would loosen rules enacted following the 2008 financial crisis, potentially freeing billions off of bank balance sheets. The big question in my mind if the proposals pass is where will they invest it all?

Meanwhile, our WSJ Pro Venture Capital colleague Yuliya Chernova writes that growth investor Coatue Management is leading a new funding round for Kalshi that would double the prediction-market operator’s valuation. Finally, our Journal colleagues report that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is pitching a $100 billion fund to buy manufacturing companies and seek to use AI technology to accelerate their path to automation.

There’s more on these stories and many more so dive in and have a great weekend!

America’s biggest banks will be allowed to hold billions of dollars less in capital on their books under a new proposal, a change officials say will free up their ability to lend and compete with private-credit firms and other rivals, Dylan Tokar reports for The Wall Street Journal. The proposal introduced Thursday would hand a major victory to big banks, which had resisted sharply higher requirements proposed under the Biden administration. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to vote on the proposal later Thursday.

Investment firm Coatue Management is leading a new funding round for prediction-market operator Kalshi at a $22 billion valuation, Yuliya Chernova writes for WSJ Pro Venture Capital, citing people familiar with the situation. Kalshi is raising about $1 billion in the new financing, the people said. The deal will double the startup’s valuation in just a few months.

Jeff Bezos is in early talks to raise $100 billion for a new fund that would buy up manufacturing companies and seek to use AI technology to accelerate their path to automation, the Journal reports. The Amazon.com founder is meeting with some of the world’s largest asset managers to raise funding for the project. A few months ago, he traveled to the Middle East to discuss the new fund with sovereign-wealth representatives in the region. More recently, he went to Singapore to raise funding for the effort as well, according to people familiar with the efforts.

As more women rise through the industry ranks, they shape not only the cultures of their own firm but also the industry itself. Join us for a conversation with some of our past and present Women to Watch honorees, as we discuss issues female professionals face building their careers, as well as some of the emerging themes that stand to shape dealmaking as the year unfolds. Register here to join the webinar at 1 p.m. ET March 26.

3M is teaming up with Bain Capital to buy Madison Fire & Rescue for $1.95 billion as part of a deal to form a new fire and safety venture, the Journal reports. 3M on Thursday said it will contribute its Scott Safety breathing-apparatus unit to the venture and receive $700 million in cash at closing, adding that it will own 50.1% of the new company, with private-equity firm Bain holding the rest.

Palladium Equity Partners has agreed to buy a majority stake in DME Express, a company that provides durable medical equipment to U.S. hospice providers, according to an emailed press release. The company represents Palladium’s second deal out of Palladium Equity Partners VI, which is targeting $1.5 billion, according to a 2024 due diligence memo presented to Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund. Waypoint Capital Partners, which has backed the company since at least 2017, retains a minority stake in the company.

Entertainment and music investment firm Pophouse Entertainment and music company BMG have acquired the music interests of the catalog of singer, songwriter Tina Turner, as well as the name, image and likeness, or NIL, rights. Pophouse was founded by Björn Ulvaeus, former member of rock band ABBA, and Conni Jonsson, founder of EQT AB. The firm closed its debut fund last year with €1.2 billion, or $1.39 billion, including co-investment vehicles.

Singaporean sovereign-wealth investor GIC and publicly traded real-estate company Prologis have formed a $.6 billion joint venture to develop and own custom-built logistics facilities across major U.S. markets. The joint venture includes an initial portfolio of approximately 4.1 million square feet with additional capacity for future investments. The joint venture will operate within Prologis’ asset-management arm, Prologis Strategic Capital.

Midmarket firm Sterling Investment Partners is buying Cyber Advisors, a Maple Grove, Minn.-based provider of managed security services and cybersecurity consulting for small and medium-size businesses.

