Axios Pro Rata: BFD day!

Plus, Zara's Russia sale. | Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Apollo   Axios Pro Rata By Dan Primack · Oct 26, 2022     Top of the Morning Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Early greetings from New York City, where the Axios BFD is about to kick off. First up are five breakfast roundtable discussions with top dealmakers and executives. What to watch: Mainstage interviews will be livestreamed, beginning at 9:30am ET with my conversation on sports deals and the XFL with Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale. The rest of the mainstage agenda (in order of appearance): Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of Social Capital Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan's co-head of global M&A Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN Chris Sacca, founder of Lowercarbon Capital Mark Cuban, co-founder of Cost Plus Drugs For those unable to join us in person, you can watch the livestream via Axios.com. Or through our social channels on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.     The BFD Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   Inditex, the Spanish owner of clothing retailer Zara, agreed to sell its Russia business to UAE-based Daher Group. Why it's the BFD: It's a reminder that the Russia divestment push didn't end in March, even though a lot of the headlines did. Zara closed its 500+ Russia stores following the Ukraine invasion, but took another seven months to find a buyer for the assets. Elsewhere: Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) agreed to sell its Russia business to existing KFC franchisee Smart Service. The bottom line: "When Inditex said it was halting business in Russia, in line with other Western companies, it also said it would continue to pay salaries for some 9,000 workers and would seek to reach agreements with landlords." — Macarena Munoz Montijano, Bloomberg     Venture Capital Deals • Bilt Rewards, a New York-based provider of co-branded credit cards and loyalty programs for property renters, raised $150m in growth funding at a $1.5b valuation led by Left Lane Capital. https://axios.link/3gzHjnH • Trigo, an Israeli retail automation platform, raised $100m. Temasek and 83North co-led, and were joined by SAP and insiders Hetz Ventures, Red Dot Capital Partners, Vertex Ventures and Viola. www.trigoretail.com • Vesttoo, an Israeli insurance risk transfer platform, raised $80m in Series C funding at a $1b valuation from Mauro Ventures and an unidentified PE firm co-led, and were joined by Goldman Sachs, Gramercy Ventures, Black River Ventures and Hanaco Ventures. https://axios.link/3TTjAgD • Floryn, a Dutch online lender for SMBs, raised €65m from NatWest. www.floryn.com • Moneyhub, a British payments platform, raised $39.5m co-led by Legal & General and Lloyds Banking Group led the round. www.moneyhub.com 🚑 Alto Neuroscience, a Los Altos, Calif.-based, raised $35m in Series B funding. Lightswitch Capital led, and was joined by Alkeon Capital, Sobrato Capital, Novartis Pharma AG, Valor Equity Partners, Korify Capital, Vine Ventures and Gaingels. www.altoneuroscience.com ⚡ AM Batteries, a Chelmsford, Mass.-based developer of lithium-ion dry-electrode technology, raised $25m in Series A funding. Anzu Partners led, and was joined by TDK Ventures, Toyota Ventures and Foothill Ventures. https://axios.link/3SBgw7K • Valence Security, an Israeli SaaS security remediation, raised $25m in Series A funding. M12 led, and was joined by YL Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Akamai Technologies, Alumni Ventures and Michael Fey. www.valencesecurity.com • WATI, a Hong Kong-based tool for businesses to communicate with their customers via WhatsApp, raised $23m in Series B funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by DST Global Partners and Shopify. https://axios.link/3sPuWHj • AgroSphere, a Charlottesville, Va.-based developer of crop health products, raised $22m in Series B funding. Lewis & Clark AgriFood and Ospraie Ag Science co-led, and were joined by Bidra Innovation Ventures and insider Cavallo Ventures. www.agrospheres.com • Reasonai, an Israeli "operating system for the built world," raised $20m in Series A extension funding from Meitav-Dash, Blue Square Israel and Irani Ventures. www.reasonai.com • Unito, a Canadian workflow management software startup, raised C$20m in Series B funding. CDPQ led, and was joined by insiders Bessemer Venture Partners and Rainfall Ventures. www.unito.io • Yoom, a volumetric capture and immersive content startup, raised $15m from such backers as Jimmy Iovine and Maverick Carter. https://axios.link/3gwjxsM • LatticeFlow, a Swiss provider of AI system management software, raised $12m in Series A funding. Atlantic Bridge and OpenOcean co-led, and were joined by FPV Ventures. https://axios.link/3SSCEel ⚡ Syso Technologies, a Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of energy management software for renewables and battery storage, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Lacuna Sustainable Investments. www.sysotechnologies.com • Forsea Foods, an Israeli cultivated eel startup, raised $5.2m in seed funding. Target Global led, and were joined by The Kitchen FoodTech Hub; PeakBridge VC; Zora Ventures; FoodHack and Milk & Honey Ventures. www.forseafoods.com • Bearer, an SF-based data security software provider, raised $4m in seed funding. Alven led, and was joined by Kima Ventures, Partech and Point Nine. www.bearer.com • Perygee, a Boston-based security platform for IoT and operational technology, raised $4.75m in seed funding led by Ballistic Ventures. www.perygee.com     A message from Apollo Expanding opportunity through supplier diversity     Apollo aims to expand opportunity by growing direct and indirect spending with diverse suppliers across its private equity portfolio. The strategy: Apollo is targeting 20% year-over-year growth in diverse spend with a goal of achieving more than $1 billion in spend by 2024. See more.     Private Equity Deals 🚑 Ardian sold its majority stake in Unither Pharmaceuticals, a French maker of sterile unit-doses, to a group that includes GIC, IK Partners, Keensight and Parquest. www.unither-pharma.com Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE: AJRD) is soliciting takeover offers, including from private equity, per Reuters. The El Segundo, Calif.