| | | | | | | Presented By GE | | | | Axios Pro Rata | | By Dan Primack ·Jul 19, 2021 | | | | | | Top of the Morning |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Yesterday I dropped nearly $100 on an hour of bowling and food, attempting to wrest some family activity out of another rainy weekend. Why it matters: That obscene amount went to Bowlero, which has consolidated and upgraded one of America's sleepiest sports industries. - It's expected to go public later this quarter at a $2.6 billion valuation, via a SPAC led by former World Wrestling Entertainment co-presidents Michelle Wilson and George Barrios.
- The company says it has 321 bowling centers in North America, which is eight times more than its next-closest rival, and often owns its own real estate. Its assets also include the Professional Bowlers Association.
- Expect the SPAC deal to enable more bowling center acquisitions, as there are still thousands of independent mom-and-pops.
The big picture is that there's growing momentum around casual athletics, in which bowling is the first mover, according to Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker. Particularly among younger people who are seeking a night out that combines socializing with something beyond sitting at a bar. - Topgolf, an operator of driving range centers, was recently acquired at a $2 billion valuation by Callaway Golf, and is expanding.
- TOCA, an operator of experiential soccer centers, recently raised $40 million in Series E funding, led by a former Topgolf investor. This one is much more focused on sport than social, but the underlying trendlines are similar.
The bottom line: Bowling is going upscale and to the right, with investors taking notice. Don't be surprised to soon see lots of rollup plays that view themselves as Bolero-for-X. |     | | | | | | The BFD |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | Pershing Square Tontine (NYSE:PSTH), the record-breaking SPAC formed by Bill Ackman, walked away from its agreement to buy a 10% stake in Universal Music Group from Vivendi at a $40 billion enterprise value. - Why it's the BFD: Ackman was too clever by half, raising the hackles of both regulators and shareholders in his SPAC (whose value was down more than 17% since the Universal announcement). Walking away also means the end of Tontine's plans to form what it called a SPARC, or special purpose acquisition rights company, seeded with cash that wasn't going to Universal and intended to buy another company.
- What now? Ackman will still buy at least part of the Universal stake, but now via his hedge fund. The SPAC will continue to seek a target.
- The bottom line: "We underestimated the reaction that some of our shareholders would have to the transaction's complexity and structure. We also underestimated the transaction's potential impact on investors who are unable to hold foreign securities, who margin their shares, or who own call options on our stock." — Bill Ackman, in a letter to Tontine shareholders
| | | | | | | | Venture Capital Deals | | • Lenskart, an Indian omnichannel eyewear retailer, raised $220 million at a $2.5 billion valuation co-led by Temasek and Falcon Edge Capital. http://axios.link/iB1u • GlobalBees, an Indian e-commerce merchant rollup, raised $75 million in Series A equity funding. FirstCry led, and was joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners. It also secured $75 million in debt. http://axios.link/w1sV 🚑 Quit Genius, a New York-based digital clinic for treating addictions, raised $64 million in Series B funding. Atomico and Kinnevik co-led, and were joined by Octopus Ventures, Triple Point Ventures and Startup Health. www.quitgenius.com • Jones, a New York-based vendor network for commercial real estate, raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. JLL Spark and Khosla Ventures co-led, and were joined by Camber Creek, Rudin Management, DivcoWest and Sage Realty. www.getjones.com • Visualping, a Vancouver-based website change monitoring services, raised US$6 million in new seed funding. FUSE led, and was joined by insiders Mistral Venture Partners and N49P. http://axios.link/jJ09 • Kamereo, a Vietnamese farm food supply chain startup, raised $4.6 million co-led by CPF Group, Quest Ventures and Genesia Ventures. http://axios.link/ax08 | | | | | | | | A message from GE | | Data shows wind is a key part of the future of more sustainable energy | | |  | | | | There's been a 150% increase in wind energy production in the U.S. since 2015. - GE is the number one onshore wind provider in the U.S. and will be the first to power a commercial offshore wind farm in the U.S.
