Axios Pro Rata: Angelic auction

Plus, PE secondaries perk up | Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Pro Rata By Dan Primack · Aug 24, 2022 📅 Save the date: Axios BFD. Oct. 26 in NYC. Request an invite.     Top of the Morning Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Today's column didn't quite come together in time, so just a few quick notes to kick us off: Today in Twitter: Lost in yesterday's whistleblower chaos was a Delaware judge's ruling that Elon Musk must provide Twitter with more information about his equity partners, which include venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. All we have so far are investor names and commitment amounts, and this added info presumably would include how tightly those equity commitment letters were written. On the whistleblower front, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal echoed an earlier company comment that Mudge's complaint is "riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies." I've asked two company spokespeople for just one example of an inconsistency or inaccuracy, but haven't received a reply. Looking up: Private equity secondaries activity hit $53 billion in the first half of 2022, up from $50 billion in 1H 2021, according to data released this morning by advisory firm Campbell Lutyens. This comes as primary private equity deal activity is down 20% year-over-year (per Refinitiv). Campbell Lutyens suggests part of the increase is because Q4 2021 volatility pushed some deal closes into Q1 2022, but says it still expects the yearly total to top $100 billion. In terms of GP-led deals, prices increased and there was a shift from multi-asset continuation funds to single-asset ones. LP-led deal pricing fell. Metaverse: The FTC yesterday said it would drop Mark Zuckerberg as a defendant in its lawsuit that seeks to block Meta from buying AI startup Within Unlimited, after Zuckerberg pledged that he wouldn't try to personally purchase Within. Thank you: Today is Ukrainian Independence Day, and the $1K Project will announce that it's now raised $10 million to help Ukrainian families in need. Of that total, around $500,000 came from Pro Rata readers. Organizers tell me that over 95% of funded families have three of more children, that 24% are refugees now outside of Ukraine and another 27% have been displaced within the war-ravaged country.     The BFD Photo Illustration: Trent Joaquin. Photo: Thearon W. Henderson /Getty Images   Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno is seeking to sell the underperforming Major League Baseball franchise he bought in 2003 from The Walt Disney Co. Why it's the BFD: This means there are two MLB clubs on the block at the same time, with the Angels joining the Washington Nationals. That could cut down on price premiums, given that pro sports team bounties are inflated by scarcity, although that could be offset by geographic distance (i.e., West Coast billionaires like Joe Lacob and East Coast billionaires like Ted Leonsis would only have interest in their backyards). Wildcard: Moreno doesn't own the Angels' home stadium, one of the league's oldest, nor has he been able to purchase surrounding real estate from the City of Anaheim. Price talk: Moreno paid just $184 million to buy the franchise, which Forbes estimates is now worth $2.2 billion (9th most in MLB). The bottom line: "A new owner would inherit a raft of issues. The team has not won a postseason game since 2009, meaning two of the game's greatest stars — Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani — never have won a playoff game. Ohtani has repeatedly expressed his discouragement, and a new owner would have to convey an impressive vision to persuade him to remain in Anaheim rather than leave in free agency after next season." — LA Times     Venture Capital Deals • Anyscale, an SF-based AI app development platform, raised $99m in new Series C funding from insiders Addition, Intel Capital and Foundation Capital. Last December it held a $100m first close at a $1b valuation, co-led by Addition and Andreessen Horowitz. www.anyscale.com • Zilliz, a Chinese open-source vector database for AI apps, raised $60m. Prosperity7 Ventures led, and was joined by Pavilion Capital, Hillhouse Capital, 5Y Capital and Yunqi Capital. https://axios.link/3pE6bw3 • Servify, an Indian smartphone lifecycle management provider, raised $65m in Series D funding. Singularity Growth Opportunity Fund led, and was joined by AmTrust, Pidilite and insiders Iron Pillar, Beenext, Blume Ventures and DMI Sparkle Fund. https://axios.link/3PLbLr1 🌎 Carbon Direct, a New York-based carbon management software provider, raised $60m co-led by Decarbonization Partners and Quantum Energy Partners. https://axios.link/3QNgHgp 🚑 Arine, an SF-based medication analysis startup, raised $29m in Series B equity and debt funding. 