Good morning.

First up, our Maria Armental has a scoop on Southfield Capital's bet on demand for talent in cutting-edge sectors such as data centers and life sciences.

Next, I have an update on a hospital conflict in Oregon that represents the first trial of a new state law to restrict the influence of private equity and other corporate entities in medicine.

Now on to the news...

Southfield Capital has acquired specialist recruiter Metric Search to capitalize on talent wars in hot sectors such as data centers, life sciences, Maria Armental reports for WSJ Pro. The  investment values Metric at $100 million, according to a person familiar with the transaction. It represents an exit for U.K. growth investor BGF Group, which backed Metric in 2024.

An Oregon physicians’ group has sued hospital operator PeaceHealth and medical staffing firm ApolloMD for allegedly trying to circumvent rules against corporate medicine, Chris Cumming reports for WSJ Pro. The conflict represents the first test case of Oregon's new law to prevent private equity and other corporate entities from influencing medical decisions, which has become a model for other states concerned about private equity's role in healthcare.

As more women rise through the industry ranks, they shape not only the cultures of their own firms 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.

Apollo Global Management is joining CVC Capital Partners as an investor in technology and systems provider Syntegon, leading a group that is acquiring a 37% stake in the business from CVC. The company primarily serves the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and food industries, generating revenue of about €1.75 billion, or roughly $2.03 billion, and an adjusted pre-tax profit of €282 million last year. CVC is retaining a 63% stake in the German company, which it first backed in 2020.

Arlington Capital Partners in Washington is acquiring Australian government contractor Eptec Defence, which specializes in maintenance and repair of naval vessels. The Sydney-based business is part of Eptec Group and will retain its current management after the deal closes.

One Equity Partners has acquired food and drink wholesale distributor Kitwave Group, which operates across the U.K. The company has 37 locations and 650 delivery vehicles supplying retailers and food services businesses.

Bridgepoint Group and Triton Partners in London have walked away from buyout talks with U.K. private hospital operator Spire Healthcare Group, but the London-listed business said Monday that talks continue with other potential suitors. Spire shares fell about 20% Monday following news of the Bridgepoint and Triton withdrawals.

Stonepeak's private-credit arm is backing information technology services provider Acture Solutions with growth financing. The Albany, N.Y.-based company focuses on serving public school systems and regional organizations across the Northeast.

Diversis Capital has acquired financing software supplier LTi Technology Solutions. The Omaha, Neb.-based company specializes in applications used in financing leases of industrial and commercial equipment.

Infrastructure investor Actis has acquired a 90% stake in Singapore-based environmental-management company 800 Super. Actis backed the acquisition out of its Actis Long Life Infrastructure Fund 2, which closed last year with around $1.7 billion and is now around 70% invested. 

Sports-, entertainment- and media-focused firm WTSL, backed by Silver Lake, led an early-stage investment in Working Capital Partners, which helps athletes tap into financing backed by guaranteed player contracts. The company also works with musicians to monetize their intellectual property without selling it outright.

Sweden's EQT AB has acquired a collection of nine light industrial buildings in southern New Jersey from New York Life Insurance Co.'s investment-management arm. EQT invested through its real-estate strategy. The Stockholm-based firm aims to redevelop and enhance the roughly 2 million square feet of space to bolster tenant appeal, although the buildings are already leased.

The New York-listed Fundrise Innovation Fund, an alternative investment vehicle open to everyday investors, is backing newly formed national lender Erebor Bank, started by serial entrepreneur Palmer Luckey to serve the technology industry. Erebor's goal is to fill the market gap created by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023, although SVB still exists as a unit of First Citizens Bank. Other Erebor investors include Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz and Lux Capital.

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Advent International is selling the Ultra Cyber security unit of the Cobham Ultra defense business it owns to strategic buyer Airbus Defence and Space. Boston-based Advent acquired Cobham in 2020 and it bought Ultra Electronics for £2.6 billion, or $3 billion, in 2021, PA Media, formerly known as the Press Association of the U.K., reports.

Norwest Venture Partners and TPG are among the backers of biotechnology company Ouro Medicines, which strategic acquirer Gilead Sciences is buying for almost $1.68 billion upfront in cash and as much as $500 million in contingent payments later. South San Francisco, Calif.-based Ouro is focused on developing certain therapies for autoimmune diseases. TPG invested in the business early last year through its life sciences innovations strategy.

Specialty investor Rockland Capital in The Woodlands, Texas, has agreed to sell two fossil-fueled power plants to fellow private-equity firm Hull Street Energy in Bethesda, Md. One of the plants, a 677-megawatt generating station in Illinois, burns natural gas while the other, a 586-megawatt plant in Ohio, can use either gas or diesel oil. Rockland acquired the Ohio plant in 2018 and the Illinois plant in 2017, according to the firm's website.

Olympus Partners is selling the retina business of managed services provider EyeSouth Partners to strategic buyer Cencora for $1.1 billion and retaining the Anterior segment. Olympus first backed EyeSouth in October 2022, according to the firm's website.

Madison Dearborn Partners-backed defense technology contractor Aevex has registered for an initial public offering of shares, without saying how many it plans to sell or at what expected price range. Madison Dearborn in Chicago first backed the developer of drone warfare systems in March 2020, according to the firm's website. The Solana Beach, Calif.-based company specializes in navigation and control systems used in aerial vehicles.