GE is ready to help the U.S. maximize the potential of wind. Learn how. | | | | | | Private Equity Deals | | • The Blackstone Group agreed to buy a majority stake in Simplilearn, an Indian training and certification platform, for $250 million. The company previously raised over $65 million from firms like Mayfield, Helion Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital. http://axios.link/HaFK • The Carlyle Group reportedly is in talks to buy Israeli video-streaming company LiveU for more than $400 million. http://axios.link/fahi • Kinderhook Industries agreed to buy Live Oak Environmental, a Bossier City, La.-based solid waste collector. www.liveoak-environmental.com • L Catterton agreed to buy a 60% stake in Italian fashion label Etro, per Reuters. http://axios.link/HwHy Partners Group agreed to buy a majority stake in Greek drugmaker Pharmathen from BC Partners at a €1.6 billion enterprise value. http://axios.link/ZH3B • Partners Group agreed to buy a 75% stake in EOLO, Italy's largest fixed wireless access broadband provider, from Searchlight Capital Partners at a €1.2 billion enterprise value. http://axios.link/viXf • Telefónica (Madrid: TEF) agreed to sell a majority stake in its Colombian fiber optic broadband network to KKR. http://axios.link/fYM1 | | | | | | | | Public Offerings | | Source: Giphy • Seventeen companies plan to price IPOs on U.S. exchanges this week. The largest would be insurance brokerage Ryan Specialty Group, which is slated to raise $1.3 billion. http://axios.link/U1UZ • Robinhood, the no-fee trading app, set IPO terms to 55 million shares at $38–$42. It would have around a $33 billion valuation, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (HOOD). Backers include NEA, DST Global, Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital. http://axios.link/8Bbt 🚑 Eliem Therapeutics, a Redmond, Wash.-based, filed for an $80 million IPO. The pre-revenue company plans to list on the Nasdaq (ELYM) and raised around $140 million from firms like RA Capital (51.9% pre-IPO stake), Access Industries (21.9%), Intermediate Capital Group (8.4%) and LifeArc (7.6%). http://axios.link/JCqQ 🚑 Everside Health Group, a Denver-based primary healthcare platform, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (EVSD) and reports a $6.7 million net loss on $45 million in revenue for Q1 2021. The company raised $165 million from firms like NEA, Oak HC/FT, Alta Partners, Future Fund and Greenspring Associates. http://axios.link/Q5wA • Fresh Market, a Greensboro, N.C.-based grocery chain owned by Apollo Global Management, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $250 million. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (TFM) and reports $27 million of net income on $1.9 billion in revenue for the year ending Jan. 31, 2021. http://axios.link/eVxS 🚑 Thorne Healthtech, a New York-based provider of personalized dietary supplements, filed for a $200 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (THRN) and reports a $3 million net loss on $138 million in 2020 revenue. Backers include Mitsui & Co. and Kirin Holdings. http://axios.link/zV35 | | | | | | | | SPAC Stuff | | • Ermenegildo Zegna, an Italian luxury menswear brand, agreed to go public in the U.S. at an implied $3.2 billion equity value via a SPAC sponsored by Investindustrial (NYSE: IIAC). http://axios.link/ZKbg • Kin Insurance, a Chicago-based insure-tech company, agreed to go public at an implied billion $1 billion enterprise valuation via Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: OCA), a SPAC led by Matt Higgins. Kin had raised over $160 million from firms like Commerce Ventures, Senator Investment Group, Hudson Structured Capital and August Capital and golfer Rory McIlroy. http://axios.link/b6JK • ServiceMax, a Silver Lake-backed provider of field service management software, agreed to go public at an implied $1.4 billion equity valuation via Pathfinder Acquisition (Nasdaq: PFDR). It also agreed to buy LiquidFrameworks, a provider of mobile field operations management solutions to the energy market, from Luminate Capital Partners. http://axios.link/GoGX • Oxbridge Acquisition, an insurance-focused SPAC, filed for a $100 million IPO. http://axios.link/1uuH | | | | | | | | Liquidity Events | | • AEA Investors is seeking a buyer for Excelitas, a Waltham, Mass-based photonics company that could fetch $3.5 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/gZQN • Lindsay Goldberg agreed to sell Lexington, Ky.-based fan-maker Big Ass Fans to Madison Industries. www.bigassfans.com | | | | | | | | More M&A | | • Tencent agreed to buy British videogame developer Sumo (LSE: SUMO) for $1.27 billion. http://axios.link/3SBu • Zoom (Nasdaq: ZM) agreed to buy Five9 (Nasdaq: FIVN), a cloud-based call center operator, for $14.7 billion in stock (13.7% pricing premium over Friday's closing price). http://axios.link/cC7c | | | | | | | | Fundraising | | • Level Equity, a New York-based growth equity firm focused on midmarket companies, is raising $650 million for its fifth flagship fund and $250 million for an opportunities fund, per WSJ. http://axios.link/j8mp • H.I.G. WhiteHorse, the credit affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, raised $1.65 billion for a new direct lending fund. www.whitehorse.com | | | | | | | | It's Personnel | | • Bob Swan, former CEO and CFO of Intel, joined Andreessen Horowitz as a "growth operating partner." - He tells Axios the role is full time, and that he briefly had an office at General Atlantic right next to current Andreessen Horowitz partner David George.
• The Halifax Group, a midmarket PE firm, promoted David Bard to partner. www.thehalifaxgroup.com | | | | | | | | Final Numbers | | Venture capital activity continues to break records in 2021, and here's another data point courtesy of Carta, the startup that manages employee equity for other startups. - Companies on the Carta platform are averaging more than 25 VC funding rounds per day, up 24.3% over 2020.
Bonus: Carta is in talks to raise between $500 million and $600 million led by Silver Lake at a $7.4 billion valuation, per The Information. | | | | | | | | A message from GE | | How GE is working towards a cleaner energy future | | |  | | | | GE is helping decarbonize the energy sector while ensuring more sustainable, affordable and reliable electricity. The idea: The company believes a combination of wind, gas and a modernized grid are required to successfully accelerate the energy transition. Learn more. | | | | 🙏 Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata! Please ask your friends, colleagues and those suffering from SPARC sadness to sign up. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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