111° West Capital led and was joined by MBX Capital, New Leaf Ventures and Katalyst Ventures. https://axios.link/3cjGVb8 🚑 Ubie, a Tokyo-based symptom checker app, raised $26m in Series C funding from Norinchukin Capital, NVenture Capital and Dai-ichi Life Insurance. https://ubie.life • Spectral, a web3 startup focused on credit risk assessment, raised $23m, per TechCrunch. General Catalyst and Social Capital co-led, and were joined by Samsung, Gradient Ventures, Section 32, Franklin Templeton, Circle Ventures and Jump Capital. https://axios.link/3CK6kpB 🚑 Mojocare, an Indian virtual sexual health startup, raised $21m in Series A funding. B Capital Group led, and was joined by Sequoia India Surge, Chiratae Ventures and Better Capital. https://axios.link/3QYRQ8Q 🚑 Nitra, a New York-based cashback card for physicians, raised $16m in equity funding from Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Pantera Capital, KB Financial Group, Jerry Yang/AME Cloud Ventures and Dreamers VC. https://axios.link/3R6mE7K • Kasisto, a New York-based digital assistant for the financial services industry, raised a $15.5m Series C extension co-led by Fidelity and Westpac. www.kasisto.com • Qloo, a New York-based recommendation API, raised $15m in Series B funding co-led by Eldridge and AXA Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3AkZkMM • FOMO Pay, a Singapore-based payments startup, raised $13m in Series A funding. Jump Crypto led and was joined by HashKey Capital, Antalpha Ventures, Ab Initio Capital and Republic Capital. www.fomopay.com • Highline Technologies, a payroll-linked lending startup, raised $13m in Series A funding from Jump Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Foundation Capital and others. www.highline.co ⚡ Zitara, an Oakland-based developer of battery management software, raised $12m in Series A funding. Energy Impact Partners led, and was joined by NextView Ventures, Collaborative Fund and Trucks VC. https://axios.link/3dFuw1A 🚑 Nanopath, a Cambridge, Mass.-based women's health diagnostics company, raised $10m in Series A funding. Norwest Venture Partners and the Medtech Convergence Fund co-led, and were joined by Gingerbread Capital and Green D Ventures. www.nanopathdx.com • Sequel, a SF-based online event hosting startup, raised $8m in Series A funding. Javelin Venture Partners led, and was joined by Struck Capital, Social Leverage, Alumni Ventures, Growth Warrior Capital, Great Oaks and V1VC. www.sequel.io • CurbWaste, a New York-based operations SaaS for waste management firms, raised $6m in seed funding. B Capital Group led, and was joined by Mucker Capital. www.curbwaste.com • Mural, a DAO-focused crypto infrastructure startup, raised $5.6m in seed funding from Galaxy Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Firstminute Capital and 186 Ventures. https://axios.link/3cfeHhK • Deposits, a Dallas-based provider of digital banking tools for credit unions, raised $5m in funding. ATX Venture Partners led and was joined by Cabal Fund and Lightspeed Venture Partners. https://axios.link/3PKOZQ7 • Pace, a New York-based enterprise sales revenue platform, raised $5m in seed funding led by Work-Bench. www.paceapp.com • RevSure.ai, a sales pipeline readiness startup, raised $3.5m in seed funding led by Innovation Endeavors. www.revsure.ai • Pilot Co., the truck stop operator whose backers include Berkshire Hathaway, invested in Mountain View, Calif.-based autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics. www.kodiak.ai     A message from Axios For you, your team or your company     Axios Pro Corporate Subscriptions are here, with special pricing, dedicated account management and on-demand support for your employees. Speak with our team, and we'll build you the best plan for your organization. Learn more.     Private Equity Deals 🚑 Avista Capital Partners acquired WellSpring Consumer Healthcare, a Sarasota, Fla.-based developer of skin and gastrointestinal products, from Audax Private Equity. www.wellspringpharm.com • Harrington Industrial Plastics, a Chino, Calif.-based portfolio company of Nautic Partners, acquired Crist Group, a Woodland, Calif.-based specialty fabricator of fluid process components and assemblies. www.hipco.com • HCAP Partners invested in Lumifi Cyber, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based provider of managed detection and response cybersecurity software. www.lumificyber.com • Incline Equity Partners agreed to buy RKD Group, a Dallas-based provider of nonprofit fundraising services, from BV Investment Partners. www.rkdgroup.com • New England Electrical, a Kingston, Mass.-based portfolio company of Pfingsten, acquired Atlas Innovative Services, a Pembroke, Mass.-based provider of telecom infrastructure maintenance, repair and upgrade services. www.neecc.com • New State Capital Partners acquired AFIMAC, a provider of specialty business continuity solutions, from Dalton First Financial. www.afimacglobal.com ⚡ Offen Petroleum, a Commerce City, Colo.