Limited partners with private capital portfolios are doing a sort of "declutter the closet ... and then fill it up with new clothes," according to Coller Capital's latest survey.

Why it matters: For all the (valid) complaints from LPs about their portfolios, 31% of investors surveyed expect to increase their target allocation to alternative assets in the next 12 months, while 59% expect it to remain the same.

By the numbers: LPs are most likely to increase their target allocation to private credit (45% of investors), with 33% expecting to increase their allocations to infrastructure; meanwhile, 31% expecting to up their private equity allocation.

• 38% of those surveyed say that they expect to increase their allocation to private markets secondaries.
• 61% expect to make first commitments to new managers in private credit in the next 12-24 months.

Between the lines: About 86% of LPs surveyed said they expect to see an uptick in distributions from private equity this year compared to 2023, which is likely driving their re-energized embrace of the asset class.

The flipside: 48% of investors surveyed have portfolio funds they view as "zombies" — meaning that GPs are managing out existing portfolios due as they're unable to raise new funds.

• And of the 52% that don't currently have such zombies, 54% think they will later in the cycle.
• Meanwhile, 64% of the investors believe that at least one of the PE firms in their portfolio will merge with, or be acquired by, another firm in the next two years.

The intrigue: 78% said that "repeatable, sustainable processes and firm-wide networks" define their best performing firms, while only 22% said star dealmakers are the key.

The bottom line: LPs haven't soured on private capital and alternative assets at all. But they're clear-eyed about the market.

Newsmax, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based conservative-leaning news organization, is raising $225 million in a new funding round, and is eyeing an IPO later this year to raise up to $75 million.

Why it's the BFD: The IPO market is slowly coming back to life, but given the upcoming U.S. election, this is a prime window for a company like Newsmax.

Details: It's offering a maximum of 30,000 convertible shares, priced at $5,000 each, but it can increase the number sold by up to 50% if the offering is oversubscribed. The shares will have an annual dividend of 7% of their price, or $350 a share, per the WSJ.

The bottom line: "The public markets are brutal for media companies right now, but Newsmax is betting it can buck that trend by leaning into the retail investor interest surrounding Donald Trump's firm." — Sara Fischer, Axios

• Mistral AI, a French AI company, has closed its €468m equity funding round at a €5.8bn valuation led by DST Global and General Catalyst, per Sifted. axios.link/4ccu6sD

🌎 Battery Smart, an Indian battery swapping network, raised $65m in primary and secondary Series B funding led by LeapFrog Investments, with MUFG Bank, Panasonic, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Blume Ventures, and British International Investment also participating. batterysmart.in

• Stake, a Dubai-based real estate investment platform, raised $14m in Series A funding. Middle East Venture Partners led, and was joined by Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures, Mubadala Investment Co., and Republic. axios.link/3xecHRt

• Astrocade, an SF generative AI gaming startup co-founded by Fei-Fei Li, raised $12m in seed funding from AME Cloud Ventures, NVIDIA Ventures, Venture Reality Fund, Eric Schmidt, Niccolo De Masi, John Riccitiello, David Baszucki, Jerry Yang, Mike Abbott, and others. astrocade.com

• Whizz, an NYC e-bike subscription service for last-mile delivery, raised $12m in Series A funding LETA Capital led, and was joined by Flashpoint. axios.link/45kjAxb

• Whoosh, a Mill Valley, Calif., maker of golf club operations software, raised $10.3m in Series A funding led by AlleyCorp, with 8VC, Alaris Capital, Bienville, Craft Ventures, Eberg Capital, Operator Partners, Raptor Group, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Alison Lee, Howard Lindzon, Kurt Kitayama, Andy Roddick, and Mike Walrath. whoosh.io

• Squads Labs, a crypto wallet startup, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Electric Capital, with RockawayX, Coinbase Ventures, L1 Digital, and Placeholder also participating. axios.link/4effE4V

• Mountain Protocol, a yield-bearing stablecoin issuer, raised $8m in Series A funding. Multicoin Capital led, and was joined by Castle Island Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. axios.link/4aUDyzC

• EvodiaBio, a Danish developer of sustainable aromas for non-alcoholic beer, raised €7m from the Export & Investment Fund of Denmark and The March Group. axios.link/45kiVfb

• Brightwave, an AI-powered research assistant for financial analysis, raised $6m in seed funding led by Decibel Partners, with Point72 Ventures, Moonfire Ventures and angels also participating. axios.link/3VgUKK5

• Wild Common, a Jackson Hole, Wyo. agave spirits maker, raised $5m in Series A funding led by HIPstr. axios.link/45r2u0Q

• Kelvin, a French home energy auditing startup, raised €4.7m. Racine led, and was joined by Bpifrance. Seedcamp, Raise Capital, Kima Ventures, and Motier Ventures. axios.link/4aYECTp

🚑 Hazel Health, a school-based telemental health startup for kids, raised $1.5m from UnitedHealthcare. hazel.co

• Dataform Lab, a London provider of software for offsite building manufacturing, raised a £1.1m seed round led by Marathon Venture Capital. axios.link/3KBRWSR

• Apollo and Kyndril are considering a bid for DXC Technology at between $22 and $25 a share, per Reuters. axios.link/3KE72r1

🚙 Bain Capital offered to acquire Bapcor, an Australian auto parts retailer, for A$1.83b ($1.21b). Shareholders would get A$5.4 in cash per share. axios.link/3VCTqm4

• Edgar Bronfman Jr., backed by private-equity firm Bain Capital, is considering a $2b to $2.5b bid for Paramount Global's parent company, National Amusements, per WSJ. axios.link/3VmJj3o

🌎 General Atlantic's BeyondNetZero agreed to acquire a 24.9% stake in Sustainable Development Capital, a U.K. developer, investor and fund manager focused on energy efficiency and decarbonisation. sdclgroup.com

• Great Sum Ventures acquired Kologik, a Baton Rouge, La., provider of law enforcement software. kologik.com

🚑 SG Homecare, a Tustin, Calif., portfolio company of Sverica Capital, acquired Western Drug Medical Supply, a Glendale, Calif., provider of durable medical equipment and single-use medical supplies to the home care market. sgdme.com

• Thompson Street Capital Partners is merging portfolio companies Vector Laboratories and Absolute Biotech, both manufacturer of reagents. tscp.com

⚽ United Talent Agency, backed by EQT, acquired Representatives of Outstanding Footballers, a talent agency for soccer players. axios.link/4bSxl8V

• VTG, backed by A&M Capital Partners, acquired Clear Cloud, a Reston, Va. cloud consulting company. clearcloud.io

• Zips Car Wash, operator of over 270 car wash locations in 20+ states, raised $70m from existing backer Atlantic Street Capital. zipscarwash.com

🚑 Actuate Therapeutics, a Fort Worth, Texas Phase 2 biotech company plans to raise $50m by offering 5.6m shares at a price range of $8 to $10. At the midpoint, it would command a fully diluted market value of $207m. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as ACTU. Titan Partners is the sole bookrunner on the deal. axios.link/3xcwOzq

🚙 Hyundai is planning to file for an IPO of its Indian unit this month, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4ekVfeE

• Centurion Acquisition, a blank check company targeting the tech industry, raised $250m in an IPO. axios.link/3RpMPcm

🚑 Addus HomeCare (Nasdaq: ADUS) will pay around $350m to buy the personal care operations of Gentiva, a hospice care provider owned by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. gentivahs.com

• Fortinet (Nasdaq; FTNT) acquired Laceworks, a Mountain View, Calif. cybersecurity startup backed by Sutter Hill, Altimeter Capital, Tiger Global Management, D1 Capital Partners, Coatue Management and Durable Capital Partners, among others. axios.link/4ch6G5g

🚑 Health Catalyst (Nasdaq: HCAT) acquired Carevive, a Boston cancer symptom tracking startup that had raised around $30m from Phillips Health Tech Venture Fund, Flex Capital, HLM Venture Partners, Debiopharm Innovation Fund, Qure Venture, OurCrowd, and LRVHealth. carvive.com

• Yext (NYSE: YEXT) agreed to acquire Hearsay Systems, an SF global leader in digital client engagement for financial services, for $125m, with up to $95m in performance-based earn-outs. Hearsay is backed by Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Felicis Ventures, NewView Capital, and others. axios.link/3VhvEdV

• Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) acquired PAR Government Systems, a Rome, N.Y.-based maker of defense and space equipment, from PAR Technology (NYSE: PAR). pargovernment.com

🏈 Jeffrey Lurie is looking to sell a minority stake in the Philadelphia Eagles, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3KxijZZ

• Marsh McLennan's Mercer (NYSE: MMC) agreed to acquire Cardano, a UK pension manager. axios.link/3z0Ak0A

• TodayTix Group, a digital ticketing platform for Broadway shows, acquired digital ad agency Arthouse. axios.link/3xhW33j

🌎 Collaborative Fund, an NYC venture firm focused on climate, health, and food, raised $125m for its sixth fund. axios.link/3yNwCHh

• Partners Group, a Swiss PE firm, raised more than $15b for its fifth fund and affiliated vehicles. partnersgroup.com

• Veridical Ventures, a seed-stage LA venture firm, is raising $30m for a debut fund, per PitchBook. axios.link/3xdnzPy

• Vsquared Ventures, a German deep tech-focused venture firm, raised €214m for its second fund. vsquared.vc

• Macquarie Capital hired Steven Westerback as managing director of its financial sponsors secondaries business. macquarie.com

• TDK Ventures hired Marc Bouchet as senior investment associate, David Delfassy as investment director, and Sam Hill as investment analyst in its London office. tdk-ventures.com

Fruit-borne disease and extreme weather, amplified by a warming climate, are throttling orange-producing regions in Brazil and Florida — curbing harvests and driving up citrus prices.

Why it matters: Climate change investment risk is real.

The big picture: There's still a lot of debate over whether climate change is a factor investors should be privy to and consider, but when looking at a range of areas, from homeowners insurance to orange harvests, it's getting harder to deny.

Go deeper: Orange juice falls prey to inflation