Happy Monday. Here’s what we’ve got today…

• A look at the NFL’s vote tomorrow on private equity ownership

• Plus, TPG considers an offer for Surgery Partners

Football season:

The National Football League is planning to vote tomorrow on a framework to allow private equity firms to purchase minority stakes in franchises for the first time in the league's history. After a months-long deliberation process, which included an advisory role for PJT Partners, commissioner Roger Goodell's call to hold the vote likely means that the ownership group has aligned on a 'yes' decision.

The league has long resisted institutional investment in favor of its traditional individual and family ownership model. But, with the average team now worth around $6 billion, there's a limited pool of individual buyers with the means to participate. The decision to allow outside investment would provide liquidity for current owners and could help finance various franchise growth efforts, like new stadium construction.

Under the proposed rules, private equity firms would be permitted to acquire ownership stakes of up to 10 percent, which is notably more conservative than the 30 percent threshold allowed by other major U.S. sports leagues like the NBA, MLB, and NHL.

The league is also allowing only pre-approved sponsors to engage with teams, and held a qualification process for interested firms in parallel with its broader decision-making. Per Sportico, seven firms have advanced into a final group that's expected to be announced as the approved buyer's list following the vote: Ares, Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Sixth Street, Arctos Partners, and Dynasty Equity. Four of the firms have pitched themselves as a consortium—Blackstone, CVC, Carlyle, and Dynasty—while the remainder are independent.

At least three firms who expressed interest were cut from the final list. Apollo Global Management (whose co-founder Josh Harris acquired the Washington Commanders last year), Dyal Capital Partners, and RedBird Capital Partners all failed to advance, either because of a lack of NFL-specific immediately available committed funds or, in the case of RedBird, a potential conflict of interest related to its role in Skydance Media's possible purchase of NFL broadcast partner Paramount.

With its 32 teams, the league's total franchise value is roughly $190 billion. Applying the proposed 10 percent ownership cap then leaves just a $19 billion private investment allocation — a relatively small number taken in the context of potential investor appetite and the broader market for sports-related opportunities.

A handful of teams are believed to have pre-negotiated terms with buyers and are ready to sign a deal, while others are actively discussing options with both individual and institutional backers. Under the league's expected rules, any deal would be subject to final approval by both the league and other owners.

Early speculation on first-movers points to the Buffalo Bills, which may sell a stake to help finance new stadium construction, the Los Angeles Chargers, where owner Dean Spanos is looking to buy out his sister's stake, and the Philadelphia Eagles, whose owner Jeffrey Lurie has hired BDT & MSD Partners to gauge market interest.

• UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and TPG are among potential buyers considering an offer for Surgery Partners (Nasdaq: SGRY), an operator of ambulatory surgical centers trading at a market value above $4 billion; Surgery Partners' largest shareholder is Bain Capital with a 39 percent stake.

• McKesson (NYSE: MCK) agreed to acquire a 70 percent stake in Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute for $2.49 billion in cash.

• Meritage Group is considering the sale of Columbia Distributing, a Pacific Northwest beverage distributor, which could be worth around $2 billion, per Reuters.

• Sponsors including Carlyle, Blackstone, Permira, CVC, and Cinven are considering an investment in Grant Thornton UK at a valuation between $1.3 - $2 billion, per the FT.

• Engelhart Commodities Trading Partners acquired Trailstone, a renewables-focused energy trader, from Riverstone Holdings.

• Onex Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Fischbach KG, a provider of cartridge packaging solutions for sealants and adhesives.

• Agilysys (Nasdaq: AGYS) acquired Book4Time, a spa management software provider for hotels and resorts, for around $150 million.

• CBC Group and Mubadala agreed to acquire UCB's (EBR: UCB) mature neurology and allergy business in China, including therapeutic assets and a manufacturing site, for $680 million.

• Siemens Healthineers offered to acquire the molecular imaging business for Fluorine-18 PET scans from Novartis (NYSE: NVS) for over €200 million, per the FT.

• Australian Retirement Trust agreed to acquire a 33 percent stake in Powerco, a New Zealand-based electricity and gas distributor, increasing its ownership to 58 percent, per the Australian Financial Review.

• Mainsail Partners invested $74 million in Rentvine, a property management software platform for the long-term residential rental market.

• Hibu, a portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, acquired RevLocal, an Ohio-based digital marketing provider for SMBs.

• BioIVT acquired ZenBio, a provider of advanced cell products and services.

• Paul Marshall, co-founder of hedge fund Marshall Wace, is in advanced talks to acquire The Spectator, a British weekly political magazine, from RedBird IMI for more than $130 million, per the WSJ.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Butlr, an MIT Media Lab spinout developing anonymous people-sensing technology, raised $38 million in Series B funding led by Foundry, with participation from Pacific Alliance Venture, GS Futures, DNX Ventures, Carrier, and Qualcomm.

Fintech

• SatLayer, a Bitcoin re-staking platform, raised $8 million in pre-seed funding co-led by Castle Island Ventures and Hack VC, with participation from Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Amber Group, Big Brain Holdings, and CMS Holdings.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Sunswap, a UK-based cleantech startup developing zero-emission transport refrigeration units, raised £17.3 million in funding led by BGF, with participation from Shell Ventures, Move Energy, Barclays, and Clean Growth Fund.

• CenterOak Partners raised $1.1 billion for its third buyout fund.

• G Squared raised $1.1 billion for its sixth growth-stage fund.

• Vertex Ventures China raised more than $490 million for its latest RMB-denominated fund focused on Chinese technology investments.

• KKR is considering a single-asset continuation fund for Sylvan, a mushroom spawn distributor, per Bloomberg.

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