Private equity firms

PepsiCo Inc. (Nasdaq: PEP) has agreed to buy fizzy-drinks dispenser maker SodaStream International Ltd. (Nasdaq: SODA) for $3.2 billion, sending the company synonymous with sugary sodas into the homes of more health-conscious consumers.

Middle-market companies are hiring and promoting, with recent developments coming from: AEI ,Cowen, PJ Solomon and Platinum Equity.

Cava Group, backed by investors including Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich, is acquiring restaurant chain Zoe's Kitchen Inc. (NYSE: ZOES) for about $300 million, as Americans spend more money at restaurants.

Best Buy acquires GreatCall from GTCR. Peak buys Tyson Foods' pizza crust business. Thoma Bravo backs Quorum.

Clearwater Fund, Kennedy Lewis, Ridgemont Equity and Yellow Wood are raising capital, according to SEC filings.

Dating app Bumble, founded by Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014, is best known for challenging "the antiquated rules of dating" by requiring that women "talk first to set an equal tone from the start." Now the startup is launching a venture capital fund to invest in women-led businesses.

For years, Jim Coulter and David Bonderman, the billionaire co-founders of private equity titan TPG, flirted with the idea of selling shares in their own firm to the public.

Private equity fundraising has slowed down in 2018, after a strong 8-year run. The amount of capital raised annually for new funds by U.S. private equity firms increased more than threefold from 2010 (when nearly $71 billion was raised) to 2017 (when $243 billion was raised).

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and JD.com Inc. (Nasdaq: JD) have invested about $500 million in Chinese logistics company Dada-JD Daojia, with about $320 million coming from Walmart. Walmart owns more than a 10 percent stake in Dada.