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| | Our team will be taking a break over the holiday weekend, so no newsletter on Monday.
In the meantime, you can catch up on our featured content on News & Analysis. | | | | | |
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| Klarna valuation could top $40B in SoftBank-led round | |  | | Klarna plans to hold its position as Europe's most valuable VC-backed company, according to PitchBook data. (Courtesy of Klarna) | | | SoftBank is nearing a deal to lead a funding round for Klarna that could value the Swedish fintech provider at between $40 billion and $50 billion, Business Insider reported. News of the deal comes amid a record-setting pace for VC funding of European fintech companies in 2021. - Already Europe's most valuable VC-backed company, according to PitchBook data, Klarna raised $1 billion at a $31 billion valuation in March. Stockholm-based Klarna is the creator of a shopping app that offers a buy-now, pay-later option to customers.
- Buy-now, pay-later services have exploded alongside the pandemic-era rise in online shopping. Stripe recently partnered with Afterpay to offer the payment option at checkout, and PayPal launched a similar service last year. The model has even been applied to healthcare in the US as a way for hospitals to provide payment plans to patients.
- But regulators—especially in the UK—are increasingly taking a tougher stance against Klarna and its peers. The Financial Conduct Authority plans to regulate the sector amid concerns over unaffordable loans. Klarna is also in hot water over its social media ad campaigns, which "irresponsibly" promoted the use of credit, according to the UK Advertising Standards Authority.
Related podcast: Autonomous finance's obstacles and opportunities | | | | | | | | | | SoftBank goes it alone on Vision Fund 2 as portfolio profits leap | |  | | SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (Koki Nagahama/Getty Images) | | | A year ago, SoftBank struggled to attract investors to its second Vision Fund amid steep losses. Now, the Japanese firm is sitting on record-setting profits, but it's in no rush to raise outside capital. - SoftBank added $10 billion of its own money to the Vision Fund 2, bringing the total to $30 billion. Its Latin American fund is also self-financed.
- "We don't have to beg," said CEO Masayoshi Son, adding that the company wasn't opposed to eventually bringing on outside LPs.
- The firm has set a voracious investment pace this year, headlining deals for chipmaker Sambanova and Didi Chuxing's self-driving unit.
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| A message from RBC Capital Markets | | |
| Inside track: Behind the scenes of a major biotech SPAC | | In RBC Capital Markets' latest Pathfinders podcast, we go behind the scenes of one of the biggest biotech SPAC deals of the year. Dr. David Hung, Nuvation Bio founder and CEO, and Michelle Doig, Omega Funds partner and president of its Omega Alpha SPAC, share how they brought Nuvation Bio's public market vision to fruition. These two industry leaders, who are at the cutting edge of biotech innovation and venture capital, also provide insight into today's SPAC boom, advantages of SPACs versus traditional IPOs and what it takes to transition a successful biotech company from the private to public markets. Are SPACs now a premium option for companies going public? Find out in our latest episode.
Start listening now. | | | | | | | |
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| How private markets are navigating the application of ESG | |  | | (Yuhan Liao/Getty Images) | | | An assessment of risk factors identified as part of the Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) framework has increasingly become an important component of the investment process.
PitchBook's recent analyst note explores how LPs are pushing the private markets toward the precipice of widespread ESG adoption. Other takeaways include: - LPs and GPs are in search of comparable and reliable data, but the measuring and reporting of material factors complicates the widespread integration of ESG into investor and company thinking.
- Regulators like the European Commission and the SEC require that asset managers accurately and honestly represent their sustainable investment strategies.
- Even without shareholder pressures found in the public markets, private capital fund managers are feeling pressure from LPs and other stakeholders to think within a sustainable investment framework.
| | | | | | | | | | The seven co-founders of Databricks weren't looking to make a profit on their software when they formed the company eight years ago. Now, a handful of them are billionaires. [Forbes]
The pandemic has changed the way firms perform due diligence and hire asset managers. Will the changes be permanent? [Institutional Investor]
Sustainable eggs are hitting grocery store shelves for as much as $8 a dozen. The "regenerative agriculture" used to raise the chickens could be the next big thing. [Bloomberg] | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 461 Deals | 1626 People | 433 Companies | 21 Funds | | | | | | |
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| 2012 Vintage Global Buyout Funds | | | | | | |
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| Homeward collects $371M in debt and equity | | | | | | | | | Esco Lifesciences raises $200M Series A | | | Esco Lifesciences, a provider of technology, products and services for the life sciences and healthcare industries, has closed a $200 million Series A and crossover round led by Vivo Capital and Novo Holding A/S. The Singapore-based company manufactures products including pharmacy compounding tools, medical equipment for in vitro fertilization labs, and biological safety cabinets. | | | | | | | | SpotOn secures $125M in a16z-led round | | | SpotOn, a provider of payments software, marketing services and other solutions for small and medium-sized restaurants and retailers, has raised $125 million in Series D funding at a valuation of over $1.87 billion. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, with participation from DST Global, 01 Advisors, Dragoneer Investment Group, Franklin Templeton and Mubadala. The San Francisco-based startup employs 1,200 people and has added almost 8,000 new customers to date in 2021. SpotOn was valued at $560 million last year, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Wayflyer banks $76M Series A | | | | | | | | | TerraClear brings in $25M | | | TerraClear has raised $25 million in a round led by Madrona Venture Group. Operating out of the Seattle area and Idaho, the company uses AI and robotics technology to remove rocks from fields, improving farmers' productivity and reducing the chance of equipment breakage. TerraClear's rock picker removes an average of 400 rocks per hour. | | | | | |
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| PE-backed Arizona Natural Resources to add on Marianna Beauty | | | | | | | | | KKR targets Australian real estate company in $2.3B+ deal | | | | | | | | | Siris Capital to acquire Equiniti | | | Equiniti Group has agreed to a takeover by Siris Capital Group in a deal that values the London-listed services and payments specialist at £673 million (about $956 million). The offer of 180 pence per share is a 31% premium over Equiniti's closing price on April 16, the day before Siris confirmed the bid. The acquisition will be implemented through a newly created Siris-backed company, Earth Private Holdings. | | | | | |
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| Paytm looks to raise $3B in IPO | | | Mobile payments giant Paytm could raise 218 billion rupees (about $3 billion) in what is expected to be India's largest-ever IPO, Bloomberg reported. The company is reportedly planning for a November listing that would value it at between $25 billion and $30 billion. Paytm has received backing from SoftBank, Alibaba and Ant Group. | | | | | | | | Acorns to go public via SPAC | | | | | | |
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| Quad-C seeking $1.5B for 10th fund | | | Charlottesville, Va.-based Quad-C Management is eyeing $1.5 billion for its 10th middle-market namesake fund, The Wall Street Journal reported. The fund is expected to hold its first close in June. The targeted $1.5 billion would be a significant increase over Quad-C's ninth flagship fund, which closed on $1.1 billion in 2017. | | | | | | | | Frazier Healthcare brings in $1.4B | | | Frazier Healthcare Partners has closed its 10th namesake growth buyout fund on $1.4 billion, surpassing a predecessor that brought in $782 million in 2018. The Seattle-based firm's latest vehicle focuses on the middle market. | | | | | |
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