Axios Pro Rata: Thiel's Trumpism — 1 🚽 thing — Staples tries again

Top of the Morning | Monday, January 11, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking   Pro Rata By Dan Primack ·Jan 11, 2021 🚨 Situational awareness: Staples, now owned by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, this morning offered to buy rival Office Depot for $2.1 billion in cash. This represents its third attempt, having been previously blocked by federal antitrust authorities in both 2015 (for $6.3 billion) and 1996 (for $3.4 billion). 🎧 Axios Re:Cap goes deeper into Friday's disappointing jobs report. Listen via Apple, Spotify or Axios.     Top of the Morning Photo illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios   Peter Thiel may be the most successful venture capitalist of his era, with a resume that spans from Facebook to SpaceX to Airbnb. But no venture capitalist bats 1000, and Thiel's biggest whiff was of much greater consequence than pushing a mediocre app into the market. Flashback: Just days before Donald Trump's 2016 election, Thiel criticized the media for taking Trump literally rather than seriously, contrasted to Trump voters who took him seriously but not literally. This was not an original framing, as Thiel lifted it from a pre-election column by Salena Zito in The Atlantic. But Thiel's forum (the National Press Club) and his profile (iconoclastic Silicon Valley billionaire) amplified his message far beyond The Atlantic's readership, and helped establish and then cement a viewpoint through which even Trump's most egregious statements were taken at other than face value. What's come into stark relief, however, is that Trump says what he means and means what he says. We heard it in his call with Georgia's secretary of state, in which Trump made clear that his conspiracy theory was not just for public consumption. We saw it in his reticence to condemn the Capitol insurrectionists, after weeks of telling them to fight. Thiel, who didn't respond to interview requests, himself gave up on advocating for Trump earlier this year, in them midst of White House mismanagement of the pandemic, not speaking again at the Republican National Convention nor donating in 2020 to Trump's re-election campaign. His fundamental framing of Trump's presidency, however, had already taken root. And far too few Americans, including media members who Thiel had initially critiqued, recognized the flaws in his thesis until it was too late.     The BFD Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios   Platinum Equity is seeking a buyer for United Site Services, a Westborough, Mass.-based portable toilet and hand-wash station provider, per Reuters. The company could fetch around $4 billion, including debt. Why it's the BFD: USS is the country's largest port-a-potty purveyor, with a product line that ranges from luxurious to stomach-churning. It's also another successful pandemic pivot story, as the growth of its hand-wash business appears to have more than offset losses related to the dearth of in-person events. ROI: USS was valued at just $1.15 billion when Platinum bought it in mid-2017 from Calera Capital. The bottom line: "The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of the hand wash stations industry, with the market seen growing from $919.4 million in 2019 to almost $1.5 billion by 2027, according to research firm ResearchAndMarkets." — Joshua Franklin, Reuters     Venture Capital Deals 🚑 EQRx, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of drug equivalars, raised $500 million in Series B funding. Return backers include GV, Arch Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Casdin Capital, Section 32, Nextech and Arboretum Ventures. http://axios.link/Ur1H • Keep, a Chinese connected fitness company, raised $360 million in Series F funding. SoftBank led, and was joined by Coatue, Hillhouse Capital and insiders GGV Capital, Tencent, 5Y Capital, Jeneration Capital and Bertelsmann Asia Investments. http://axios.link/WvKw • Enfusion, an investment management SaaS platform, raised $150 million from Iconiq Growth. www.enfusion.com 🚑 Atalanta Therapeutics, a Boston-based developer of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, raised $110 million in Series A funding from F-Prime Capital. http://axios.link/zOnL • Cortilia, an Italian online seller of fresh food, raised €34 million in Series C funding. Red Circle Investments led, and was joined by return backers Indaco Ventures, Five Seasons Ventures, Primomiglio and P101 SGR. http://axios.link/jicC • Ajab Group, an Indonesian online investment platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Horizons Ventures led, and was joined by return backers SoftBank Ventures Asia, Insignia Ventures and YC. http://axios.link/bkcd • Getir, a Turkish online delivery company, is in talks to raise around $100 million at a valuation north of $800 million, per Bloomberg. Existing backers include Mike Moritz. http://axios.link/g38l     A message from JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking Executives remain optimistic as they plan for 2021     61% of business leaders named economic uncertainty as their top challenge in 2021, but they remain confident their business will thrive. The reason: COVID-19 has created a backdrop of uncertainty, but it's also sparked ingenuity, resilience and optimism across industries. Explore more.     Private Equity Deals • CVC Capital Partners and Spectrum Brands (NYSE: SPB) are in talks to buy hair dryer maker Conair for around $2 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/QiQM • GCash, a Philippine mobile wallet provider, raised more than $175 million from Bow Wave Capital Management. http://axios.link/yvtX • Francisco Partners completed its purchase of Forcepoint, an Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity company, from Raytheon (NYSE: NTX). www.forcepoint.com • Global Infrastructure Partners agreed to buy private jet base operator Signature Aviation (LSE: SIG) for £3.4 billion, besting a rival offer from The Blackstone Group and Cascade Investments. http://axios.link/pKg1 • SK Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Lacerta, a Mansfield, Mass.