-based rocket maker in February was blocked by antitrust regulators from selling to Lockheed Martin for $4.4b. https://axios.link/3NaaV7j • BDT Capital Partners offered to buy the 52% stake it doesn't already hold in Illinois-based grill-maker Weber (NYSE: WEBR) for $6.25 per share (24% premium over Monday's closing price). Weber went public in mid-2021. https://axios.link/3U0GDq7 • Bonaccord Capital Partners bought a passive minority strake in SF-based private equity firm VMG Partners. https://axios.link/3SFzlH7 • Credit Bureau Connection, a Capstreet portfolio company that provides credit report and compliance solutions to auto dealers, acquired CreditDriver Solutions, a provider of lead gen and sales enablement tools. www.creditbureauconnection.com • FireTeam Solutions, a Reston, Va.-based portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners, acquired Case Consulting, a Bridgewater, N.J.-based provider of software development and engineering services to the U.S. intelligence community. www.fireteamsolutions.com • General Atlantic agreed to buy credit hedge fund manager Iron Park Capital Partners, which will continue to be led by CEO Tripp Smith, in order to form a business called General Atlantic Credit. https://axios.link/3sxRoUW • Japan Industrial Partners, which is leading the preferred bidding group for Toshiba (Tokyo: 6502), is likely to miss the deadline to securing bank financing for the deal, per Kyodo. https://axios.link/3TZfaou • Paine Schwartz Partners agreed to buy up to a 15% stake in Australian fruits and vegetables provider Costa Group (ASX: CGC), for around A$157m. www.costagroup.com.au     Public Offerings • Mobileye, an Israeli self-driving software company bought by Intel, raised $861m in the year's third-largest IPO. The company priced 41m shares at $21 (above the $18–$20 range), with General Atlantic agreeing to buy an additional $100m of shares in a concurrent private placement. • PT Global Digital Niaga, owner of Indonesian e-commerce group Blibli, raised around $320m in a local IPO. https://axios.link/3sNDAWN     SPAC Stuff 🦐 NaturalShrimp, a Dallas-based aquaculture company traded on the pink sheets, agreed to be acquired at an implied $275m valuation via Yotta Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: YOTA). https://axios.link/3zdjwAm     Liquidity Events • EQT agreed to sell First Transit, a Cincinnati-based municipal and service bus operator, to France's Transdev Group. Flashback. • Grubbr, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based restaurant tech company backed by Aon, acquired GetNoble, a Boston-based digital commerce and marketing platform for on-site events, per Axios Pro. GetNoble backers included Ben Franklin Technology Partners. https://axios.link/3gNlVLK     More M&A • Canadian antitrust regulators added a new condition for approving Rogers Communications' (TSE: RCI) C$20b takeover of Shaw Communications (TSE: SJR), saying the sale of Shaw's wireless assets must result in lower consumer prices. https://axios.link/3D962XQ • Endeavor (NYSE: EDR) sold the Miss Universe Organization to Thailand-based JKN Global Media. https://axios.link/3SH0TvE • Fosun International is reviewing its European financial institution holdings, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3TSzUyg • London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSG) received British antitrust approval for its takeover of Quantile Group, a London-based provider of post-trade risk management solutions. https://axios.link/3stvsdM • Telefonica (Madrid: TEF) and Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) are considering a sale of their 50% stake in British mobile towers venture Cornerstone, which could fetch a £10b enterprise value, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3W3xzT6     Fundraising • Next Frontier Capital, a Montana-based VC firm, is raising $125m for its fourth fund, per an SEC filing. www.nextfrontiercapital.com • Ridgemont Equity Partners, a Charlotte-based midmarket PE firm, raised $2.35b for its fourth flagship fund. www.ridgemontep.com ⚡ Saudi Aramco launched a $1.5b sustainability fund, apparently to offset Saudi Aramco's core business. • Square Peg Capital, an Australian VC firm, raised US$550m for its fifth flagship fund and an opportunities fund. https://axios.link/3SDWz0r 🚑 Time BioVentures, an LA-based life sciences VC firm, raised $100m for its debut fund. www.timebioventures.com • Truist Financial (NYSE: TFC) has launched an innovation arm called Truist Foundry, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3svgCn0     It's Personnel • Wei Gao joined Madrona as a venture partner. She previously was COO of Hoppin, and before that was vice president of grocery at Amazon and technical assistant to Jeff Bezos. Madrona also hired Vivek Ramaswami (ex-Steadfast) as a partner and Anna Baird (ex-CRO at Outreach.io) as an operating partner. www.madrona.com • David Vismans joined Balderton Capital as an executive-in-residence. He previously was chief product officer at Booking.com. www.balderton.com     In Memoriam Ashton Carter at the World Economic Forum. Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images   Former U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter died on Monday night from a heart attack, at the age of 68. Serving under President Obama between 2015 and 2017, Carter became a regular presence in Silicon Valley, seeking to build ties between America's tech and defense communities. Among the initiatives he launched were the Defense Digital Service and the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUX). Carter also was husband to Stephanie, who many Pro Rata readers might know from her two decades with ABS Capital Partners, Our condolences to Stephanie, their family and their friends.     A message from Apollo A trusted financing partner     For companies that need access to flexible, customized capital solutions to fund growth and achieve corporate objectives, there's Apollo. What you're missing: With $360 billion in assets under management, Apollo's Yield business is helping to finance stronger businesses. Get started.   ✔️ Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata, and to copy editors Mickey Meece and Bryan McBournie! Please ask your friends, colleagues and BFD attendees 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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