Francisco Partners is selling independent music publisher Kobalt  to Brookfield Asset Management and its portfolio company Primary Wave Music. Francisco acquired a majority interest in Kobalt in 2022, the same year that Brookfield acquired a minority stake in Primary Wave and agreed to provide as much as $1.7 billion in future financing.

Highland Europe-backed nutrition startup Huel is being acquired by strategic buyer Danone for about $1.2 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. Huel's backers have also included the private-equity arm of Morgan Stanley. The U.K.-based company, valued at $560 million in 2022, sells protein shakes and snacks direct to consumers. Huel has backed the business since September 2018, according to the firm's website. Morgan Stanley first invested in 2023, according to PitchBook.

Lead Edge Capital has raised $3.5 billion for Lead Edge Capital VII to back growth-stage software, internet and technology-enabled businesses. Investors that have disclosed commitments to the new fund include state pension managers Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, New Mexico State Investment Council, San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Virginia Retirement System as well as endowment manager Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, according to WSJ Pro Private Equity’s LP Commitments database. The new fund’s final tally far exceeds the $1.95 billion that the firm raised for the fund’s predecessor back in 2022.

Somerset Indus Capital Partners in Mumbai has raised about $288 million for its third flagship fund, surpassing its $250 million target, according to a post on the firm's LinkedIn page. Somerset invests from the fund in healthcare businesses in India.

Tor Investment Management has raised at least $87.4 million so far for Tor Asia Credit Opportunity Fund IV, according to a regulatory filing. The firm raised around $310 million in 2024 for its previous Asia Credit Opportunity fund, according to an announcement from law firm Simpson Tacher & Bartlett, which advised the firm on that fund.

European midmarket firm ECI has added David Danon as a partner at the firm, Sebastian McCarthy writes for sister publication Private Equity News. Danon previously spent nearly two decades at Bain Capital, where he was most recently a partner in the firm’s industrials group.

Ridgepost Capital's Mark Hood is retiring as executive vice president and chief administration officer effective May 31, after joining the Dallas firm formerly known as P10 before its initial public offering of shares in 2021. He remains as a strategic adviser to the firm and described the move as a transition on his LinkedIn page. Ridgepost said it has begun a search for his successor.

Blackstone has added CNBC anchor Courtney Reagan as senior editor of Blackstone Insights. She was a reporter and anchor with the cable television and streaming service for about two decades.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) and U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D., Pa.) have introduced a bill that would ban Medicare funding for private-equity-backed hospitals and nursing homes. The lawmakers cited the over 400 institutions currently owned by fund sponsors around the country and highlighted research showing adverse effects on patient outcomes in such hospitals and nursing homes when they unveiled the legislation. By blocking Medicare from covering their services, the lawmakers aim to keep hospitals and nursing homes out of the hands of private equity.

Apollo Global Management joined a growing list of business development company overseers that have recently capped investor withdrawals, limiting redemptions to 5% of Apollo Debt Solutions BDC's shares outstanding after receiving requests equivalent to over 11%. The New York firm cited its commitment to manage its net assets of $15.1 billion in the best interests of all investors and the BDC's "designated liquidity objectives," in a securities filing Monday. It intends to honor each withdrawal request on a pro-rated basis, which will mean each investor would get nearly half of what was sought this quarter. Apollo set the 5% limit to reflect the average life of the BDC's underlying assets and the anticipated time span of investor commitments. Because the non-traded BDC had $724 million in new subscriptions this quarter, it said the capped withdrawals would have little net impact. At the end of last month, the BDC held assets of about $25 billion based on fair market value, while its net asset value per share slipped less than 1% to $24.14 from $24.34 at the end of January, according to a separate filing.

Victory Capital Holdings pushed back Monday against reports that major clients are uneasy with its bid for asset manager Janus Henderson, calling the claims misleading and part of an effort to undermine what it calls a superior offer, Adriano Marchese reports for the Journal. Last week, the Journal reported that Janus clients, including senior leaders of the wealth-management arms of Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, privately told Janus executives that they are uneasy with Victory’s plans, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Ares Management business development company Ares Strategic Income Fund sold nontraded shares worth $190.4 million this month, even as other credit-focused BDCs saw surges in investor withdrawals over concerns about their software-backed assets. Ares said the sales closed at a net asset value of $26.86 a share. At the end of February, the BDC had net assets of about $10.7 billion, and roughly 21% of its assets were tied to software and services, according to a securities filing announcing the latest share sales. On a fair-value basis, the BDC's holdings included investments in 835 companies and were worth about $20.8 billion.

Business development companies represent the financial sector's most vulnerable group when it comes to assets at risk because of disruptions from artificial intelligence, according to a Fitch Ratings report. The credit evaluator cited BDC loans to software companies as the underlying source of the risk. Of the BDCs Fitch rates, their software loan holdings represent about 20% of their assets, on average, based on estimated fair values.

Artificial intelligence is already streamlining the paperwork side of healthcare. Now it’s seeping into patient care, too, Brian Gormley reports for WSJ Pro Venture Capital. Startup Doctronic, which has just raised $40 million in new venture capital, in December became the first company to use AI to write prescription refills through a pilot launched in Utah. Other startups are launching or developing clinical-AI services in areas such as mental health and surgical rehabilitation.

Canada's Desjardins Group has acquired and taken private Guardian Capital Group, closing a deal that created a manager with assets of about 280 billion Canadian dollars, or roughly $204 billion. Desjardins paid C$68 a share for Toronto-listed Guardian, giving it an equity value of about C$1.67 billion, and invested through its global asset-management unit.

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