-based maker of specialty thermoformed packaging. www.lacerta.com • Spartronics, a Watertown, S.D.-based portfolio company of One Equity Partners, acquired Primus Technologies, a Williamsport, Penn.-based electronics components company. www.spartronics.com • Starwood Capital Group offered to buy listed Austrian commercial landlord Immobilien Anlagen at around a €3.4 billion valuation. It already holds a 30% position. http://axios.link/NQjo     Public Offerings • Eight companies plan to go public this week on U.S. exchanges: Affirm, Driven Brands, Kuke Music, Motorsport Games, Qilian International, Petco, Playtika and Poshmark. http://axios.link/PKpB • Affirm, a San Francisco-based provider of personal installment loans for online purchases, upped its IPO price range from $33–$38 per share to $41-$44. It now would have a market cap of $12.8 billion, were it to price in the middle. http://axios.link/cxnf • Dr. Martens, a British bootmaker owned by Permira, announced its intentions to go public in London. http://axios.link/uBrg • Home Point, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based mortgage lender owned by Stone Point Capital, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (HMPT) and reports $422 million of net income on $922 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. http://axios.link/CbeT • ON24, a San Francisco-based digital experience platform for customer engagement, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (ONTF) and reports $11 million of net income on $104 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. The company raised $44 million from firms like USVP (20% pre-IPO stake), Canaan Partners (16.3%), Goldman Sachs (14.5%) and Rho Ventures (10.3%). http://axios.link/FOuC     SPAC Stuff • B. Riley Principal 150 Merger, the first SPAC formed by B. Riley Financial, filed for a $150 million IPO. http://axios.link/nzO7 🚑 CA Healthcare Acquisition, a health care-focused SPAC led by Larry Neiterman (ex-Deloitte), filed for a $100 million IPO. http://axios.link/srZ1 • CF Acquisition V, a SPAC formed by Cantor Fitzgerald, filed for a $250 million IPO. http://axios.link/d3OB • Churchill Capital Corp., the SPAC series formed by Michael Klein, filed for two new SPACs. One is designed to raise $400 million, the other to raise $300 million. • Constellation Acquisition I, a SPAC led by former Arconic and Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld, filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/lEpT • DiamondHead Holdings, a SPAC led by David Hamamoto (ex-Colony Capital), filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/pDAt • Decarbonization Plus Acquisition II, a "global decarbonization" SPAC formed by Riverstone Holdings, filed for a $200 million IPO. http://axios.link/w9T8 • Foresight Acquisition, a SPAC led by former Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson, filed for a $275 million IPO. It will focus on the consumer tech and health care industries. http://axios.link/JAOu 🚑 HealthCor Catalio Acquisition, a healthcare-focused SPAC, filed for a $150 million IPO. http://axios.link/4TRm • Ithax Acquisition, a leisure industry-focused SPAC, filed for a $175 million IPO. http://axios.link/fTJA • LMF Acquisition, a financial services-focused SPAC formed by LM Funding America, filed for a $75 million IPO. http://axios.link/B2wJ     Liquidity Events • Equifax (NYSE: EFX) agreed to buy Kount, a Boise, Idaho-based provider of fraud prevention and digital ID solutions, from CVC Capital Partners for $640 million. http://axios.link/Mojs     More M&A Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   • Acacia Communications (Nasdaq: ACIA), a Maynard, Mass.-based optical components maker, terminated its $2.84 billion agreement to be acquired by Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), blaming an inability to get Chinese regulatory approvals. Cisco subsequently sued, asking a court to compel Acacia to close the deal. http://axios.link/45J7 • Deutsche Telekom is seeking a buyer for its Dutch subsidiary, T-Mobile Netherlands, which could fetch between €4 and €5 billion, per Financieele Dagblad. http://axios.link/EtC2 🚑 Hapvida offered to buy rival Brazilian hospital chain Notre Dame Intermedica for over $9 billion. http://axios.link/h1Iz • NCR (NYSE: NCR) offered to buy Houston-based ATM operator Cardtronics (Nasdaq: CATM) for around $1.73 billion in cash, or $73 per share (77.7% premium to Friday's closing price). http://axios.link/kru4 🚑 Sanofi (Paris: SAN) agreed to buy British immunotherapy drugmaker Kymab for up to $1.45 billion (including $1.1b upfront). Kymab had raised over $250 million from firms like Wellcome Trust, ORI Capital, Shenzhen Hepalink Pharma, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Woodford Investment Management and Malin Corp. http://axios.link/8fBz     Fundraising • KKR raised $3.9 billion for its first Asia-Pacific infrastructure fund. www.kkr.com • Sixth Street raised €1 billion for its latest direct credit fund. http://axios.link/dDcF     It's Personnel 🚑 Frazier Healthcare Partners promoted Aditya Kohli to venture partners, Anna Chen to VP and Max Nowicki to senior associate. www.frazierhealthcare.com 🚑 Lizzie Lee joined McKesson Ventures as a senior director and head of portfolio development and market research. She previously was with ZS Associates. www.mckessonventures.com     Final Numbers Data for Friday's market close vs. Monday's market open. Source: MarketWatch. Chart: Axios Visuals Go deeper: Big tech's free speech showdown     A message from JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking What to consider before planning an acquisition     Start with the data to uncover additional efficiencies. Why it's important: Applying metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify treasury synergies between your company and the one being integrated can help the process run more smoothly. More insights from JPMorgan Chase.   ✔️ Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata! Please ask your friends, colleagues and social media moderators to sign up.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: