Good Monday morning! Today our Maria Armental reports that Riverwood Capital is backing AI-driven tech company AppZen with a $180 million investment. 

Next our Luis Garcia writes that Carrick Capital has acquired a majority stake in background-check provider Intelligo, joined by AllianceBernstein. Trinity Capital provided related debt.

Finally, the Journal's Miriam Gottfried reports on new leaders chosen for some Blackstone property investment vehicles in the wake of the July murder of Wesley LePatner inside the lobby of the firm's New York headquarters.

We have these stories and much more for you below, so please read on...

Riverwood Capital is investing $180 million in artificial intelligence-powered technology company AppZen, betting on growing adoption of autonomous AI bots that help companies curb expenses and flag potential fraud, Maria Armental writes for WSJ Pro. Forge Global, an online marketplace for buying and selling shares of private firms, pegs AppZen’s valuation following the minority investment at more than $650 million.

Carrick Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in background-check provider Intelligo, betting the business will benefit from tightened banking rules and a potential rebound in dealmaking, WSJ Pro's Luis Garcia reports. Intelligo provides background checks on individuals and companies for investors vetting potential deals as well for banks screening prospective new clients to comply with know-your-customer rules aimed at preventing money-laundering, fraud and terrorist financing. Investment firm AllianceBernstein also participated in the deal, while asset manager Trinity Capital provided related debt to Intelligo.

Blackstone has chosen another top female executive to head its $53 billion real-estate megafund following the fatal shooting of Wesley LePatner, who had led the fund, Miriam Gottfried reports for the Journal. Katie Keenan will become CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, or Breit, one of the firm’s biggest funds aimed at individual investors. Blackstone also tapped her to become global head of Core+ real estate, overseeing all less risky, lower-returning investments in its $325 billion property business. Keenan, currently CEO of BXMT, Blackstone’s publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT, is also co-chief investment officer of its $77 billion real-estate debt business. Tim Johnson, who heads Blackstone’s real-estate debt business globally, will become CEO of BXMT.

Silver Lake and cloud-computing company Oracle would take over a roughly half interest in the new U.S. entity running the TikTok short-video website in America, under terms being negotiated by the governments of China and the U.S., the Journal reports. The deal is expected to generate a multibillion-dollar fee paid to the U.S. by investors as part of the complicated transaction.

Apollo Global Management is in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in Spain's Atletico de Madrid soccer club, which plays in the country's top La Liga league, Reuters reported Friday, citing three people with knowledge of the deal. One of the people said the New York buyout firm could acquire interests from club executives while a second person said the sellers could include Ares Management. Apollo and Ares declined to comment.

Brookfield Corp. spinoff Brookfield Wealth Solutions' offer to acquire U.K. insurer and annuities provider Just Group for 220 pence a share in a deal that values the business at about £2.4 billion, or roughly $3.25 billion, received the approval of a majority of Just shareholders at a meeting Friday. With the acquisition, expected to close next year, Bermuda-based Brookfield Wealth would gain a foothold in the U.K. market for pension-asset transfers and other retirement services. Once combined, Brookfield Wealth's insurance assets would total about $180 billion.

Portrait Capital in Jonesboro, Ark., has acquired Art Advertising, which operates as AAi Labels & Decals, and combined it with just-acquired Sticker Ranch. The merged business will be run by Sticker Ranch Co-founder Lynn Higgs.

Midmarket firm Tamarix Equity Partners in New York has invested in Royal Oak Recycling, a Detroit-area recycling company that hauls, processes and brokers high-grade paper, plastic and metal.

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

Nordic Capital-backed Noba Bank Group would have a value of 35 billion Swedish kronor, or roughly $3.74 billion, based on an initial public offering of shares priced at 70 kronor each, Adria Calatayud reports for Dow Jones Newswires. The Swedish digital specialist lender aims to list its shares in Stockholm this week. Nordic Capital and fellow backer Sampo, a Finnish insurer, expect to sell at least 108.7 million shares in the IPO, Noba said.

Onex is selling a stake in insurance broker OneDigital through a refinancing, with Stone Point Capital and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquiring a majority interest in the business at a valuation of more than $7 billion. Toronto-listed Onex remains a minority investor in OneDigital, which the firm first backed through its Onex Partners private-equity arm in 2020.

General Atlantic-backed SMG Swiss Marketplace Group saw its shares jump when they started trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange, after the online marketplace business priced its initial public offering at the top of its targeted range, the Journal reports. The company achieved a valuation of 4.5 billion Swiss francs, or about $5.68 billion, based on its IPO price of 46 francs a share. General Atlantic backed SMG as part of the company’s formation in 2021. The shares closed Friday at 49 francs for a 6.5% gain.

Shares of RA Capital-backed pharmaceuticals developer 89bio soared after drugmaker Roche Holdings disclosed a $14.50 per share buyout offer that values the San Francisco company at up to $3.5 billion, Allison Gatlin reports for sister publication Investor's Business Daily. The shares remained elevated Friday, closing at $14.87, some 84% above where they ended Wednesday. Both RA Capital and Janus Henderson had nearly 14% stakes in 89bio at the end of March, while Suvretta Capital Management had a 7% interest, a regulatory filing shows.

Macquarie Group's asset management arm has closed Macquarie Green Energy Transition Solutions with commitments of more than $3 billion, including co-investment capital. The Australian firm's Macquarie Asset Management invests in energy transition opportunities through the new fund, its first dedicated to the strategy. So far, the firm has invested in 12 deals through the fund, with more than 65% of the capital committed to those investments.

Multi-strategy investor Nexus Capital Management in Los Angeles closed on about $1.4 billion for its Nexus Special Situations IV flagship fund, bringing the firm's assets under management to about $5 billion. The firm's latest fund is about 10% larger than its predecessor, which the firm closed in 2020 with about $1.25 billion.

Paine Schwartz Partners Co-founder and Chairman Dexter Paine and his family have acquired a minority stake in the Portland Hearts of Pine, a recently formed professional soccer team. The Portland, Maine-based team plays in the United Soccer League's 14-club League One. Paine purchased the Maine Mariners hockey team last year.

Jefferies Financial Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are bolstering their ties in a push to court more companies and private-equity firms globally, offering M&A services and loans, among other things, Lauren Thomas writes for the Journal. SMFG’s commercial banking subsidiary, SMBC, has agreed to increase its equity ownership in Jefferies to up to 20% in the open market, from about 15%, according to executives. It also has agreed to provide Jefferies roughly $2.5 billion in new credit facilities to aid in the two firms’ efforts.

Credit-focused Rithm Capital has sold $190 million worth of preferred shares, which it expects to list on the New York Stock Exchange, where its main shares currently trade. The firm sold about 7.6 million 8.75% series E preferred with a "liquidation preference" of $25 per share. Offering underwriters have options to buy another roughly 1.1 million shares in the deal, which is expected to close Sept. 25.

A company backed by multi-strategy growth investor BC Partners, telecommunications and media giant United Group, has agreed to pay its ousted founder €250 million, or around $294.7 million, Lars Mucklejohn reports for sister publication Private Equity News in London. The payment represents an unpaid bonus tied to the sale of United assets for €1.5 billion and came under a related legal settlement.

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

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

Follow us on Twitter:@wsjpe, @LHVGarcia, @LauraKreutzer