LS Power Group has agreed to acquire a portfolio of natural gas-fired plants across the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania from Constellation Energy. The $5 billion transaction accounts for most of the assets that Constellation was required to sell as part of an antitrust review by the Department of Justice of the power company’s $26.6 billion acquisition of Calpine, which operates dozens of other natural gas-fired plants across the U.S. LS Power, which both invests in and operates electricity plants, is acquiring the assets through its fund-management arm, LS Power Equity Advisors. Constellation acquired Calpine in January.

Real estate-focused CenterSquare Investment Management and private-markets investor Hamilton Lane are backing the recapitalization of Tenaya Village shopping center in suburban Las Vegas. The deal makes Hamilton Lane the majority investor in the essential-service retail center, which CenterSquare has owned since 2022.

Fort Point Capital has invested in Boston Green Co., a provider of environmental services for the New England and mid-Atlantic markets. Credit-focused Brookside Capital Partners in Stamford, Conn., among other lenders, provided financing for the recapitalization. Boston-based Fort Point makes growth investments in lower midmarket, service-oriented businesses.

Goldman Sachs has backed a $42.5 million investment for a minority stake in GeoWealth to extend the technology and asset-management company’s growth and provide liquidity to some shareholders. Family office investment firm the Globe Resources Group retains majority ownership of the company.

Listed German private-equity investor Deutsche-Beteiligungs, or DBAG, is taking a majority stake in medical technology contract manufacturing company Hipp Technology Group through one of its private-equity funds DBAG Fund VIII. DBAG is buying the majority of shares held by Swiss investment firm Endura AG.

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

Ecolab is nearing a deal to acquire data-center cooling company CoolIT Systems from KKR for between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, the Journal’s Lauren Thomas reports, citing people familiar with the matter. A deal could be announced as soon as next week, the people said, cautioning that nothing is completed. The price tag is a staggering jump from the company’s roughly $270 million valuation when KKR acquired a majority stake in 2023. Abu Dhabi’s sovereign-wealth investor Mubadala owns a minority stake in the business.

London-based Permira has agreed to sell its stake in private markets asset manager AltamarCAM to Mercer, a unit of publicly traded Marsh. Permira initially acquired a 40% stake in AltamarCAM in 2024, funding the deal out of its Permira Growth Opportunities II fund, which closed in 2021 with $4 billion.

Africa-focused firm Adenia Partners has held an initial close of Adenia Entrepreneurial Fund I at the fund’s $180 million upper limit. The fund is the first of a strategy focused on control investments in small and lower midmarket companies across the African continent. Along with the first close, the fund has also backed its first deal with an investment in Maymana, a Moroccan provider of baked goods, fine grocery items and catering services.

Private-credit investor Oak Hill Advisors and asset manager T. Rowe Price, which acquired Oak Hill in 2021, are rolling out T. Rowe Price OHA Flexible Credit Income Fund, a multistrategy credit interval fund that can invest across both public and private credit.

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, or La Caisse, has named Emmanuelle Leclerc-Granger as executive vice president, chief financial and information officer at the Canadian pension manager. Leclerc-Granger joined La Caisse from Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, where she had served as chief financial officer since 2021.

O2 Investment Partners has hired Ben Stemmet as its newest associate. Stemmet joins from Houlihan Lokey where he was an investment banking analyst in the business services group.

One of the largest minority shareholders in Japan's MCJ is urging other investors to reject a Bain Capital-sponsored buyout it says deeply undervalues the gaming personal-computer maker, Dow Jones Newswires Megan Cheah writes. The Hong Kong branch of Maven Investment Partners, which has a near 3.0% stake in MCJ, said it doesn't intend to tender its shares, viewing the proposed offer price as deeply unfair.

Monroe Capital affiliate Horizon Technology Finance Corp. and CR Financial Holdings, a holding company of Roth Capital Partners, are forming a joint venture that will provide growth financing to small and midcap public companies, primarily in the U.S. The two investors will initially commit a total of $100 million to the joint venture.

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

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