-based portfolio company of Court Square Capital Partners, acquired the wholesale unit of G&S Oil Products of Centennial, Colorado. www.offenpetro.com 🚑 Summit Partners acquired a majority stake in LumaBridge, a San Antonio-based clinical research organization focused on cancer. www.lumabridge.com     Public Offerings • Lygend, a Chinese nickel producer and trader, is prepping a Hong Kong IPO for next month that could raise $1b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3TcWgep • Music Tribe, a British audio gear maker, is considering an IPO after failing to find minority investors at its requested $2b valuation, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3QKV2Fn 🚑 Third Harmonic Bio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of treatments for severe hives, filed for a $150m IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (THRD) and has raised $155m from Atlas Venture (37.9% pre-IPO stake), OrbiMed (19.6%), Novartis (9.4%), BVF Partners (8.8%), General Atlantic (6.4%), Boxer Capital, Deep Track Capital, Ajax Health/Zeus and Commodore Capital. https://axios.link/3CtkD1y     SPAC Stuff 🚑 Biolog-id, a French digital health company focused on value-chain optimization, agreed to go public at an implied $312m equity value via Genesis Growth Tech Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: GGAA), a consumer Internet SPAC led by Eyal Perez (Genesis Advisors). www.biolog-id.com     Liquidity Events • Medallia, an SF-based customer and employee experience company valued by VCs at $6.4b, acquired Mindful, an Akron, Ohio-based callback automation company, from Alpine Investors. www.getmindful.com     More M&A 📺 Adani Group launched a hostile takeover offer for Indian news broadcaster New Delhi Television. https://axios.link/3AjopI6 • Farfetch (NYSE: FTCH) agreed to buy a 47.5% stake in Italian online luxury fashion retailer Yoox-Net-a-Porter from Richemont (Swiss: CFR), while real estate investor Mohamed Alabbar will acquire another 3.2% position. Richemont will take a €2.7b writedown. https://axios.link/3AjH7PN • Keppel agreed to buy a majority stake in Singapore-based waste management and recycling firm 800 Super Holdings. https://axios.link/3PKmulC • Owl Creek Asset Management disclosed a 3.7% stake in Cano Health (NYSE: CANO) and called on the Miami-based primary care firm to explore a sale. Earlier this year, Third Point also acquired a Cano Health stake and pushed for a sale. https://axios.link/3TbKnW0 • Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) sweetened its buyout offer for the 49% stake it doesn't already hold in Canadian miner Turquoise Hill Resources (TSX: TRQ) to $3.1b. https://axios.link/3wquEIS • Schneider Electric (Paris: SU) said it may seek to buy out minority shareholders of Aveva Group (LSE: AVV), the British industrial software firm in which it already holds around a 60% stake. The news pushed Aveva's market cap close to £9b. https://axios.link/3dUnGFJ     Fundraising • Root Ventures raised $150m for its third fund. https://axios.link/3R99pDc     It's Personnel 🚑 Deepak Batheja joined Water Street Healthcare Partners as chief information officer. He previously was with ConcertoCare. www.waterstreet.com • Ares Management named Barry Miller, a partner in its secondary solutions group, as CEO of its private market fund. www.aresmgmt.com • Costanoa Ventures promoted Tony Liu to partner. www.costanoavc.com • LLR Partners promoted Ryan Goldenberg, Michael Pantilione and Zack Sigal to partners. www.llrpartners.com     In Memoriam Julian Robertson. Photo: Peter Foley/Bloomberg via Getty Images   Julian Robertson, founder of Tiger Management, has died at the age of 90. Why he mattered: Tiger was one of the hedge fund industry's largest and most successful firms, and also spawned a cohort of "Tiger Cubs" that were led by those he had helped train. Robertson closed his flagship in 2000, saying that he no longer understood the tech frenzied market. He also felt the firm had gotten too large, thus limiting the number of companies in which it made sense to invest. He's survived by three sons, his sister and nine grandchildren.     A message from Axios For you, your team or your company     Axios Pro Corporate Subscriptions are here, with special pricing, dedicated account management and on-demand support for your employees. Speak with our team, and we'll build you the best plan for your organization. Learn more.   ✔️ Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata! Please ask your friends, colleagues and ballclub owners to sign up. Why stop here? Let's go Pro. Learn more about Axios Pro corporate subscriptions, and why hundreds of companies read Pro newsletters every day.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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